Christina Farren, Garden Club Past-President, will kick off the 2024-2025 year and President’s Tea with a brief talk on Constance Spry, legendary, unconventional British floral decorator (as she liked to define herself) and the namesake of the first English rose. Using flowers and other plant material foraged from members’ gardens, Christina will create a large-scale Autumn floral design inspired by Spry, who created designs for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, but was equally inspired and content working in her cottage garden and creating natural, unpretentious arrangements.

Charlie Nardozzi, Regional Emmy® award winning and nationally recognized writer, speaker, radio, and television personality, has brought expert information to home gardeners for over 30 years. He enjoys making gardening accessible to everyone and will discuss tips and tricks for tackling challenging areas beyond just growing the correct plant for that space. He will focus on different types of shade; the best trees, shrubs, perennial flowers, and ground covers for problem areas; design ideas using plants and other materials to fix a problem area; and planting and growing techniques.

Author of eight books, including Coffee for Roses and The Cocktail Hour Garden, C.L. is the host of GardenLine on WXTK, and co-host of the Plantrama podcast. She is a frequent speaker to groups nationwide and has worked for a family-owned independent garden center for 25 years. C.L. grows vegetables, flowers, shrubs, trees, and others at Poison Ivy Acres on Cape Cod. C.L. will discuss both how to ensure houseplants thrive and the reasons for failure. She will address how to display houseplants to their best advantage, problem-solving such as insect infestations and managing plants that have grown too large. […]

Returning for the second consecutive year because she was so inspiring, Christie will give a visual talk about the unsung heroes of the landscape – conifers – and how they are misunderstood in the plant and gardening world. She will discuss the breadth of what conifers can bring to gardens and highlight some of her favorites and the reasoning behind her preferences. Christie is an APLD, Certified Landscape Designer and a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist  

Community gardens and consuming more locally grown produce is more of a revival than something new. Travel through time and discover the history of Victory Gardens, some of the original community gardens, and their inspiration. We will view current and historic gardens, their architecture, plans, plantings, unique plant characteristics, and early used techniques and tips that can be used in our own gardens. Debra will also highlight the health and wellness benefits that gardens bring to a community, and why our garden club, like others, is essential to the wellbeing of our area.

Karen Bussolini, co-author of Elegant Silvers: Striking Plants for Every Garden, will demonstrate how gardeners are using drought tolerant and resilient silver plants in containers, borders, and larger landscapes. She will focus on the use of regionally appropriate silvers, protective adaptations (using color and texture to create exciting combinations), and historical uses from medieval times to modern xeriscaping (reducing or eliminating the need for irrigation).