Art in Bloom


Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Pine Tar

When you work with fresh greens for an hour or for a day, your hands acquire a coating of black tar which is difficult to get off. Many members find working in gloves cumbersome, but it takes a lot of scrubbing and soaking to rid yourself of the evidence of wreath making once you get home. We won’t even discuss how to de-glitter your hair, skin, and clothes – that is an impossibility and you will sparkle well into February. The pine tar, however, can be dealt with through a thorough rub with vegetable shortening, like Crisco, followed by handwashing with liquid dish detergent like Joy. A nail brush helps too, but the grease plus the detergent is pretty magical. You could use butter, we suppose, but that would be wasteful. A beautiful, all natural wreath like the one below would have deposited a fair amount of stickiness onto the decorator, but isn’t it gorgeous?

Noted floral arranger and Garden Club of the Back Bay member Donna Morrissey sponsored today’s Wreath of the Day post. Donna frequently represents the Club at Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. We sincerely hope Art in Bloom will be back in 2021.


Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – The Bold and the Beautiful

Mary Ellen Udelson has been a Garden Club of the Back Bay member since 1982, and represented the Club at the Museum of Fine Art’s Art in Bloom. She did floral arranging for St. Cecilia’s Church as well. She moved out of the Back Bay a couple of years ago, but is known at wreath making for her bold, eye-popping designs. She uses large scale elements, and often they are gold or silver. Her wreaths can be seen for miles. One customer bought a wreath each season for a country house door which sat on a hill far from the road below, and wanted her wreath to be visible to cars driving by – Mary Ellen’s work was just perfect for that. In recent years, the crown of bold design guru has descended to Carlos Soto-Chaves, whose wreath is pictured below, but in her heyday, Mary Ellen could give him a run for his money.

Thank you to our Wreath of the Day Sponsor Linda Zukowski, a Garden Club member who often delivered Mary Ellen’s wreaths around the neighborhood.


Saturday, May 2 – Monday, May 4 – Art in Bloom CANCELLED

Philippa Craddock, founder and creative director of England’s Philippa Craddock Flowers and designer of the floral installations and flowers for the 2018 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will be the featured speaker at the 2020 Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston May 2 – 4. She will give two Master Classes (MFA members $235, nonmembers $280), and a floral demonstration and lecture on Seasonal, Sustainably Grown Flowers ($40/$50). For complete information visit www.mfa.org.


Friday, April 26, 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm, and Saturday, April 27 – Monday, April 29, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Art in Bloom

Celebrate the return of spring with Art in Bloom, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s annual festival of fine art and flowers.

Enjoy art from across the MFA’s collection paired with magnificent floral interpretations. Daily events include tours of arrangements throughout the galleries; flower-arranging demonstrations; informal dining among European paintings at the Art in Bloom Café; and outdoor walking tours.

Art in Bloom launches with a Preview of freshly installed arrangements on Friday, April 26 from 3 to 10 pm. The popular Member Night is Saturday, April 27, and Community Day with children’s activities is Sunday, April 28.

Browse the MFA Art in Bloom Market and Garden Cart for unique gifts and treasures.

Special guest speaker Remco van Vliet demonstrates creative techniques for designing spectacular arrangements from classic to contemporary. Tickets and reservations for lecture, classes, and group tours go on sale February 28, 2019.

Art in Bloom is sponsored by Wilmington Trust. Supporting Sponsor is Fitch Law Partners. Art in Bloom Community Day is sponsored by Arbella Insurance Foundation.


