Have you ever asked your neighbors if you could dig up plants from their garden? For members of the Driftwood Garden Club, it’s an annual tradition.
The effort is part of the club’s Dig & Divide initiative, a key step in preparing for its annual plant sale.
“We actually call people in town who have nice gardens and ask if they’d mind if we dig in their garden,” said Barbara Saraceno, a member of the executive committee. “It is really a sight to behold.”
From April 19 through April 25 this year, members visited select homes to dig up and divide plants.
Driftwood Garden Club members at a Dig and Divide event. COURTESY PHOTO / BARBARA GRAVES
“You go out to the homeowner’s house with other members, and we come and dig up your backyard,” said Adrienne Sweetser, co-chair of the club’s plant sale.
Afterward, members care for the plants until the sale, scheduled for Monday, May 9, 8:30-11:30 a.m. at the Masonic Hall.
Proceeds support the club’s work maintaining the Abbot Library and Old Farrell Court.
“I really feel the residents get such a kick out of it,” Sweetser said. “They can come out, see a beautiful courtyard, sit outside, get some sunshine and they really look forward to what enhancements we’ve done.”
She added: ““It’s one of those self-rewarding things. You plant the seed and see what happens.”
Driftwood is one of several garden clubs in Marblehead that raise funds through spring plant sales while maintaining public spaces across town.
Marblehead Garden Club
The Marblehead Garden Club, the town’s oldest, will celebrate its 100th anniversary this summer.
“We’re doing some community projects,” said Michelle Abrams, the club’s publicist. “They will involve things like community planting, seed distribution and activities within the club to commemorate the 100th.”
The club’s annual plant sale will be held Saturday, May 16, 8:30-11 a.m., at the Jeremiah Lee Mansion. The sale will include a variety of plants, including rare wildflowers.
Marblehead Garden Club plant sale draws a crowd at the Jeremiah Lee Mansion. COURTESY PHOTO
To mark the milestone, the club is launching a hollyhock renewal campaign to revive interest in the flower long associated with Marblehead’s history. Free packets of hollyhock seeds, along with planting instructions, will be distributed at the sale.
“It’s a big gathering,” Abrams said. “A lot of people come year after year. I go peek at the line, and there are some familiar faces right at the beginning.”
The club focuses primarily on maintaining the gardens at the Lee Mansion, a National Historic Landmark. Its roughly 60 members work to ensure the plantings reflect the property’s historic character.
“The goal has been to have the plants reflect the history,” Abrams said.
Preparation for the season is already underway. “This year especially, I think there will be a lot of cleanup because the winter was so crazy and windy,” she said.
Cottage Gardeners of Marblehead and Swampscott
The Cottage Gardeners of Marblehead and Swampscott are also preparing for their annual sale, with one major change this year: moving indoors.
“For years it has been outside local church, but we’ve been rained out,” said members Kim Snyder and Bonnie Weinberg. “Last year, in particular, it was brutal.”
Betty Longergan of Cottage Gardeners of Marblehead and Swampscott tends a plant sale table in 2025. COURTESY PHOTO / COLLEEN CONNOR
This year’s sale will be held from 8 a.m. to noon May 9 at the VFW, 321 West Shore Drive.
Most of the plants sold come directly from members’ gardens.
“Almost all the plants that we sell are ones that have been contributed by members, from their own gardens,” Weinberg said.
The group maintains several local sites, including the Hooper Mansion, Devereux Beach and the Okos property.
“Sometimes we do new plantings,” Weinberg said. “Most of the time it’s maintaining what’s already there — watering, weeding, fertilizing, just general upkeep.”
In addition to its gardening work, the club supports education through an annual scholarship.
“We try to do a $1,000 scholarship for students to further their education in related fields,” Weinberg said.
The club also welcomes new members.
“The more the merrier,” Weinberg said.
Mary Christie is a student at Endicott College studying journalism. This story was published in partnership with the Massachusetts News Service.
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