Daily Archives: December 7, 2019


Wreath of the Day – Winter Storms

We hope everyone is as excited as we are to begin our month-long annual feature of Wreath of the Day, highlighting just a few of the many beautiful wreaths created by our members this year during our Wreath Week sessions at The First Lutheran Church of Boston. We try to pair the pictures with a story from the project, and this year we begin with what just might have been a record breaking two day weather event this past Monday and Tuesday. Although we remember a snowfall or two over the past twenty-some odd years, never were we battered with such unrelenting rain, ice, and snow for such an extended period. Not only was it a challenge to keep our wreaths dry, but we worried we would lose the services of some of our volunteers, as well as walk-in buyers for plain wreaths or wreaths with bows. We need not have worried about the volunteers – they came out in record numbers. On Tuesday we had 37 people working in the basement and in the Courtyard. Thank you everyone for your dedication! The winter wreath below is emblematic of those first two days. Natural and spray painted pine cones, milk weed, branches, and sweet gum seed pods were joined with silvery artificial silver ferns, added greens and dried flowers, all highlighted by a cream, white, gold and silver bow.


Friday, September 4 – Saturday, September 12 – Gardens of Bavaria

Join The American Horticultural Society on September 4 – 12 for this extraordinary tour, including these highlights:

• Munich’s Botanischer Garten, one of the most important botanical gardens in the world with nearly 20,000 species and subspecies


• Schloss Nymphenburg, a favorite summer residence of the former rulers of Bavaria


• Mainau, nicknamed the Flower Island and famous for its extraordinary diversity of flowers, trees, and shrubs, including rare and subtropical plants


• Alte Pinakothek, with an outstanding art collection that includes Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna of the Carnation as well as works by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Giotto, Raphael, El Greco, and Diego Velázquez


• Westpark, designed for the International Garden Expo of 1983 and featuring a rose garden with more than 20,000 specimens from 500 varieties


• Ludwigsburg Residential Palace, where the magnificent state rooms offer a journey through Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical architecture


• Six visits to private gardens that showcase their owners’ creativity and originality

The 5-star accommodations for this program:

• Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, with breathtaking views of the city and the Alps


• Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Lindau, with stunning views of Lake Constance


• Wald and Schlosshotel Friedrichsruhe in Zweiflingen, a converted manor house set amid lovely gardens

For more information and to make reservations, please contact Susan Klejst, Director of Development & Engagement at (703) 768-5700 ext. 127, or email development@ahsgardening.org. Our fax number is (703) 768-8700.