top of page
About
The
House & 
Garden Club of Wellesley
top photo.jpeg

Join the fun!  


The House and Garden Club's activities nurture 

warm friendships and philanthropic outreach
that benefit Wellesley, its residents, its schools, and its businesses.

​

  Make new friends while you make a  difference in your community's education,
conservation, and beautification.


Guests are Welcome! 

We are always seeking to “grow” club membership.

Founded in 1958 and Federated as a Non-Profit 501 (c) 3 Civic Organization in 1963

Membership Info

Memberships and Affiliations 

​

- National Garden Clubs, Inc.
- National Garden Clubs New England Region, Inc.
- Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc.
- Massachusetts Horticultural Society
- Joint Council of Wellesley Garden Clubs
- Wellesley Conservation Council
- Wellesley Green Collaborative

Membership Info
Photos
Photos
Get In Touch!

We're happy to answer your questions.

Thanks! Message sent.

Contact
Programs and Activities 2024 - 2025
Schedule

​

Tuesday September 18th, 11:00am

Opening Meeting and luncheon at member’s home.

​

Thursday, October 3rd, 10:00am (rain date: Friday, 10/4)

Debrah Trickett, Founder and Owner of The Captured Garden ~ Garden tour of Debrah’s garden to see the good, bad and ugly.

​

Thursday October 24th, 10-11:30am

Suze Nock, Garden Designer Workshop: Suze will guide participants in creating a seasonal arrangement with succulents placed in pumpkins.

​

Wednesday, November 13, 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Gore Place Mansion Tour (Waltham, MA). BYO Lunch,Carriage House.

​

Tuesday, December 3rd, 10:00am

Greens Day and Wreath Decorating Workshop Rotate through two workshops stations: One station for bow making and fluffing for Town Hall wraths and the other station for decorating your own wreath to take home. Share any extra bows or decorations that you may have with other club members

​

Thursday December 12th, 10:30am

Holiday Luncheon and Fundraiser, Charles River Country Club, Newton

​

Thursday, January 16, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (snow date: January 17)

Mary Joy Gasdia, Serenity Stitching and luncheon Learn about and try your hand at crocheting. See may handmade crochet decorations and gifts. Lunch and beverages will be provided at member’s home.

​

Friday, February 14th, 2-4pm

English tea along with a game of plant trivia at member’s home.

​

Tuesday, March 4th, 11:30am-2:30pm

“The Biggest Little Farm” movie viewing and potluck lunch at member’s home.

​

Thursday March 27th 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Mel Gadd, Beekeeper at Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, Presentation by Mel Gadd about why honeybees and other pollinators are important to our ecosystems.

​

April Date/time/location TBD

Join members of all Wellesley garden clubs for an enjoyable and informative presentation.

​

Thursday April 24th, 9:30am-2pm

Art in Bloom, Museum of Fine Arts, followed by lunch at the New American Cafe’.

​

Saturday May 3rd, 7am-1pm

Annual Geranium Sale (to benefit community gardens in Wellesley) Two locations: Wellesley Recycling Center, book area and Captain Marden’s parking lot

​

Tuesday May 20th, 10:30 - 11:30am

Guided Tour Hunnewell Estate Grounds. Explore the horticultural history of the H.H. Hunnewell Estate.

​

Thursday June 5th, 11am

Closing Meeting and Luncheon. Celebration of the club’s accomplishments, acknowledgements of our fellow members’ efforts and enjoy each other’s company. Member’s home.

Club Officers

CLUB OFFICERS 2024-2025

Co-Presidents:  Shelly Griswold and Susan Miao

Vice President:   Carrie Benet

Social Secretary: Nan Morrow

Treasurer:  Shelly Griswold

Ex-Officio: Barbara Viechnicki

Sustaining Co-ordinator: Barbara Viechnicki

​

 Board Meetings are held the last Monday of each month at 12 noon.

Place TBA.

​

Club Officers
Fulfilling Our Mission

Mission:   

The House and Garden Club aims to preserve town resources, beautify our surroundings, and educate ourselves and others on horticultural and environmental issues.  We connect through creative programming: speakers, workshops, activities, field trips, reading circles, film viewing and more. The club also aims to support conservation at the local, state, and national levels.  

​

Community Projects include the installation and maintenance of Butterfly Gardens at Wellesley elementary schools, and Central Park at Post Office Square; providing holiday decorations for Town Hall; hosting an annual auction to benefit Wellesley Friendly Aid's Camp Scholarship Fund; providing Garden Therapy for seniors; hosting an annual Geranium Sale Fundraiser to support these and other projects. 

​

Central Park:  

We launched Central Park in 1963 to beautify Post Office Square and Wellesley Center.  After removing unsightly undergrowth and weeds, the club prepared the ground to receive plantings of trees, shrubs, bulbs, perennials, and annuals, to give Post Office Square enduring appeal with the colors, fragrances, and horticultural beauty of each season.

​

In collaboration with Wellesley's Department of Public Works, many more additions have been added since 1963, including the picnic table, benches, a brick walkway, and the bronze statue "Girl with Butterfly" that we commissioned to be made by the local artist, Merrilyn Delano Marsh, is a statue of a girl grasping a bouquet topped off by a butterfly. It commemorates the Club's Butterfly Gardens at Wellesley elementary schools.  The most recent additions are lovely lilac shrubs given in memory of Mrs. Billie St. Clair, one of the club's Founding Members and a former club president.

​

Wellesley Schools' Butterfly Gardens grew out of the club’s collaboration with the Wellesley Schools’ Director of Curriculum and the PTO's Beautification Committees.  The club's mission of conservation of wildlife and lands united with Wellesley Schools' Science Curriculum.  The gardens were designed to 1) save the diminishing population of butterflies [and bees], by providing nourishment for them with plants from which they prefer to drink nectar, and by 2) providing “host plants” on which they prefer to lay their eggs. 

​

Wellesley’s elementary schools have Butterfly Gardens, AKA Outdoor Science Laboratories in which students may observe science.  Following a butterfly's metamorphosis, it is released into the gardens. Each May Wellesley's students and teachers give these colorful insects their new homes in nature.  In addition, the gardens are used for other science lessons, such as for the study of seeds.

​

​More Community Projects:

  • Collaborative projects with Wellesley Girl Scouts, encouraging young gardeners and giving them Service Awards

  • Annual Luncheon and Holiday Auction benefitting the Wellesley Friendly Aid Camp Scholarship Fund

  • Collaborative projects and programs with the Council of Wellesley Garden Clubs

  • Art in Bloom, Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Mission
bottom of page