The Club is having another busy year. Check in for coverage of past events as well as future endeavors. Welcome. Click here to view notes of past meetings.
NEW PROGRAM!!
Think Outside The Window Box Click here for details
Click here for Slide Show
The December 2008 program was a
huge success - click here for the slide show
The Wollaston Garden Club celebrated a festive Member Garden Tour and Progressive Dinner at 5:00 PM., on June 19, 2008. Carol Fischer, did an outstanding job as Committee Chair for the event. The garden tour was held at members’ private gardens. Jan Clifford, took pictures of the entire event. Sixty members participated in the tour—the largest attendance ever. Member hostesses Lynn Pettiti, Cindy Roche-Cotter, Joan Donovan, and Karen Lundsgaard, organized a delectable four-course dinner with each course being served at a different garden site along the tour. The tour began at Ruth Dravinskas’ home where guests enjoyed appetizers. Ruth, has a large, well-manicured, traditional, hillside garden. She is a natural propagator of plants, and loves to clip and propagate different shrubs. She does a wonderful job of propagating bleeding hearts, as well as the most impressive delicate pink dianthus that adorns the driveway edge. Next, the tour took guests to Lois Roche’s hidden seaside garden that follows a stone path through a lovely wooden archway with a wonderful red Hibiscus nearby. There, the guests were served a variety of mouth-watering salads. The garden is filled with mature pine, spruce, and holly trees. It is interspersed with divine scented herbs like lavender that invites one to smell and touch, as well as Cosmos and the oh so lovely blue Veronica which was in full bloom. There was an abundance of Cosmos which self seeds annually, so she was able give tender plantings to guests. Then, there was the enormity of the view of Quincy Bay in the background of this lovely seaside garden that was certainly something to behold. The tour followed along to Leah Shea’s home for the main course. Leah, has a small fenced-in shade garden, and does a wonderful job with annuals in terracotta pots, a window box, and subtle garden ornaments that are interspersed throughout in different destinations of the garden in varying heights to deal with the vertical look of the fence and wall of the garage. Every space along the edge of her driveway was appealingly landscaped combining perennials with shrubbery. The leaf color and texture of the euonymus was a focal point in its green and yellow variegated hues. Leah’s color theme in the garden was of terracotta, peach and yellow that made a spectacular display. The final stop was at Susan Sweetser’s garden where the guests enjoyed dessert and coffee. Susan’s garden has a classic formal look that is terraced with shrubbery and hostas as you follow along down the stone stairwell below to the main garden which is centered with an utterly fabulously designed pool that is edged with various rich stonework. One can describe it as a semi-Mediterranean look. Perfectly placed beside the stonework is a dappled willow tree, and in the background is a bank of brilliant white snowbelle shrubs which were in full bloom. If that site isn‘t enough to take your breath away, in the distance there is the most spectacular skyline of Boston, completing the whole picture and making one want to linger longer to savor the view and take in the tranquility. Real gardeners love visiting other gardens; they are inspired and challenged to grow new things and try different styles of landscaping in their own little corner of the world.
 | 
| Ruth Dravinskas, in an area of her garden featuring shrubbery in the background with the striking look of large blue-violet lanterns hung selectively on the shrub. | Lois Roche, displaying the pine tree area of her seaside garden that offers shade for the flowers below. | 
| 
| | Leah Shea, smiling and standing proudly in front of the fruits of her labor where she created a beautiful eye-appealing garden in such a small area. | Susan Sweetser, pleasingly displays the shrubbery and dappled willow tree in her semi-Mediterranean type garden |
Wollaston Garden Club Honors
Past Presidents & Installs New Officers The Wollaston Garden Club installed its new officers and honored its past Presidents at a special luncheon and annual meeting on Thursday, May 15. The new officers are President, Pat Artis; 1st Vice President, Jan Clifford; 2nd Vice President, Linda DellaCroce; Recording Secretary, Janet Lynch; Corresponding Secretary, Gail Morganelli; Treasurer, Leah Shea; Assistant Treasurer, Nancy Carey and Auditor, Joan Donovan.
Former President, Janet Lynch was welcomed into the ranks of those past presidents who have now become life members of the club. Seven of the past presidents were in attendance and enjoyed the Mexican Fiesta luncheon. Anne Ciarfella was honored for her eleven years of service as Hospitality Chair. Cynthia Lewis presented a wonderful program on “Botanical Sculptures: Designing With Glass Containers.”
The luncheon was hosted by the members of a special Installation Luncheon Committee including Anne Ciarfella, Mary Brady, Ruth Griffin, Jo Costello, Jan Clifford, Marylynn Sullivan, Cynthia Lewis, Janet Lynch and Pat Artis.  |  | | From left, outgoing President Janet Lynch, incoming President Pat Artis, First Vice President Jan Clifford, Second Vice President Linda Della Croce, Treasurer Leah Shea, Corresponding Secretary Gail Morganelli, Auditor Joan Donovan. Missing: Nancy Carey, Assistant Treasurer | Former Presidents, from left, Jo Costello, Ruth Griffin, Claire Currier, Barbara Ryan, Cynthia Lewis, Kay Pattavina, Florence Clifford, Janet Lynch.
Missing: Eleanore Tupper, Charlotte Rolfs, Batty Siegel, Marina Kelly |  |  |
Wollaston Garden Club Past Presidents: Jo Costello (2000); Ruth Griffin (2002); Claire Currier (1996); Barbara Ryan (1994); Cynthia Lewis (1998); Kay Pattavina (1990); Florence Clifford (1982); and Janet Lynch (2006) Missing from the photo: Charlotte Rolfs (1970 & 78); Betty Siegal (1976); Eleanore Tupper (1986); and Marina Kelly (2004)
Environmentally Friendly Gardens
On Thursday evening, April 17 at 7:30 pm, the three Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts clubs from Quincy: Houghs Neck Garden Club, Seaside Gardeners of Squantum and the Wollaston Garden Club will meet together for a social and slide lecture by landscape historian and designer, Marie Stella at the Wollaston Congregational Church Social Hall, 48 Winthrop Ave, Wollaston. Click here for PRESS RELEASE and INVITATION
 Members and the General Public are invited to a re-dedication of the Anne Hutchinson marker on April 19, 2008, at 10:00 am. Click here for details.
Click here for PRESS RELEASE
Click here for PROGRAM
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Cooking with Herbs Luncheon ~ Jan Clifford
There were several inches of hard packed ice on the ground on February 15, 2007, but about 35 hardy souls made their way to the Wollaston Garden Club's Cooking with Herbs luncheon. Pat Artis and Cynthia Antonopolous created the menu, and with the assistance of a number of volunteers, prepared a hot lunch of rosemary chicken, cheese potatoes, salad with herbal dressing and an array of herbal breads and desserts.
[Click on photos to enlarge]
 |
 |  | The servers get
ready for the diners
| Early birds wait for
everyone to arrive
| Ann, Lois, Jo and Mary
give their seal of approval
|  |  |  | The feeding starts
in earnest | Pat and Kay check
to make sure we
haven't run out of food | Marylynn checks
out the desserts |
If you have been interested in learning more about gardening or becoming a member of a garden club, there is no better time than now. The garden club is made up of thoughtful, caring creative citizens who want to preserve the beauty of the natural resources of our city. Click here to contact us. |
