Special Projects



Waterwise Gardening Project

The Acton Garden Club and the Acton Water District jointly developed the Waterwise Gardening Program to help residents become aware of our need to conserve water by encouraging waterwise landscaping.
Our award-winning program helps educate and encourage the community to use the following techniques: minimal watering, use of mulch, amending the soil to retain water, the creation of droughttolerant lawns and plantings, reduced lawn areas, water-conserving irrigation, and water collection devices.
From time to time, speakers are scheduled to increase understanding of waterwise principles and techniques. With the Acton Water District, we have designed an eight-page color/glossy booklet entitled ‘Using Water Wisely: A Guide to Conserving Water in Acton, Massachusetts.’ It is part of our material to promote drought-tolerant planting and water conservation. In addition, we are exploring global warming and its impact on waterwise gardening.
The Acton Garden Club supports using water wisely and promotes drought-tolerant plants that are indigenous to the New England area. For our annual plant sale, we use our waterwise logo on plant identification markers to indicate plants that are drought-tolerant.


2007 Oktoberfest

On October 13th the Acton Garden Club participated for the fifth consecutive year in the Oktoberfest activities sponsored by the West Acton merchants. We sold 500 Narcissus ‘Delnashaugh’ daffodil bulbs, packaged ten bulbs to a bag. The proceeds helped local charities, and the bulbs will add beauty to Acton gardens. The attractive table display had handouts that described how to plant and care for daffodils. The day was sunny and warm, and all participants had a good time.


Acton Area Looks Good

The Acton Garden Club feels that it is important to reach out in the community and recognize local businesses in Acton that have made exemplary efforts to beautify and maintain their properties. During the summer months, members of the committee serve as judges and evaluate landscape designs of local businesses. There is a set of criteria by which each property is judged. Criteria include color, texture, scale, and maintenance. The businesses are evaluated in one of several categories: single retail, plaza, multiple occupant retail, professional business, new business, most improved or continued excellence. The winners receive awards at the September meeting.



Art in Bloom

Each year two members of the Acton Garden Club participate in ‘Art in Bloom’ at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The MFA’s ‘Art in Bloom’ is a spring festival of art and flowers and transforms the museum by highlighting in flowers specially chosen works of art from the collection. The festival is presented by the MFA Associates and is their major fund-raiser of the year. Over 60 spectacular designs are on display created by garden club designers and floral design professionals.
For Art in Bloom, 2008, Thelma Shoneman, arranger, and Sandy Bonzagni, assistant, represented the Acton Garden Club by doing an interpretive design in the African Gallery.



National Garden Week

The Acton Garden Club, in conjunction with National Garden Clubs, Inc., celebrates National Garden Week the first full week of June by presenting a display at the Acton Memorial Library.
In 2008, our display featured New England stone walls. Photographs, books featuring stone walls, and a naturalistic arrangement with native plants such as ferns, lichen and moss were displayed with handouts and relevant library books. Acton Garden Club brochures were available.




Acton Memorial Library Holiday Mini-Fair

In early December, the Acton Garden Club participated once again in the Holiday Mini-Fair sponsored by the Acton Memorial Library. At the fair, the Club presented a lovely table of holiday greens decorations made by members of the Club to be raffled off to the public as a fund-raiser. The prizes were a lighted table-top boxwood tree decorated in silver, a mixed greens door swag featuring a large candy cane ornament with a sparkling red bow and accents, and a festive gingerbread house gaily decorated with sweets.
Club members who manned the table during the four-hour fair sold raffle tickets, ‘Holiday House Tour’ tickets and handed out brochures promoting the activities of the Acton Garden Club. The raffle prizes were very eye-catching, and many people visited the table. It was a wonderful opportunity for library patrons to learn about the Club and its programs.


Flora in Winter Event
at Worcester Art Museum

‘Flora in Winter’ is the combined effort of the Worcester Art Museum and the Tower Hill Botanic Garden - the home of the Worcester County Horticultural Society. It is an annual event with about twentyfive floral designers interpreting pieces of art at the museum and twenty designers interpreting a different theme each year at the Tower Hill location. This year’s theme was ‘Passport to China’ in anticipation of the Summer Olympics.

Wildflower Retrieval

Working with the Town Conservation Commission, the Acton Garden Club is available to assist in a program to help retrieve wildflowers on property slated for development.

Back to Club Main Page