Former member Florence Massimo specialized in elaborate, very feminine wreaths filled with dried flowers, primarily hydrangeas, roses, lavender, statice, and rose hips, and disdained painted or artificial elements. The fragile nature of the materials made the process long and sometimes frustrating, but each finished product was always a masterpiece. Florence lived on Commonwealth Avenue when she belonged to The Garden Club of the Back Bay, in a condominium building with multiple doors. She created all the wreaths for those doors each year. When Florence moved out of state to be nearer to family, we worried that we would be unable to find a decorator capable of producing that quantity of delicate, ethereal wreaths. In a complete about face, the association decided to change direction and has since ordered bright red and gold, vibrant wreaths to be visible from the middle of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. The wreath below is not one of Florence’s (alas, our early archives do not contain a consistent number of photographs), but is in the spirit of what she did.

Today’s Wreath of the Day post is sponsored by member Judith Fleming, who we are sure remembers Florence well.