Saturday, March 9, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, and Sunday, March 10, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Needham’s Art in Bloom

Beth Shalom Garden Club presents Needham’s Art in Bloom on Saturday, March 9, from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm and Sunday, March 10, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm at the Needham Public Library, 1139 Highland Ave, Needham Heights. Now in it’s 11th year, award winning Needham’s Art in Bloom will return by popular demand. There will be 75+ displays of Needham High School creative student artwork with colorful floral interpretations by Beth Shalom Garden Club members with participants from Kalmia and Needham garden clubs too. The free event is generously sponsored by Roche Bros. and Shark/Ninja. For more information visit http://www.needhamartinbloom.com/


Tuesday, December 11, 9:00 am – 11:30 am – Holiday Floral Designs

Lisa Oberholzer-Gee is a Cambridge based freelance floral artist. She has traveled widely and incorporates techniques from all over the world in her designs. She has a floral certificate of design from Longwood Garden, Pennsylvania and has taught floral classes at the New York Botanical Gardens as well as designed entrance arrangements for the MFA’s Art in Bloom exhibit. She will be demonstrating arrangements for the holiday season. Ms. Gee will give a demonstration on Holiday Floral Design for the Community Garden Club of Duxbury on December 11 at the Duxbury Bay Maritime School, 457 Washington Street, Duxbury, Massachusetts. Coffee and tea from 9am to 9:30am, Business Meeting from 9:30am to 10am, Program from 10am to 11:30am. Meetings are open to the public for a nominal fee of $5.00. Everyone is welcome.

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Friday & Saturday, June 8 & 9, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Art in Bloom: A Celebration of Art and Floral Design

The Nauset Garden Club presents Art in Bloom: A Celebration of Art and Floral Design on June 8 and 9, from 10 – 4 at the Crosby Mansion (pictured below), 163 Crosby Lane in Brewster. The event also includes a plant sale and designed container sale, floral design demonstrations, and a garden tea. Advance tickets are available at Snows in Orleans, Agway, The Farm, The Brewster Country Store, Crocker Nursery, New England Gardens in Harwich, Hyannis Country Gardens, and online at http://nausetgardenclub.org. $20 advance sale, $25 at the door.

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Friday, April 28, 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm, and Saturday, April 29 – Monday, May 1, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Art in Bloom

Mark your calendar for Art in Bloom 2017 and celebrate this exuberant spring festival at the MFA. This joyous rite of spring pairs fine art and floral design with offerings of free guided tours among MFA treasures, plus workshops, demonstrations, and lectures. Garden clubs and professional designers from across New England create floral arrangements inspired by the MFA’s works of art.

Highlights this year include a special evening preview on Friday night April 28, starting at 5 pm. The popular Members’ Night is Saturday, April 29 and Community Day with children’s activities is Sunday, April 30. Enjoy the Art in Bloom Café with its casual dining and lighter fare among masterpieces of European painting in Koch Gallery, 250.

Ariella Chezar, an expert on painterly arrangements offers master classes on Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30, and, on Saturday, April 30, presents a lecture and demonstration with techniques for creating designs that are dramatic, unexpected, and even magical. Art in Bloom is sponsored by Wilmington Trust.  For complete information visit www.mfa.org.


Saturday, March 4 – Sunday, March 5 – Needham’s Art in Bloom

Needham’s Art in Bloom, presented by Beth Shalom Garden Club, with assistance from Kalmia and Needham garden club members, returns.  This free multi-generational exhibit will feature over 70 pieces of mixed media Needham High School student artwork with floral interpretations by Beth Shalom , Kalmia, and Needham Garden Club members. Visit: www.NeedhamArtinBloom.com. The event takes place Saturday, March 4 from 9 – 5, and Sunday, March 6 from 1 – 6 at the Needham Public Library, 1139 Highland Avenue in Needham. Small previews will be held in the Needham High School Lobby, Town Hall, and Center at the Heights on Friday, March 3 from 12 – 4.  All events are free and generously sponsored by Roche Brothers and tripadvisor.com.  Image from www.creativeartsgroup.org.


Monday, May 2, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon – Creative Sustainability on the Rose Kennedy Greenway

Join senior horticulturist and designer Darrah Cole of the Rose Kennedy Greenway on a visual tour of the Greenway parks and features as seen through the lens of its organic horticulture program. The lecture will take place Monday, May 2 from 11 – 12 in the Harry and Mildred Remis Auditorium in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston as part of Art in Bloom. Free with admission to the museum – no ticket required.