In another of a season of fascinating Workshops this season, 22 Members braved the sub-freezing weather to manipulate dried leaves and flowers into their own interpretations of a hovering hummingbird.   Presenter Karen Fricke provided her expertise in this art as well as pressed leaves, petals, pine needles, grape vines, and an array of brushes, swabs, toothpicks, tweezers, textured paper, and special glue. The results were ready to take flight! What a great way to spend a dreary winter morning. See Karen's handout from the session , including instructions and patterns.   Botanical Arts is the newest addition to our competition schedule. Check out the challenges our Chairs have dreamed up for the rest of this year. aaa

Fellowship, Education, Beautification ― our Annual Awards Brunch illustrated each one. On May 22, the majority of our Members ― old and new ― met together at the Glen Ridge Golf Club to celebrate the 99th year of our thriving organization. While we shared a delicious lunch and many conversations, we watched our Members receive awards from the prestigious Louise D. Mann silver plate to our outgoing President Sarah Olson for her extraordinary leadership to the wacko Bloomies for just about anything. Most of the photos below, were taken by Sue Yu with contributions by Floss O'Sullivan, Amy Poster, and Sue Young. See the following: our Awards page listing every award, including this year's, going back to 1980. (Awards from earlier dates are listed in old Yearbooks .) Floss O’Sullivan’s explanation of why the committee came up with each Bloomie award . And, below, photos of .... The happy award winners The exquisite table arrangements created by our Members Our Members having a good time. Award Winners and Their Trophies Table Centerpieces Our Members

As we do every year, our Members got together on December 11 for a wonderful Holiday Tea where warm company, out-of-the-box creative flower designs, and good eats combine to bring the third of our three goals ― Fellowship ― to life. Thank you so much, Cynthia Corhan-Aitken and Murray Aitken, for opening your beautiful house to us all, once again. And who knew that Murray was such a gifted piano player, allowing the more musical among us to celebrate in song. Thanks are due, as always, to Betty Murphy and Florence Sinovsky for organizing the delicious food, and to Tova Narrett for coordinating the wildly beautiful designs throughout the house. Sue Yu, with contributions from Barb Baletti, Amy Poster, and Sue Young, captured the happiness of the occasion in the photos, below. (Click on each to enlarge.) If your design or your culinary creation or even your smiling face has been omitted, blame the editor of this post. Our goal was to include everyone, as our Club always aims to do. The Floral Arrangements The Food The People

Crane House's basement was jammed with Members this afternoon, cutting and snipping and wrapping wire around fragrant fir and pine, ready for hanging tomorrow. This annual tradition has been part of the Club's history for nearly 30 years with some of the attendees reminiscing about all the changes that have taken place during that time. This year, as we learned during the "Honoring History" workshop, the decorations will strictly mirror the customs of each of the House's timelines.

Kudos to Kadus! She did it again. She arranged for around 16 of us to visit the New Jersey Governor's mansion ― Drumthwacket ― in Princeton to take part in a tour of this gorgeous, elegant building with its holiday decorations celebrating the Revolutionary War this year, created in each room by a different New Jersey garden club. Most of us in front of the giant fireplace in the library at Drumthwacke t Unfortunately, we could only take this one photo inside due to the ban on cameras. Security was definitely part of the tour. But, take our word for it, each room was lush, exquisite, and thoughtful, with inventive designs celebrating everything from the Colonists' alliance with France to Washington's crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton. Not quite sure how the nautical theme of the Seaweeders Club relates to Colonial days, but it was certainly imaginative with the huge starfish topping its tree. Photos of this year's decorations are not yet available on the Drumthwacket website (the name is Scottish Gaelic and means "wooded hill"), but the website is well worth a visit to read about the house's long history from William Penn to today's role as the soon-to-be official home of a well-known Montclair resident. As a naturalized citizen, this writer felt proud to be in such a beautiful place, saturated with New Jersey's contribution to the birth of this nation, even if the enemy happened to be her old country. Afterwards we celebrated with a long, loud, and delicious lunch at Winberie's Restaurant and Bar. Karen, we thank you for putting this together and creating such a special day. Below, two spectacular wreaths. First, the huge wreath in the barn and, second, the sumptuous one on Drumthwacket's imposing front door.

