At our 100th Birthday Party and the 2026 Art in Bloom at the Montclair Art Museum, the following homage was prominently featured about a wonderful woman and committed citizen of Montclair. Julia Smith Berrall Julia Berrall: Homage from the Garden Club of Montclair Julia Smith Berrall (1904-1995) was an inspiration, a mentor, and a lifelong friend to the Garden Club of Montclair, whose members have contributed to this year’s Art in Bloom display. Julia was born on May 4, 1904, in Montclair. A graduate of Vassar College, she majored in musical studies and subsequently became a concert pianist. Later, Julia served both the Newark Museum of Art and Montclair Art Museum in various capacities for over 50 years. A longtime trustee of the Montclair Art Museum, she curated a significant number of tasteful and popular exhibitions of costumes from a variety of eras, including her first show American Costumes: 750 Years of Fashion, held in 1933. Throughout her life, Julia exhibited a great love for flowers, gardens, and their history. She maintained a spectacular garden at her Montclair home and presented lectures on gardens throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, American Horticultural Society, and Williamsburg Garden Society. She also led historical tours in the U.S., England, and France. Julia received an honor from the Cloud d'Or des Jardin, a select organization of garden authors specializing in history. She was recognized by The National Council of State Garden Clubs and the Garden Club of America. As an instructor for National Garden Clubs, she lectured in their Flower Show School program. She published many books, the last one in 2010, entitled Early American Garden Bouquets. The floral arrangement on this page was created by Brenda Bingham, friend and student of Julia, to commemorate her life and influence on the club. The arrangement was displayed at the club's 100th birthday celebration on April 27, 2026, along with the above tribute.. Return to 100th Birthday Party photos

