Author: seabarb2

The Driftwood Garden Club is pleased to join other local garden clubs decorating the King Hooper Mansion, built in 1728 at 8 Hooper Street in Marblehead, as part of the 2025 Marblehead Christmas Walk.

This year the DGC was assigned to decorate the Beth Hendricks Room at the rear of the building in the overall theme of “Holiday Sparkle.”  The Hendricks Gallery, with wood paneling and a deep brick fireplace, was warmed with natural greenery, pinecones, and touches of warm copper to complement the brick-red wall color. All greens, rosehips, and pinecones were sourced from local trees and shrubs in members’ gardens.

The design process starts back in November when our fabulous team of Laurie Boggis and Ginny von Rueden travel to Jacobson Floral Supply in Boston. The designers then complete a lot of prep-work in advance…the cleaning, drying, and spraying of material. This is followed with a hands-on workshop to assemble tussie-mussie segments for the fireplace mantel, hang gold and copper-colored ornaments from the windows, and tie bows.

Please join us at the Holiday Open House at the King Hooper Mansion on Thursday evening, December 4^th from 5-8 PM. The Winter Artisan & Craft Fair is Saturday, December 6^th from 10 AM to 5 PM, and Sunday, December 7^th from 11 AM till 4 PM. Tea and sweets are served downstairs in the Tavern on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 1 to 4 PM.

Happy Holidays to all. We hope to see you there!

Driftwood Garden Club members were up to their elbows in sand and cement while attending a cement birdbath workshop at The Trustees of Reservation Long Hill in Beverly, MA. Long Hill, the 114-acre estate built in 1916 as a summer home of Ellery Sedgwick, was a perfect setting for this event.

Our birdbath guru, horticulturalist Dan Bouchard, led us on a short walk in the woods to find perfect leaves for our creations. He stressed the importance of using a leaf with the right shape and curve, and with prominent veins on the underside.

We observed Dan mound his sand on a board, carefully position the leaf, then mix the cement into a perfect consistency. Not too wet, not too dry!  After his demo, we were on our own shoveling sand from the pile, mixing water into the cement powder, and carefully covering the leaf with wet cement. Each participant carved her initials on the underside of the birdbath.

Our birdbaths, covered in plastic, took about a week to dry in this summer humidity. We know local birds and butterflies will be thrilled with these stunning new birdbaths!

This year, Marblehead Arts Association annual national exhibit called ‘Variations 2025’ also featured an Arts In Bloom event patterned after the popular Museum of Fine Arts event. Floral designers from local garden clubs, floral shop owners, and others from the floral design community were paired with a piece of art from the Variations collection to interpret in a floral masterpiece.

Driftwood Garden Club members Ginny von Rueden and Laurie Boggis have teamed-up in the past to design in the Boston MFA event. This year at the Marblehead Arts historic King Hooper Mansion, they each interpreted the same painting: a striking acrylic rendition of Seawall Boulevard in the Gulf Coast City of Galveston, Texas by artist Don Hammontree, complete with a vintage 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am car in the foreground.

Laurie is a confirmed ‘Less is More’ kind of designer, while Ginny has a ‘More is More’ approach to her arrangements. The final results were both beautiful and yet entirely different from each other. The ‘Dueling Designers’ entertained the audience with tales of past adventures and challenges from their years of working together.

Also kudos to DGC member Jo Ann Augeri Silva who represented the Driftwood Garden Club well with her stunning rendition of the Spanish Stallion piece by equine photographer Susan Correia.

Ticket-holders to the Sunday afternoon event entered their names in a raffle, and the winners received a donated floral arrangement to take home and enjoy. Every stunning floral design captured the essence of the assigned art.

Congratulations and thanks to all the talented floral designers who interpreted the art with flowers.

On an overcast afternoon in June, members of Driftwood Garden Club enjoyed their Annual Luncheon to celebrate the successful 2025 plant sale and all the wonderful educational programs held over the past year. Drizzle may have restricted the lovely views, but wet weather couldn’t dampen the smiles of all who attended.

Many thanks to our host Loretta Connolly for sharing her beautiful home and gardens for our annual meeting. DGC hostesses provided a delicious variety of fresh salads, fruit, and side dishes for all to enjoy.

