Established in 1952 as a volunteer, non-profit organization, the DGC maintains the Abbot Public Library gardens and provides educational opportunities in gardening and support of our environment.
Many members of the Driftwood Garden Club gathered to bid a fond farewell to long-time member Sue Ball. Sue has been a member of DGC for almost 35 years! Her numerous contributions include serving as Civic Chair for the Abbot Public Library work teams, working tirelessly at the annual plant sale, and recruiting many of our current members. She has been the liaison with the King Hooper Mansion and organized many of our holiday decorating projects there, as well as hosted the hands-on decorating workshops in her home.
Sue and her husband, Dick, are moving to be near family in the Portland, Maine, area. She is maintaining her membership status in the Driftwood Garden Club and we look forward to seeing her at future club events.
Sue, from your many appreciative friends in the garden club…we wish you the best of luck and many blossoms in your new gardening zone!
The Driftwood Garden Club of Marblehead welcomed both new members and familiar guests to our Annual Cocktail Party to kick off the 2021/2022 season. Held in the lovely gardens of our Vice President on a late September evening, the weather report predicted possible light showers. Ha!
And then the rain came. Umbrellas went up and food was quickly covered before the skies opened up. In between rain bursts, we were rewarded with a double rainbow and golden light in the gardens.
The rain did not dampen our spirits. Driftwood Garden Club members are resilient if not waterproof! We enjoyed the food, drink, and camaraderie under the canopy backlit by torches, and we look forward to the coming year working and learning together.
Founded in 1952, The Driftwood Garden Club will begin celebrating its 70th year as a community organization in 2022. To honor this milestone, the ‘Hugo spritz’ was served as our signature cocktail.
On a beautiful Saturday morning, 13 appropriately-attired Driftwood Garden Club members attended a leaf birdbath making workshop at Long Hill Reservation in Beverly. The grounds at Long Hill were just gorgeous, and several members remarked on a number of improvements made since their last visit. Members worked together in a shady outdoor workshop led by Long Hill’s Senior Horticulturist, Dan Bouchard. DGC members brought leaves from their own gardens and were shown how to first set the leaf on a mound of sand, and then to mold a sandy concrete mixture against the back of the leaf to make an imprint of the veining on the bowl of the birdbath. The birdbaths are currently drying and will look just beautiful in our gardens. This was such an enjoyable workshop!
It was a beautiful day in a beautiful setting. Many thanks to Driftwood Garden Club member Andrea Gregory for hosting our annual lobster roll luncheon in her picture-perfect gardens. We thank our outgoing President Barbie Saraceno for leading our club through the Covid-19 pandemic. And we look forward to sharing another successful year with the incoming Officers and new Program Chairs.
The sun was shining on the Driftwood Garden Club plant sale held at Abbot Public Library on Saturday, May 22, 2021. And according to DGC Treasurer Laurie Boggis, the sale was a financial success as well. Customers filled their wagons with an assortment of healthy plants divided from local gardens, hanging planters, bright annuals, and herbs. Hats off to the Ways and Means Committee for organizing an outdoor event with covid-19 safety restrictions in place. Success!
The Driftwood Garden Club’s annual plant sale features perennials, annuals, ground covers, and herbs, many from local gardens. Garden Club members will be on hand to answer questions and help select plants for your garden. The Driftwood Garden Club is an all-volunteer organization that manages and cares for the gardens at the Abbot Public Library. Proceeds from the sale are used to maintain and improve the library gardens. We hope to see you on Saturday 5/22!
Driftwood Ways & Means Committee member Joy Purdin’s creative and original sign!
Hats off to the Driftwood Garden Club Ways and Means Committee for their resourceful use of signage!
Hope to see you at Driftwood Garden Club’s Plant Sale on Saturday, May 22, from noon to 3 PM at the Abbot Public Library, 235 Pleasant Street, Marblehead.
Two Driftwood Garden Club of Marblehead (DGC) members participated in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) virtual edition of its 45th annual Art in Bloom exhibit, a festival that pairs art with floral interpretations created by New England-area garden clubs. This year’s exhibit was themed around artworks that tell the stories of women across the Museum’s collection.
Longtime DGC members Laurie Boggis and Ginny von Rueden created a floral arrangement representing their assigned painting ‘Ubi Girl from the Thai Region.’ The acrylic on canvas was painted in the Harlem Renaissance style by artist Lois Mailou Jones in 1972. The artist was born and raised in Boston and attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
According to designer Laurie Boggis, “the painting is large, 44 inches wide by 60 inches long. It is even more striking in person!” Ginny states, “the strong imagery of the African face masks, which contrasted with the variety of exuberant colors, made a strong impression on us. Overlapping zigzag geometric shapes give movement and excitement to the theme of the painting. They bring to mind the flora and fabrics seen throughout Africa and represent the vitality of African women.”