Once again, the Club gathered on December 4 at Crane House for the annual decorating party. This year, we were much more careful about ensuring the decorations would be in keeping with the times that the house was in use, from its first days as a fancy farmhouse built in 1796 to its new life when, in 1920, African American women in the community bought the home as headquarters for a YWCA, a segregated space. Thank you, Karen Fricke, for your extensive research into historical decoration ( shown here ) as well as your astonishing creation of a feather Christmas tree. See the gallery, below, for scenes from this beloved event.

Hot chocolate and cookies kept all 17 of us warm during today's workshop, Honoring History at the Crane House.   After a slide presentation on the history of Christmas decorating trends and traditions   (you can watch it here! ),   the museum staff took us on a comprehensive tour of the house, explaining how the information from the slide show applies to each room or area.   New purchases have been made by the museum to help us get the historic aspects correct: an authentic goose feather Christmas tree for the formal dining room; period foil decorations and textiles for the YWCA boarders' dining room; even an aluminum tree for the club room.    Please sign up soon to help with decorating:   Greens Preparation Wednesday, December 3, 2025 1 to 3:00PM We will be assembling the greens into garlands, wreaths, and swags for use tomorrow.   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA5A72EABF9C70-57896048-workshop .   Decorating the Crane House and Historic YWCA Thursday, December 4, 2025 10AM to 3:00PM Decorate with Garden Club friends   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA5A72EABF9C70-57896451-decorating

Botanical Arts 1st  - Clare Kuch 2nd 90+ - Michele Tomasik 3rd - Debbie Moran HM Floss O'Sullivan Flower Design Provisional Alexandra. Kildiff Guitar Behbin Novice 2nd - Clare Kuch Intermediate 1st - Kathy Bachmann 2nd 90+ - Pam Turre Advanced Group 1 1st - Cheryl Slutzky 2nd - Susan Benner 3rd - Sarah Olson HM - Susan Brady Advanced Group 2 1st - Michele Tomasik 2nd - Olga Bequillard 3rd - Fricke HM - Floss O'Sullivan Advanced Plus 1st - Barbara Baletti 2nd - Cynthia Corhan-Aitken 3rd - Sarah Stransky Horticulture Many of our talented horticulturalists displayed multiple entries in many categories. Denise Silverman won the most firsts, closely followed by Michele Trevenen, Kathy Bachman, Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, and Sarah Olson. See some of their entries in the slideshow below.

Lindsey Vandevier,  owner of Rosaspina , an artisanal floral and event design studio on Montclair's Church Street, calmly led us through her creative design process using no foam at our monthly program meeting on November 16. As she plucked seemingly random colored blossoms from brimming containers, she shared conditioning tips and strange techniques like spinning roses upside down to open them up while her rich design took shape in front of our eyes. She describes her work as "artfully whimsical," but to at least one viewer, the finished design seemed like a resplendent bouquet for Cinderella's ball.

What would Montclair be without its Spring carpets of tulips and daffodils? Get ready, Montclair!  Over the past few weeks the Garden Club planted over 1,000 bulbs all over town. Daffodils and tulips will greet us this Spring along Church Street, outside the YMCA, Sawtelle Learning Center, Mountainside Hospital and, of course, Avis.  Thank you to our rejuvenated Youth Committee, our loyal Church Street and Avis Committees, and all our youth volunteers.

Smiling in front of their lovely designs are, (l-r), Deb Hirsch, Olga Bequillard, Marie Donnelly, Barbara Baletti, Florence Leyss è ne, Brenda Bingham, Celia Radek, and Sarah Olson. Not shown because the photographer couldn't get them in the frame are Claire Kuch, Tova Narrett, and a very shy but excellent Member. Sue Young provided coffee and compliments. Last Wednesday our talented flower designers gathered en masse in the Garden Room to create the centerpieces for the local organization IMANI's fundraiser held on Thursday. For 25 years, IMANI, under the inspired leadership of JoAnn McCullough, has worked with over 5,500 Montclair kids of color to tackle the educational achievement gap with study groups and elementary student reading groups, SAT classes, and one-on-one assistance with college essays and applications. As well as our Board supporting the group with an ad in the event Journal, Barbara Baletti organized our experienced designers to create the beautiful centerpieces for the event you can see here. Unfortunately one of IMANI's logo colors is blue, so these experts had to ignore their training and the blue dye on their fingers to incorporate the only blue flowers in cold New Jersey into their sweet designs. The slideshow below shows most of them hard at work, and slideshow at the bottom of the page shows their creations in situ. And here are the hugely admired creations at the event, transferred from the garden room with no accidents.