To celebrate our centenary, 11 of our finest designers created extraordinary floral arrangements, translating their reflections on each decade into exquisite and deeply personal physical expressions. Thank you, Barbara Baletti, for conceiving of this project, and spearheading it to success. See also photographs of members and their significant others at the party held at the Montclair Museum of Art on April 27, 2026. The 1920s — “Bold and Beautiful” The era known as the “Roaring Twenties” was a time of dramatic economic, social, and cultural change. An economic boom and the mass production of cars and household appliances brought the rise of consumer culture. Prohibition led to bootlegging and “speakeasies.” Women won the right to vote. “Flappers” challenged traditional gender roles with new fashions, dancing, and bobbed hair. African American literature, art, and music were brought to the forefront by the Harlem Renaissance. My flower design was inspired by the opulent and bold Art Deco style of the time which featured dramatic, large-scale designs using clean, sharp lines. A key element was the use of soft romantic blooms with bold or unusual foliage. — Fran Ackerly The 1930s — “Softness and Grace” The 1930s favored elegance, restraint, and a return to natural beauty in the decorative arts. Even during the hardships of the Great Depression, flowers brought warmth, color, and optimism into the home. Bouquets were not simply decorative — they reflected the era’s aesthetic, blending simplicity with everyday charm. Arrangements balanced the sleek influence of Art Deco with traditional craftsmanship. Unlike the rigid symmetry of earlier decades, bouquets embraced natural movement and negative space, allowing flowers to appear as they grow in nature. The classic English garden bouquet also returned in popularity, interpreted with a more structured artistic touch. — Deborah Hirsch The 1940s — “Triumph Over Tragedy” The 1940s were a pivotal and traumatic decade for the world at large and particularly for my family. Both my parents lost most of their relatives during the Holocaust. My mother, Flory, a refugee from Yugoslavia, met and married my father, Harry, a US Army Master Sergeant, in Bari, Italy. She loved carnations. He loved tulips. The world struggled to regain normalcy, my parents began a new life in the US and embraced the future! This design is in honor of them. — Betty Jagoda Murphy The 1950s — “The Golden Decade" 1950s America was a time marked by post-war economic boom, a rise in suburban living, and a return to traditional family values. Though we didn’t live in suburbia, my parents did buy their first house as a young married couple in Brooklyn in the late 1950s. My mom, who was a traditional wife and mother, loved cooking and hosting family and friends for dinner parties and holidays. She would set her dining room table with her wedding china and would always have a centerpiece of beautiful flowers. My floral design is reminiscent of my mom and those happy times when life was good and prosperity abounded. It was the “golden age” for the middle class. — Cynthia Corham-Aitken The 1960s — “The Age of Aquarius” The 1960s saw the rise of counterculture and the hippie movement which emphasized peace, love, and opposition to the Vietnam War. Young people revolted against social conformity, rejected materialism, and demanded more freedoms for women and minorities. Music, attitudes, and clothing changed. Women’s below-the-knee skirts gave rise to minis, GoGo boots replaced loafers, and jeans and long hair were trademarks for the younger generation of both women and men. My design is a tribute to the fashion of the day, the psychedelic GoGo look with a touch of daisies as an anti-war statement. — Susan Benner The 1970s — “Romance, Flair, and Music” The 1970s in the U.S. were a time of introspection and vibrancy, blending uncertainty with bold self-expression. After the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, trust in institutions declined, but culture thrived. Disco’s frenetic nightlife, bell-bottom fashion, and iconic films like “The Godfather” and “Saturday Night Fever” defined the era. Weddings reflected a mix of romance and flair, with lush flowers like roses and carnations. Marc and I married in 1971, surrounded by a pale blue décor, blue and white roses, and many colorful flowers. Royal blue tapers sat on each table — more vibrant than typical earth tones of the era! — Cheryl Slutzky The 1980s — “Power, Glamour, and Excess” Nothing was understated about this decade — the 80s were all about power, glamour, and excess. Everything was bold and oversized, the bigger the better, and topped off with lavish bling and glitz. So I ransacked my garage for the biggest, splashiest, most over-the-top plant material I could find. The mood and colors were inspired by a photo of an iridescent 80s brocade evening gown, shimmering with pale threads of aqua, gold, and copper. — Tova Narrett The 1990s — "Love and Marriage" The 90s were a decade of economic prosperity and cultural stability in America. The Cold War had finally ended and there was relative peace in the world. Americans spent more, the population trended upward, and with it so did marriage rates. Did you know that there were 2,443,000 marriages in the early 90s, the highest number since 1984? With that in mind we decided to create a “Marriage Bouquet” as our decade design to celebrate “Love and Marriage.” — Barbara Baletti and Florence Leyssène The 2000s — “The Purity and Hope of White" The 2000s were a tumultuous decade. Our nation was enduring both economic and political crises yet experiencing a boom in technology. A seminal event that helped to temper national anxieties was the election of our first Black president who projected a vision of “Hope and Change” for America. I wanted to create a floral design that reflected a sense of purity and hope yet contained a quality of lushness and formality with an abundance of white flowers. What better way to convey this feeling than with roses, hydrangeas, and calla lilies? — Susan Brady The 2010s — “Creative Minimalism” The 2010s were a decade when flower designs, strongly influenced by social media, moved away from rigid, dome-shaped bouquets toward more minimal designs that featured a mix of textures and greenery. Modern Minimalist and Line-Focused floral designs surfaced in the latter part of the decade, using less plant material and focusing on negative space and clean lines. The National Garden Club, while maintaining its Standards and Principles, responded to these shifts in the design movement and revised its 2017 Handbook to include more creative design types using less plant material. My exhibit features a Creative, not Traditional, minimal plant material design. — Sarah Stransky The 2020s — “Short and Sweet” The second decade is witnessing a resurgence in the popularity of floral design in terrariums. First off, there is to be a wide variety of small succulents to choose from. Designers can let their creativity run wild. Chain stores such as Amazon provide prepackaged packs of soil, mosses and other growth media — everything one needs to get into terrarium gardening. Even our own Amy South even got into the fun when she owned “Moss and More”! — Susan Straten

