Shannon Fitzpatrick

Grouped Mass Design Workshop

Some of the many benefits of membership in the Framingham Garden Club are the hands-on floral design workshops presented by the club’s master designers several times a year. In October 2018 we focused on “Grouped Mass Design.” Grouped Mass Design features groups, or clusters, of like flowers or other plant material placed next to groups of different like materials, all emanating from one point of emergence.

Here are two examples designed by FGC’s own experts, Minal Akkad, Ruth Evans and Marion Goodman.

Notice the clusters of plant material placed next to other clusters. 

Design tip: place wet Oasis one inch above the top of the container. …

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Reaping Our Rewards Horticultural Show

Every year Framingham Garden Club hosts an autumn  horticultural show to highlight the successes from our gardens during the past summer. This year’s show, “Reaping Our Rewards,” was held on September 12, 2018 at our first meeting of the 2018-19 season.

Gardeners reported a challenging growing season, with extreme heat, humidity and rain. Blue macrophylla hydrangeas in particular suffered from severely cold temperatures this past winter that froze and killed the old wood. Since  old fashioned hydrangea macrophylla blooms only on old wood, the hydrangeas simply did not bloom. Other hydrangea varieties, however, produced prodigious blossoms. 

The show features cut specimens of annuals, perennials, roses, bulbs/tubers, foliage,edibles, and herbs. …

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Framingham students win garden-themed poetry contest

Two talented Framingham students, third grader Stella Cote and sixth grader Maureen O’Connell, recently won a statewide Youth Poetry Contest sponsored by the National Garden Club. 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."
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FMG Member Wins Top Design Award

Congratulations to FGC’s own Minal Akkad for winning the Cindora Goldberg award. The Goldberg award is the top design award in the Commonwealth, given annually by The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts to the most outstanding floral design created by any member of a Massachusetts garden club. Cindora Goldberg was known for her ability to continually see and create in an innovative manner. 

Creativity and innovation define Minal’s floral designs. From the three outstanding designs submitted for consideration, federation judges chose the design that was featured at the Museum of Fine Art’s “Art in Bloom” this year. For 40 years, Art in Bloom has paired art from the MFA’s collection with floral interpretations created by New England area garden club.…

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