An evening in the garden ...

A bold container garden by Tracy Drislane

Last week the Village Garden Club of Lynnfield held its year-end dinner event at the home of Tracy and Chris Drislane. Tracy, who is a garden club member, and Chris, who is a professional landscape designer and certified horticulturist {DesignScapes, Inc.} have a beautiful property that I have always admired for its rustic charm, great use of scale and creative touches. Here are some images taken during the
garden stroll portion of our evening ...

A variety of large leaf hosta plants fill the gravel
covered alley between the barn and the house.

A hurricane lamp decorated with hosta and coleus leaves still stands tall even after the skies opened up and rained during the early part of the evening.

S’mores were on the menu, but we had our
desserts inside. Isn’t this fireplace amazing???

I love how Tracy filled a number of wine glasses with moss and succulent blossoms and then accompanied them with candles in bell jars as table centerpieces.

Even the tomato plants looked great when
partnered with tall landscape grasses
standing like a living screen behind them.

It would not be a Village Garden Club party without a beautifully presented and equally delicious menu (courtesy of President Bootie Stevens, Tracy Drislane and other club member contributions).

Fresh rosemary is a pretty and fragrant
accent when added to a dish of hummus
or in a container garden like below.

With garden club member and friend, Laura Thomson

A lot of members commented on the gray floral pin I wore attached to a string of pearls. It is by stella & dot and is available by clicking here (type in my name as the hostess to order one for yourself, or any of the other lovely stella & dot jewelry items).


My rock garden this morning


A garden path by DesignScapes, Inc.
for Club President Bootie Stevens

This week I will be focusing on cleaning up my own gardens now that I have been completely inspired by the combined effort of the Drislane’s, plus a year of attending garden club lectures and events. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Village Garden Club of Lynnfield (and live in this area ; ) please contact me by email at yblacker@verizon.net.



Annual dues are just $25 per person which entitles each member to discounts at local nurseries, free admission to monthly events (we meet from September to June) and lots of information-sharing from the dedicated garden enthusiasts that make up the group. We always have a lot of fun at our monthly Monday night meetings, and have done a lot of community service gardening for the town of
Lynnfield as well. To see some mentions of events from this past year, visit the following links:

Arranging dramatic centerpieces with Bert Ford

Art in Bloom at the Lynnfield Library

Holiday party decorating: Laura Thomson

Field trip to The Stevens Estate, No. Andover

Kim Smith and autumn gardening



Thank you for opening your
home to us, Tracy and Chris!