On April 27, 2026 we celebrated 100 years of the Garden Club of Montclair's proud history. Members and their significant others gathered together at the Montclair Art Museum to commemorate our past, honor our present, and raise a glass to our future. The event, coordinated by Cynthia Corhan-Aitken and Karen Fricke with the essential assistance of many of our members, was a wonderful success, as you can see by the photos, below, and the closeups of the 11 breathtaking floral arrangements celebrating each decade of our existence (click here to view). The highlight of the evening was the movie, created by Alex Pavljuk, Creative Media Producer at MAM, which featured many of our emeriti as well as our newest members talking about our extraordinary history and what the club has meant to them, An homage to Julia Berrell was also prominently displayed (click here to read). Thanks to everyone who made the evening such a success, as well as to an anonymous member for her generous gift of splendid tote bags to mark the occasion. These photos were taken by Amy Poster, Sue Young, and of course, Sue Yu. Clicking on a photo will bring it, and all of them, up in a slideshow.

FLOWER DESIGN Note: Judges did not award Firsts in some categories. Novice An American Traditional Horizontal Line Design 2nd - Clare Kuch Intermediate A Multi-Rhythmic Design 1st - Kathy Bachmann Advanced A Creative Design  2nd - Olga Bequillard Advanced Plus A Panel Design  1st - Cynthia Corhan-Aitken BOTANICAL ARTS Macro Photograph 1st - Denise Silverman Collage 1st - Barbara Baletti

Our March program, “Gardening for Hummingbirds” took place on the 23rd with a presentation by Duncan Himmelman, the former education director at the Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware.  Duncan, a witty, entertaining speaker helped us explore the life cycle of the ruby-throated hummingbird.  We learned how to make our gardens a haven for these tiny flying jewels by including a selection of native plants to provide food sources and nesting sites from spring to fall.

On Feb. 11, under the aegis of the Adult School in a sold-out class, our president and noted designer Fran Ackerly, assisted by photographer (and noted designer) Barbara Baletti, demonstrated the step-by-step procedure to create a lovely American Traditional Galentine’s Day design with carnations, mums, veronica and ferns. The class carefully followed Fran's expert instructions and enjoyed every moment ― as was evident as they proudly and carefully carried their creations out of the Library doors.    See the beautiful results.

Workshop Chair Karen Fricke (l) and presenter Dani Scannella Soil preparation doesn't seem like the funniest topic for a workshop, but nine of us met in the club room on Feb. 20 for a hilarious workshop with Dani Scannella, our January program speaker, and owner of The Backyard Gardener . With a dizzying array of her kitchen mixing bowls, spatulas, spackling tools, toothpicks, cell trays and other bizarre instruments, Dani demonstrated how to create a enormous batch of what looked amazingly  like chocolate brownie mix! She then showed exactly how to transform this dirt into vegetable gold. We all became fans of "soil blocking" which eliminates the need for plastic pots, reduces the amount of space required, and benefits the plants by air pruning the seedlings as they grow, creating stronger, healthier root systems. There was also time for us to join in a seed swap: people brought seeds, and Dani supplied us with little envelopes to take home along with new ideas as well as the realization that winter really will end one of these days. Dani provided the following handouts to remind us of what she covered in the workshop. One thing to note is that the soil blocking document only shows the recipe for the soil mix. You can just use the Vermont Compost Company Ft. Vee Mix  instead, and follow the rest of the instructions from there.  Seed Starting Supplies Soil Blocking Procedures

Our January competetion was postponed to February due to a snowstorm, but the creations were as beautiful as ever. As usual, firsts are pictured next to the list, and all the others are shown in the slideshow, below. Flower Design Advanced Plus 1st - Fran Ackerly 2nd - Sarah Stransky 3rd - Cynthia Corhan-Aitken HM - Barbara Baletti Due to the number of entries, Advanced was divided into two sections. Advanced Section 1 1st - Olga Bequillard 2nd - Cheryl Slutzky 3rd - Michele Tomasik HM - Susan Benner Advanced Section 2 1st - Karen Fricke 2nd - Sarah Olson 90+ 3rd - Celia Radek HM - Susan Brady HM - Susan Straten Novice 1st - Lisa Schweitzer 2nd - Sue Young 3rd - Clare Kuch Provisional Sonali (Tasha) Sekhri Botanical Arts ARTISTIC CRAFTS - Getting Ready for Valentine's Day: A Decorated Purse 1st: Michele Tomasik 2nd 90+: Jacoba Coes PHOTOGRAPHY 1st - Olga Bequillard 2nd - Sheila Oakes 3rd - Michele Tomasik HM - Barbara Baletti HM - Marilyn Zaret

