The Boston Junior League Garden Club was organized in 1929 and is governed by a board of officers.  Over the years, members have participated in two major long-term projects: the Embankment Garden (1946-84) and the Children’s Field Study Program at the Arnold Arboretum (1984-1992).  By 1992, the Junior League had developed a policy of supporting new projects for a few years and then turning them over to the community.  Since that time, the Garden Club changed its focus from working on individual projects to its involvement with other horticultural organizations and its creation of floral interpretations of art during the popular spring event, “Art in Bloom,” at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  Throughout the Garden Club history, members have carried on the tradition of forming lasting friendships while sharing the love of flowers and gardening at monthly meetings that are both interesting and informative. 

The Embankment Garden was the first major project that was taken on by the Club in 1946.  The Garden was started by the Women’s Municipal League
of Boston, an urban garden for children in the then West End neighborhood on the Charles River embankment. The Katherine Bowlker Memorial Fund supported the Garden from 1926 on in memory of a Boston woman who was particularly interested in children, education, and gardening. In the 1950’s, the Embankment Garden was relocated two times from its original site at the foot of Pinckney Street (the present location of River House): first to the river side of Storrow Drive near the Museum of Science and then to Jamaica Plain.

At the 100th Anniversary of the Junior League of Boston in 2006, the Embankment Garden was described in the following way:  “Every summer from May to September, 40 inner-city children, ages four to early teens, cultivated flowers [and vegetables] at the Embankment Garden.  There, the Junior League’s Garden Club assisted children who had never been beyond the streets and sidewalks of Boston to plant, tend, and harvest organic produce, which frequently won ribbons at the Suffolk County 4H Fair.  Over the years, because of highway and urban renewal projects, the Garden was moved several times, but it continued to provide a rich and unique experience to Boston’s children for almost 40 years, making it one of the Boston League’s longest running projects.”

By 1984, the Embankment Garden was no longer attracting the school-age children of earlier times, and, in addition, Jamaica Plain wanted the land for adult usage.  Garden Club members considered several new projects to replace it, including Garden in the Woods, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and the Arnold Arboretum.  The Garden Club chose the latter, which would serve inner-city children and combine education and horticulture.

The Arnold Arboretum Children’s Field Study Program was described in a 1990 “Happenings” article as sessions “designed to meet specific science curriculum objectives and to create outdoor learning experiences involving students and teachers in hands-on learning activities.”  Four field studies were offered: “Plants and Autumn Seeds and Leaves,” “Flowers,” “Hemlock Hill” and “Around the World with Trees”. In the year 1989, 4000 inner-city children were served by this program.

The Arnold Arboretum program for children had been sponsored by the League for eight years when the League began to implement the policy of transferring established projects to new sponsors.  Based on the strength of the curriculum, the Arboretum was able to get new support from several national funders.  To facilitate the project in its transition, the Garden Club ran a major fundraiser called: “A Garden in Good Order: Two Centuries of Garden-Making at the White House”. Gerald and Christine Doell presented the one-day event at the Weston Golf Club and at the New England Hall on Clarendon Street in Boston.

Since the mid-1990’s, the Boston Junior League Garden Club has increased its visibility by thoughtfully planned involvement in horticultural and other cultural organizations in Greater Boston.  Continuing its partnership with the Junior League of Boston, the Garden Club organized and staffed a “Gardening Day Symposium” at the League’s 2016 Show House at the Nathaniel Allen House in Newton, Massachusetts.  Very well received, this event raised additional funds to support the Junior League’s charitable projects.  In 2022 the Garden Club was approached by the Allen House, now the home of The Newton Cultural Alliance, about the possibility of installing a garden on the property.  The Club embraced the challenge.  Volunteers designed a perennial and shrub border, purchased all plant materials, and installed the garden in May 2023.  Over the years, Garden Club members have also helped with garden maintenance at historical sites as part of its mission to preserve horticultural and historic landmarks in the Boston area, most recently the Puddingstone Hillside Garden project at the Franklin Park Zoo.

We are an affiliate of the Boston Committee of the Garden Clubs of America, which improves city settings, such as the area of the Emerald Necklace across from the Fenway entrance of the Museum of Fine Arts.  We have become involved in programs of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts
and at Elm Bank, home to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society located in Wellesley, MA.   The Garden Club donates a decorated Christmas Tree created by a team of members to MassHort’s annual Festival of Trees fundraiser each December.  In addition, members have been active participants in the Boston Flower Show as well as in “Art in Bloom” at the Museum of Fine Arts.  Notably, the Museum regularly refers reporters to the arranging team from the Garden Club for interviews and photos during the set-up time.  The Garden Club has been featured on the front page of The Boston Globe
in 2018 and 2023.  The art objects for those years were the Gaugin painting “Women and a White Horse” and the Revere “Sons of Liberty Bowl” respectively.

