Betsy Szymczak also represented our FGC (and Natick GC), and  we congratulate her for eight Horticulture entries at MassHort that earned four blues, two reds, two yellow, with Begonia grandis for propagation. Shannon also entered the horticulture competition, earning four blues, five reds, one yellow and two honorable mentions.

Minal Akkad and Ruth Evans participated in the show as Design judges, while Betsy also judged Horticulture.

Additionally, Ikebana master Minal Akkad from the O’Hara School of Ikebana, wowed the crowd with her amazing creative Ikebana design.

See photographer Art Illman’s photo montage from the MetroWest Daily News at
https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/picture-gallery/news/2024/03/20/framingham-garden-club-guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-creative-tables/73048148007/

Also click on the gallery to see each table and its designers. Photos by Bob Evans.

Photos of last year’s national winning sculptures

See the 2022 Sculpture Contest winners here

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Contest Rules

• Children in 4th through 8th grade will be eligible to enter the contest
• Sculptures must consist of recyclable, reused and reduced materials
• Width of the sculpture can be no more than 8 1/2 x 11 inches
• Height should be in proportion to width
• Entries should include as many photographs as can be printed on the back of the entry form but two 4×6 photographs are recommended
• Club entries must be emailed to State Chairman Nancy Martin by Janauary 10, 2024 at  nancymartinmailed@gmail.com

Scale of Points

• Creative use of materials and self expression: 60%
• Description of sculpture and materials used: 30%
• Craftsmanship and technique: 10%

https://gardenclub.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/ngc-youth-sculpture-contest-entry-form-2023.pdf

In the piece, club president Andrea Saari and Greens Sale chairwoman Shannon Fitzpatrick helped Levan craft his own wreath, which he proudly displayed on the show. We explained how the club is celebrating its 90th year in 2023 and that the Greens Sale is the club’s largest fundraiser whose proceeds fund scholarships and community projects. 

Click on this link to see the video https://news.yahoo.com/framingham-garden-club-celebrates-90th-122000173.html

After a two-year hiatus, Framingham Garden Club’s  eagerly awaited Annual Plant Sale and Garden Boutique is on May 7 from 9 am to noon at the Cushing Maintenance Building in Framingham’s Cushing Park.

annuals – perennials – native plants- hanging baskets

The plant sale features colorful annuals and hanging baskets, plus ready to transplant perennials, herbs and native plants donated from garden club members’ gardens.

Proceeds benefit local scholarships and civic activities.

Now accepting credit cards!  

For access to the Cushing Maintenance Building, use the Keefe Tech entrance on Winter St., Framingham, and follow signs to the sale.

PLUS

Stop by the Secret Garden, a garden-themed boutique, for handcrafted gifts and cards perfect for Mother’s Day, graduation, birthdays, hostess gifts, and other special or every day occasions!

(Details )

Location: Cushing Park,Maintenance Building. Framingham. 

Use Keefe Tech Winter Street entrance and follow signs.(Map)

This special exhibition celebrates Framingham Garden Club’s 85th Birthday in collaboration with the History Center of Framingham. Artifacts were selected from the Civil War, WWI, Women’s Suffrage and Victorian Era.

The exhibit will be held at the Framingham History Center, 3 Oak Street, Framingham, on April 5th, 1:00-5:00 pm and Saturday April 6th 10:00 am-4:00 pm. There will be an Opening Reception on Friday, April 5th from 5:00-7:00 pm.

To commemorate our deceased members, FGC created this personalized garden with a Japanese snowbell tree, custom carved granite bench and a granite “We Remember” marker.  
The beautiful Memorial Bench and “We Remember” marker are proud features of the memorial garden at Nobscot Park.

Framingham Garden Club was instrumental in creating Nobscot Park in the mid-1990s. Over 150 years ago, the site was the location of Framingham School House #8, then later Grange Hall and the Scout House, which burned to the ground in 1994. FGC members worked with neighborhood groups and the Framingham Park and Recreation Department to establish this pocket park. FGC members continue to maintain the gardens at Nobscot Park. 

In addition to the new memorial garden, FGC also designed and installed the Pollinator Garden at Nobscot Park. The Pollinator Garden contains native plants specifically chosen to attract bees and butterflies from Garden in the Woods, as a part of New England Wild Flower Society’s pollinator project.

My Garden By Stella Cote

This little garden

I saw last night

See it grow

With all it’s might

Tomorrow it will bloom

A surprise delights!

Spring Returns
By Maureen O’Connell

I dug my feet into the soft soil
It was cool beneath my feet on this hot day
I smelled the breeze and wished I could eat it
I sat down by the flowers
I leaned against the great oak behind me
It felt good
I felt good
I liked it.

I looked up
The clouds covered half of the sun
I stared up at the clouds
They looked like marshmallows
The huge trees looked down at me
I felt small
But small isn’t always a bad thing.

I looked back down at my flowers
Pansies, Roses, Bluebells, and marigolds looked back
Hydrangeas seeped with blue and pink
While Buttercups reached for the sun
Iris’s produced their best colors for me
And Sweet alyssum faced down
They didn’t need sun

Moonflower so big, white and beautiful
I guess that’s why it’s called a moonflower
I wish I could bring it with me wherever I went
The poppies shone bright red in the afternoon sun
The flowers all them smelled so good
Like chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven,
Freshly mowed lawn,
And butter browning all at the same time

I loved my garden and everything in it
Those spring and summer days were better with my garden there
But then the wind came
The bitter cold snow made everything white
And it killed my flowers
The garden
I raised from seeds
Was gone
Only brown scraps were left
All that work
All that time
All those beautiful flowers
Wasted

Then spring comes around again those flowers that died
They left something behind
Seeds

And new plants sprout

Maureen O’Connell’s poem Spring Returns was selected as the winner the New England Regional Poetry Competition in her age group. Her poem was one of 50 youth poets to be published in the National Garden Club’s annual publication  Down the Garden Path. Maureen will be honored in May for her accomplishments.
 

One Friday a month, the FPL hosts wonderful lunchtime continuing education workshops and entertaining lectures that are open and free to the public. 

Framingham Garden Club members Martin and Goodman’s contribution to this ‘Brown Bag Brain Boost’ was filled with simple tips to make beautiful centerpieces using inexpensive flowers from the supermarket that will be the envy of your family and friends. 

Our participation in the Framingham Public Library’s event series is just one of the ways we love to give back to our friends and neighbors. 

Workmen delivered our raw materials to the Park and helped to assemble this beautiful Memorial Bench that will be a proud feature of the personalized garden and the new town park we lovingly tend to.

The granite slabs are polished and carved to commemorate all of our former deceased members.

An official commemoration with news coverage is expected in November of 2017