Perhaps you’ve marveled at the holiday greens that adorned our public buildings during the holiday season, or are looking forward to seeing the carefully crafted containers and plantings that will embellish Route 20 this spring and summer. Maybe you’ve caught the scent of the flowers wafting from the beautiful bouquets at the checkout desk at the library.
Not everyone lives in a place where they can literally stop and smell the roses. But if you have, you can thank the members of the Wayland Garden Club for their community service.
This group of 88 dedicated members performs an array of town-wide beautification projects and provides a plethora of information related to horticulture and conservation for its members and the public.
Elisa Scola has been a very active member of the group for more than 15 years, and served as its president from 2021–25. She joined the group when her daughter was four years old.
“Initially, spending time in the garden gave me something to do in the yard when I had to be outside with the kids,” she said.
Scola admits that she knew very little about gardening when she joined the group. Now she is one of the club’s flowering plant experts.
“If it can’t survive without irrigation, it does not belong in my garden,” she said.
During the group’s annual plant sale, members are on hand who can help recommend plants that will respond well to very little water due to Wayland’s chronic water ban. Some native plants started by seed in the club’s Winter Sow Workshop include the white wood aster, the nodding onion, and the Gray Goldenrod — just a handful of the plants available for purchase on Saturday, May 16, 9 a.m. to noon, behind the Town Building (41 Cochituate Road).
Being a member of the club has also inspired Scola to change her habits for spring and fall yard cleanups. She no longer rakes up her leaves as they house many nutrients and the larvae of fireflies and many other native insects that overwinter in leaf litter. If you haven’t seen any fireflies lighting your yard in recent years, you may well have raked them all up.
Other activities include garden tours and decorating the Wayland Museum for the Wayland Historical Society celebration. One committee decorated the Heard Grout House for the museum’s open house and another decorated the Wayside Inn in Sudbury. The club also worked with the Wayland Facilities Department to install planters filled with native plants on the newly restored Stone’s Bridge.
Scola, who recently handed over the reins of president to Jane Nugent in September, says the club is thriving. The group members share a tight bond and kick off each meeting with coffee and light refreshments.
“It’s hard to get everyone focused before the presentations begin,” she admits. “Everyone always wants to catch up.”
The Wayland Garden Club was established in 1922 and has held a strong presence for over 100one hundred years. At one time, husbands accompanied their wives to meetings. Members meet every fourth Tuesday of the month for lectures, demonstrations and workshops from September to April on making wreaths, bows and floral designs. During the summer months, members are busy gardening. They convene at the St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Parish in Lincoln, and are always accepting new members.
Scola, now serving as the group’s media publicist, has created Facebook and Instagram pages to invite new members. Interested parties are encouraged to attend one meeting to determine whether or not it is a good fit before becoming officially accepted. Email waylandgardenclub@gmail.com if interested. Men and women are encouraged to join.