The brick purchased by the Club. Visit the gardens to view the many messages, ranging from formal to tender, scattered throughout the new paths. All week long Avis has been filled with contractors ― under the hawk eye of Cynthia Corhan-Aitken ― translating the vision of a brand new Avis into reality. The new paths with their clean edgings have been under construction since the middle of October, and, on Thursday, Nov. 6, the workers placed the named bricks with their wonderful messages throughout the gardens. Congratulations to all involved in this amazingly successful project, spearheaded by Susan Benner and Michele Trevenen . It not only raised funds to upgrade the gardens, but it enabled Members, friends, and Montclair citizens alike to write their messages of affection for our beautiful Avis Campbell Gardens. Thank you so much, Cynthia , Susan , Michele , Ana , the members of the Avis Campbell Gardens Committee , and all the people who bought the bricks decorating these elegant new paths. The photos below are from Tuesday, when the plain paths were pretty much completed, and Thursday when the named bricks were inserted. Some of the photos are of our gardeners and the fountain, just because they and the fall colors were so glorious. And notice the new Pollinator Pathway sign!

We are so proud that our own Deborah Hirsch is co-honoree with Toni's Kitchen at the Montclair Foundation's "Deck the Hall"s annual fundraiser . We all know her as an indefatigable Member and ex-President creating giant projects in the town or quietly supporting everything we do for so many years, but you may not be aware of her other achievements with the Montclair Foundation and the Montclair Art Museum, among other projects. Many of us will be attending the event at the Museum on Saturday, November 22, 2025, 6:30 – 10 PM, but tickets are still on sale at https://montclairfoundation.org/event/deck-the-halls-2025/

Ethan Dropkin Our first very well-attended meeting of the year on October 20 featured Ethan Dropkin, landscape designer and lover of native plants. He gave a fascinating talk on the similarity of challenging urban situations to equally challenging natural situations. For example, city tree pits share the same horrible conditions as forests in a flood plain. He also suggested some really interesting and unusual trees that work well in specifically terrible conditions and adapt to our changing climate. For example, the Blackhaw, a native viburnum that, unlike many cultivars, resists the dreaded virburnum leaf beetle, is very tolerant of sun or shade, ignores droughts and scoffs at high pH with its showy flowers, fruits and dramatic fall color. There were many more. Results of this month's competitions: Botanical Arts 1st - Floss O'Sullivan 2nd - Karen Fricke 3rd - Michele Tomasik HM - Marilyn Zaret Provisional - Tracy White Flower Design Provisional Ali Kilduff Novice 2st- Clare Kuch 3rd - Tray Reilly Intermediate 1st - Kathy Bachmann 2nd - Marie Donnelly Advanced 1st - Karen Fricke 2nd (90+) - Olga Bequillard 3rd - Susan Brady Advanced Plus 1st - Fran Ackerly 2nd -Cynthia Corhan-Aitken 3rd - Barbara Baletti Coming soon: horticulture results and glorious photos of all of this month's competitions.

Recently, Montclair Garden Club members were pleased to meet with leaders of the Montclair Township to discuss potential opportunities and projects focusing on the environment and beautification of our community. The meeting was a brainstorming continuation of the collaboration started this year with the Environment Committee's wildly successful greening of the Church Street Circle. This is just the beginning of exciting new joint projects, like the current planting at the Y. Working with our township officials can only benefit our beautiful Montclair, and is another step on our ongoing goal to reach out to the community. Below, In attendance (l-r): Deborah Hirsch, Dr. Lisa Johnson (Montclair Township Sustainability Office), Fran Ackerly, Sarah Stransky, Susan Shin Andersen (Montclair Township Deputy Mayor), Sarah Olson, Austin Ashely (Montclair Township Department of Community Services), Stephen Marks (Montclair Township   Manager), and Karen Whitehaus (not pictured).