Throughout the years up until 2012, we have held horticulture and floral design competitions carried out with a point system two times a year.  Everyone in the Garden Club was required to exhibit once every two years. To win an award, members would submit an entry in the same category for both fall and spring.  During the first three years of membership, women were competing in flower arranging for the Borden Tray, and then they would progress to the Tweedy Bowl.  After winning the Tweedy Bowl three times, they would graduate to the Boston Box, which was given by Alice Cornish in 1988.  In the category of horticulture, a member who competed for the Chapin Bowl and won three times would progress to the Coco Bowl, donated in 1995.  Hands-on flower arranging lessons, the “Flower School,” designed to develop expertise and confidence in flower arranging, has temporarily replaced the competitions since 2012.  An In-Club Flower Show took place each May until 2017.  Since then, the May meeting program has been designed to allow members to share their creative expressions in activities ranging from a mock “Art In Bloom” to tablescapes with flowers.

Recently, members of The Garden Club have gone on daytime outings known as “Field Trips” to regional horticultural destinations of note such as the Lyman Estate in Waltham, the Boston Public Garden, and the Florence Griswold museum in Connecticut.  Everyone agreed that this was a welcomed and enjoyable development that enables members and friends to socialize beyond the Club’s traditional monthly meetings.

Unless otherwise noted, most of the Garden Club meetings are held at noon on the fourth Monday of the month. To accommodate as many members as reasonably possible, we sometimes hold evening meetings.  Before the year 2000, there were more gatherings in members’ homes because the group
was smaller.  The meetings today are held in churches, clubs, North Hill Retirement Community, and occasionally at Junior League members’ homes in the Metro-Boston area. The Garden Club now utilizes the League’s own renovated meeting spaces at Headquarters on Newbury Street.  In earlier years, members would bring a sandwich for lunch, which would be supplemented by beverages and dessert. For the past few years, a committee prepares a light lunch, which has inspired the group to be punctual and cohesive and has made the meetings even more enjoyable.

In addition, the Club has established a December tradition of hosting a holiday luncheon at a private Boston club with a notable speaker, often a published author invited to present a program of special interest to the membership. On May 20, 2019, the club celebrated its 90th anniversary with a festive luncheon, a floral design presentation and critiqued-in-club flower show held at the Newton Neighborhood Club.

The 21^st Century became much more challenging during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020.  The year started with appreciation for the varied and valuable programming and more field trips than usual, but in March all events were suspended when the Boston area became one of the early sites of rapid infection rates.  The board’s final meeting was held online using ZOOM.  Over the summer, when cases fell, several members with large gardens invited a half dozen fellow members to come see the plants, bringing their own lunches which were eaten outdoors “at social distancing.” 

Since 2021, the meeting programs have followed a general pattern of an in-person September launch at Headquarters on Newbury Street with a guest speaker, seasonal arranging practice or hands-on creative programs for fall, an evening cocktail party at a member’s home, the holiday luncheon, ZOOM sessions during the winter to accommodate weather issues, and in-club arranging lessons and creative displays in spring. The Garden Club strives
to partner with Brookline Garden Club for a winter ZOOM meeting featuring a guest speaker on a horticultural topic.  Traditionally members attend the private tour night of Art in Bloom at the MFA in April as a club meeting to celebrate the arrangement submitted by the Club and to enjoy the creations of the other participants.  Field trips supplement these formal meeting programs, including a favorite new gathering at Hydrangea Days in Chatham in July.  The Garden Club also enjoys in-person updates from the League President as her schedule permits and works to coordinate at least one program a year with the Sustainer Council.  Specific program information is documented in the yearbook for each program year as well as the Historian’s binder.  Archival objects and photographs are also on display in the Garden Club cabinet in the Living Room at Headquarters.

These new and varied meeting options have increased membership inquiries by many current members of the League, which has helped us to work toward the goal of the Board to maintain the sustainability of the Club and to grow the membership. Yes, we are proud to be your mother’s garden club, but the Boston Junior League Garden Club is also “Your Gardening Club in the 21st Century”.

Jean Marquand, Historian with Andrea Graveline and Judy Knutson 2019. Expanded by Josie Foote, Yearbook Editor 2022 and Daphne Durham, Vice President 2023.

Information for the earlier history was based on two documents written by Mary Williams in 1990 and 1999 as well as the insights and experiences of longtime members, Ruth Wilson, Marie-Louise Gustin, Peggy Plimpton, and many other women who have enjoyed the Boston Junior League Garden Club over the years.