Somerville Garden Club

Greens from the Garden, Blooms from the Store

Tom Sopko, a member of the Somerville Garden Club who has been arranging flowers since his teens, will create casual and inexpensive summer arrangements using garden foliage and some store-bought blooms. He will use a variety of foliage from his yard, and talk about conditioning cut plant material for use in arrangements, and about branch and foliage material that works well (or not) in Oasis. He will make three arrangements in simple containers, all of which will be suitable for use as a centerpiece on a dinner table or on a coffee table or buffet.

The son of an Ohio florist, Tom has been part of the flower design team at the Church of the Advent (Episcopal) in Boston for over 20 years, serving for 15 years as assistant to internationally renowned floral designer and teacher Kenn Stephens before taking over as director in 2007. Tom contributed to London floral designer and teacher Judith Blacklock’s 2009 book, Church Flowers. He is also the gardener-in-residence at the Chester Kingsley House at 10 Chester Street.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.

Cheryl Monroe, Certified Master Gardener, will present “Clematis: Queen of the Climbers.” Ms. Monroe grows more than 50 varieties of clematis, what she calls the queen of the climbers, up, through and around her garden in the sun, shade, in the ground and in containers. This lively presentation will inspire you to learn more about this exciting genus of plants. She maintains an online blog – The Garden in the Burrow.

Ms. Monroe lives and gardens in Jefferson, MA, where she is past president and acting Community Service Chairperson of the Holden Garden Club. She is currently part of the MMGA Speakers’ Bureau, and a dedicated volunteer at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston. Her gardens are ornamental and whimsical, and she grows close to 100 climbing plants including the clematis.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.