We especially thank Louise Moore of ‘Every Little Breeze Catering’ for the amazing lobster rolls and lobster salads, as well as Lilly at ‘Three Hundred Fifty Bakery’ for the yummy cupcakes.

After DGC President Joyce Raymond reviewed the past year’s activities, we voted on by-law changes, welcomed new members, and approved the upcoming roster of officers and committee members. Each committee chairperson gave a brief overview of their team’s accomplishments and goals.

We truly have an exceptional slate of officers and committee members, and we look forward to many Driftwood Garden Club events and programs next year!

Congratulations to Driftwood Garden Club members Pinar Gokce and Susan McMullen for their stunning floral interpretation of Winslow Homer’s ‘The Fog Warning’.

Painted in Maine in 1885, this iconic oil painting depicts a local fisherman battling the elements in the hopes of returning to the safety of the ship far on the horizon. Susan and Pinar were struck by the intense drama and conflict in the painting, as well as the strong diagonals created by the dory and the impending fog.

This is the first time the duo collaborated to design for Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts annual Art in Bloom event. They chose their container because of the shape, composition, and color. The shape suggests a boat, the material is rough and elemental, and the color mimics cold ocean water. Then they scoured the New England Flower Exchange to find plant materials that best represented the painting. According to the designers, their creation is meant to express the contrast between the menacing fog bank, the solitude of the fisherman and the glimmer of hope in the pink sky reflected on the fish skin. In the arrangement, the diagonals of the fog and dory are represented by Ti leaves and Fantail Pussy Willows, and Quince branches and Rice Flowers provide a delicate pink shade. Other flowers used were Bush Ivy, Dusty Miller, and Sea Holly.

Art in Bloom, now in its 49^th year, is a beloved event at the Museum of Fine Arts. The popular event showcases the expertise of New England garden clubs, professional designers, and MFA floral volunteers. Driftwood members were guided on a private tour by an MFA Tour Docent who described the art piece along with an MFA Floral Design Volunteer who commented on the accompanying floral design. Everyone agreed that Susan McMullen and Pinar Gokce’s beautiful floral design depicting ‘The Fog Warning’ was professionally executed in every way.

Enjoy these pictures of DGC members enjoying several other works of art with the corresponding Art in Bloom floral designs!

We hope to see you at Art in Bloom again next year!

Ever wonder how Driftwood Garden Club gets over 1,000 plants to sell at our annual plant sale? 

Starting in early April, members don their waterproof boots, warm jackets and work gloves, and trek into 50 local gardens. We dig perennial plants from our own yards and many donor gardens in Marblehead.

Dividing hardy perennials is a ‘Win-Win’ for us and also for the plant. Dividing plants in early spring encourages vigorous growth, stimulates new growth, and reduces crowding in the garden bed. And we get to sell healthy new plants!

Driftwood members transplant the plants into half-gallon pots, add fresh potting soil, water well, then bring the plants home to care for them. By the time the plant sale arrives on May 10^th, these plants have been in their pots for many weeks and have developed new roots. The plants we sell at the plant sale are happy, healthy, and ready to transplant into your garden!

We hope to see you at Driftwood Garden Club’s annual plant sale on Saturday, May 10th from 8:30-11:30 AM at the Masonic Hall, 62 Pleasant Street, Marblehead, MA. Come join us!

The Driftwood Garden Club of Marblehead not only offers educational meetings and maintains the gardens at Abbot Public Library and Marblehead Housing’s Farrell Court, we also take field trips!

Many DGC members recently enjoyed a guided walking tour of Garden in the Woods in Framingham. The 45-acre botanical garden, a member of the Native Plant Trust, was founded in 1931, and is the largest landscaped collection of wildflowers in New England.  Their plantings include about 1,000 species including more than 200 rare and endangered native species.

Our volunteer guide was well versed in Garden in the Woods natural landscape of the pond, wetlands, rolling hills, and valleys. She pointed out interesting native trees and plants as we walked along the mile-long gravel loop. We were treated to fall foliage in its finest display of color.

Our trip ended with a fabulous picnic lunch, and a little shopping in the largest retail native plant nursery in New England. A perfect autumn day!