What a great opening presentation for our first program meeting of our 100th year! Dani Scanella led us clearly and simply through the creation of a backyard kitchen garden. She covered everything from what to plant and ― very important ― when, to ensure a year-long supply of fresh vegetables. Using the example of her own backyard, she showed us how to set up your raised beds and thwart the critters. She shared some of her favorite local suppliers with us, as well as her top 5 takeaways for new backyard farmers. GCM members (members only) can sign up for a workshop on Feb. 20 led by Dani where she will go deeper into the basics, including components needed for a successful setup, what seeds are best started indoors as opposed to in the garden, and she’ll demonstrate planting seeds in both traditional trays as well as her new favorite method, soil blocking. She’ll share her favorite seed catalogs and we’ll finish the workshop with a “mini seed swap." The meeting finished with the opening salvo of our celebration year: one hundred cupcakes!! Created by Liliane Gooch , they vanished like, well, hot cakes. Delicious.

A Deron student watches closely as his instructor shows the correct placement of a daffodil bulb. From Committee Chair Jacoba Coes ― We all joined the Garden Club because we believe in its 100-year-long mission to spread the joy of gardening and creating beauty with plants and flowers. The Youth Committee is well positioned to promote that goal by involving the next generation in garden projects and art with nature.  Our mission ― ignite a life-long passion for gardening!   Our 2025-26 year started with events at Van Vleck, sparked by Donna Karanja’s and Suzy Straten’s outreach to Van Vleck. (See the pictures, below, with photos from the other events described in this post.) On a hot day in October we participated in Sensory Day when we created tissue flowers to provide an activity suitable for all ages. In November we participated in Van Vleck's Art and Nature Day with a tree silhouette inviting children of all ages to use glue, leaves and tissue paper to decorate. Both events were hits!   In October we planted bulbs, a long tradition of the Club. Our long-time partners, the YMCA and Mountainside Hospital, will glow this spring with the beauty of tulips planted by eager groups from MHS and Deron, lead by our team. This was a rewarding experience for all of us and for the students; we can’t wait to do it all over again next year!   We also, for the first time, planted daffodils at Sawtelle Learning Center with a group of students who had not been exposed to gardening before. The pride these youths took in getting bulbs into the ground was heartwarming and, according to the school faculty, they talked about it for weeks afterwards. We cannot wait to hear about their reactions to the flowers when they appear!   In January we continued to focus on planting for the future, this time by conducting winter sowing workshops. At Hillside School we co-hosted a winter seed-sowing program with Master Gardeners of Essex County. Science teacher Susan Bartol showed a slideshow on how native perennials grow from seed and the classes examined a variety of seeds. We taught and facilitated sowing seeds in plastic baggies that are now sitting outside in the garden, awaiting spring. All in all, three classes of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders planted 25 baggies of natives. We hope that our efforts provide many plants for the new native plant garden.   At Sawtelle Learning Center we held a garden brainstorming session and winter sowing training with teachers. This will allow the seed activity to be conducted in multiple classes with students working one on one with their counselors. We reviewed planting out locations for the winter sowing including one next to their daffodils. A steep slope recently cleared of vines and saplings will be seeded after last frost with California poppy, partridge pea, nasturtium, and zinnia seeds provided by our Club. We will come back to support their efforts and do a train-the-teacher workshop on planting out.    Our next event will be on April 20 to train Sawtelle instructors on creating aroma jars for Mother’s Day gifts. This will be rolled out to classes during their art time, and, as with winter sowing, we will occasionally, as requested, mentor instructors with their classes. This is a good year.

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.