Laurie and Ginny were most struck by the ‘eyes’ featured in the painting, and much of their plant material has ‘eyes’ which are central to the theme of the painting. The plant materials reflect the shapes and colors in the painting and are native to African countries, especially those of the artist’s heritage. Ginny says, “we wanted to give special attention to the alocasia, often referred to as ‘African mask’ because it replicates the shape and features of the girl’s face. The protea blossoms reflect the orange, round qualities of the two masks. And red and pink gerberas are a happy nod to the mix of these colors in the background.”
Laurie found the perfect container, which was handmade in Ghana. The container complements the arrangement, not only because it is made of African cedar wood, but also for its protruding zigzag shapes and striking blue color.
This painting has a special place in Ginny’s heart since she has lived in several African countries and visited others like South Africa, where she co-founded a partnership between Old North Church in Marblehead and a community in KwaZulu, home of the Zulu people. Laurie and Ginny both agree that floral designers form a strong connection to the piece of art they interpret in Art in Bloom. Congratulations to Laurie and Ginny!
Driftwood Garden Club members Laurie Boggis and Ginny von Rueden created a striking floral arrangement representing the acrylic painting “Ubi Girl from the Thai Region” by artist Lois Mailou Jones for the 2021 Museum of Fine Arts virtual Art in Bloom exhibit.
Lisa Biggio, Chair of Civic Beautification Committee.
Promising to help DGC members “turn perennials into cash” for the May 22 Annual Plant Sale, Lisa Biggio attracted 24 members to her Zoom presentation, Divide & Conquer. A Master Gardener and chair of the club’s Civic Beautification Committee, Lisa gave her April 14 audience compelling reasons to go all in for an event that provides the bulk of the club’s funds every year.
This year the plant sale venue at Abbot Public Library is new, and the actual sale hours will begin in the afternoon, rather than morning. Lisa’s presentation provided a refresher for longtime members and guidelines for new ones participating in the event, instructing her audience on the basics on plant propagation. She also noted that in addition to giving DGC the needed inventory for a successful sale, digging and dividing can improve the health of the mother plant by aerating the soil around the root ball and thereby stimulating new growth.
Eight DGC members have generously donated their gardens. Lisa said that some plants could yield up to 20 plants, resulting in hundreds of plants for sale Diggers were reminded to bring their own bag of soil to fill in any holes left in donors’ gardens and to line the bottom of temporary holding plastic pots with newspaper to retain moisture and save on potting soil.
Lisa offered the following ten best practices for digging and dividing:
Divide when a plant looks good
Start digging at the drip line
Divide in cool weather
Keep roots cool and moist
Replenish soil with organic matter
Use vigorous sections first
Take extra care when the plant is in bloom
Keep only the healthiest pieces
Spread out your divisions
Let the roots be your guide
And here are the five basic root types DGC diggers should look for:
Offsets – Small plants growing at the base of a larger one
Divide by cutting between any of the sections to obtain a piece with roots or at least 3 eyes or growing points.
i.e. asters, echinacea, hosta, tickseeds
2. Surface roots – Roots that run on or just below the surface of the soil and forming new crowns
Divide by cutting between the stems and you should see a stem with its own roots.
i.e. bee balm, black-eyed Susan, creeping sedums, creeping veronica
3. Tap roots – A large root that is usually growing deep down into the soil
Divide by slicing down the length of the root and diving into pieces with at least 1 eye or growth bud.
i.e. balloon flower, asclepias, euphorbia, oriental poppies
4. Underground running roots – Runners that grow underground beyond the mother plant.
Divide by the remote pieces that can be cultivated from the mother plant. These can be separated into the pieces that have an eye or a sucker formed.
i.e. anemones, hardy geranium, ostrich ferns, plume poppies
5. Woody roots – A woody root stem rests on the ground or becomes buried around the mother plant and sprouts roots. Can be cut from the plant directly.
i.e. candytuft, euonymus, sages, salvias, lavenders
Happy Dig & Dividers Ellen Nichols, Andrea Gregory, our Captain Laurie Boggis, Susan Smith, and Joy PurdinGinny von Rueden and our garden host Bob Jackson.
Dig and Divide Captain Susan McMullen searches this wooded and hilly garden for plant sale volunteers.
Dig & Divide Team Linnea Payne, Brigitte Fortin, Dianne Barrett, and Susan McMullen are all smiles after a successful morning dig.
Driftwood Garden Club 