A screenshot from the beginning of a reel (tiny movie) on our Instagram page where Amy (left) and Tracy introduce themselves. Click on the button at left to go to our I nstagram page. In a crowded and very animated classroom at the Library on Friday, our marketing experts Tracy Reilly and Amy South brought many of us into the world our kids take for granted ― namely the advantages social media can bring to our Club. As you can see from the attached presentation , the enthusiastic and professional posts on Instagram (posted also to Facebook) Tracy and Amy have been creating over the summer have already brought us 1,600 followers. Many of these people had never heard of the Club before they watched these cute, funny, informative, buzzy posts and reels. The Avis crew are already noticing so many more people visiting the “secret garden” as the word gets out. This wonderful workshop showed both our experienced and inexperienced social users how social media works, and ― most important ― how we can help our dynamic duo by creating our own little videos and forwarding them in an email to both Tracy and Amy. (See the presentation for suggestions about how to do that.) They will then add music and captions and let the world know about the joy the Garden Club of Montclair brings to us all. Takeways Always click the heart to "like" a post Try to make a comment Share on your own social media Take tiny videos (15-20 seconds) on your phone and forward (email) them to Tracy and Amy Sharing authentic moments from workshops, garden projects, or celebrations helps attract new interest and fosters a sense of belonging among existing members. Remember, every small effort on social media can make a big difference in building our club’s online presence and welcoming new faces. Any questions, feel free to ask Amy or Tracy at any time. They are well aware that this is new to many of us, and want to share their enthusiasm and to encourage us all to contribute. Cell phones make it easy!

Eleven Active Members gathered together on September 25 to welcome four Provisionals, plus two guests interested in the club, who enjoyed themselves so much, they joined the same night!  Cheryl Slutzky welcomed us to her beautiful home with beverages and snacks. Barbara Baletti and Fran Ackerly gave a masterful introduction to American Traditional Flower Design, demonstrating both triangular mass and vertical line-mass designs. Celia Radek followed with an explanation of what Horticulture competitions are all about, with sample specimens.  Karen Fricke shared three “cheat sheets” she created, things she learned (or wish she had learned!) as a Provisional. We hope that this introduction to the club helped Provisionals and newer members become more familiar with our monthly competitions, and we look forward to seeing their entries in October!

The Garden Club of Montclair has joined the Pollinator Pathway , an international program that works to connect green spaces, both public and private, to create safe passageways for resident and migrating pollinators.   Check out our three gardens on the Pollinator Pathway website!   Avis Campbell Gardens Church Street Gardens Church Street Circle Garden   And consider adding your garden (or single garden bed or window box or planter!) to the Pollinator Pathway. There is no charge, unless you wish to purchase a yard sign to proudly announce your participation in helping save our pollinators, and really, when you think about it, the whole darn world.   Find out what this grassroots movement is all about.

On this sad day of remembrance for our town and the whole country, the following photos show how the Avis Campbell Committee has been working this year to upgrade the 9/11 Memorial in the gardens. The new replacement granite bench was installed, and several new perennials were planted, including hellebores, brunneras, pulmonarias, hydrangeas, Lily Turfs, and Angel Wings.   The stone was originally funded by Member Ann Johnson and her husband Tom in memory of their son Scott who was killed in the attack. To this day, Tom wears a safety pin with the American flag.

Last year's Church Street plantings (with a few added annuals) flourish on Church Street to the delight of Montclair passers-by and diners. The Triangle Committee continues its contribution to the beauty of Montclair. Cynthia Corhan=Aitken writes: "Thank you to Kathy Bachman, Maggie Rothman and the Triangle Committee for keeping everything looking happy and healthy. I was there on Thurday, June 10 and did the “Chelsea Chop” on the Asters.  The Chelsea Chop is a pruning technique used for certain perennials. It got the name because it is typically done around the time of the Chelsea Flower Show in London which is late May to early June.  (Clearly, I am rather late!). You basically gather up the plant like a pony tail and give it a chop. You can go back in afterward and tidy it up but that’s about it. It is done to control the plant size, delay flowering and encourage less leggy more bushy growth. It also prevents taller plants from flopping over. Some perennials that benefit from the chop: Achillea (Yarrow) Asters Campanula Coreopsis Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed) Geranium Helenium Solidago"