Creating Holiday Decor at the Senior Center

Garden Therapy

at Hopkinton Senior Center!

Creating greens table arrangements, thanks to members: Joan, Kate, Meg, Ruth, and Jodi!

​

Beautiful!!!

Garden Therapy held its first program at the Hopkinton Senior Center on October 3rd, presenting Tussie Mussies. A brief discussion of what they are and why they were popular (little fragrant bouquets to be held, to help cope with the stench of early living without a sewer system and regular bathing) and how they became known as “talking bouquets”.

Five brave seniors joined Jina Kessler, Kate Heyd, Meg Dowd and Ruth Gorman to create their own bouquets.

On November 21st our Garden Therapy program will be holiday greens planters!

December Floral Arrangements for Vets Breakfast

Our December arrangements bring in festive holiday colors. Best holiday wishes to all our veterans!!

Centerpieces created by Merylyn Mezitt, Mary Reynolds, Judy Caplan

​

Each month, September through June, club members provide floral arrangements to decorate the tables at the Senior Center for their Veteran's breakfast. 

Thank you 2022 "Help Hopkinton Bloom" Sponsors!

​

Our Business Sponsors share our goal of beautifying Hopkinton for the enjoyment of our community. We are extremely grateful to each organization who continues to support our work through their generous contributions. 

​

We also want to express our deep appreciation to our Department of Public Works for providing a weekly watering for our planters and sites. This help is invaluable to keeping our plants looking their best!

Please show everyone your support and recognize their contribution to our town!

Donors:

• Focus on Fitness

• Middlesex Savings Bank

Site Sponsors:

• Callanan Cronin Funeral Home

• Phipps Insurance Agency

• Honey Hill Farms

​

​

   Planter Sponsors:

• Atlas Wealth Strategies

• Dynasty Restaurant

• E.L. Harvey and Sons

• Hiller's Pizza

• Hopkinton Shell

• Hopkinton Vision Center

• Hopkinton Wine and Spirits

• Kathy Williamson, Berkshire Hathaway

• McIntyre Loam, Inc.

• Middlesex Savings Bank, Hopkinton Branch

• Scott's Landscaping, Inc.

• Sunnyside Gardens

• Thomson Architects

• Unibank, Hopkinton Branch

Click here to view pictures of our town plantings!

Spotted Beebalm

Monarda punctata, called spotted beebalm or horsemint, has a remarkably distinctive inflorescence, with large white-pink bracts (modified leaves) that encircle its whorls of tubular flowers. These flowers, typically pale yellow with maroon dots, are an excellent source of nectar and pollen for a wide range of insects. Unlike many other species of Monarda, spotted beebalm does best in dry, sandy, soils with plenty of sun. It is generally a short-lived perennial, but will happily seed itself around in favorable conditions.

Native Plants!

Native plants in home gardens are essential for providing pollinators safe habitat in which they can thrive.

Climate change, overbuilding, invasive species and other factors have destroyed large areas previously home to our insect and bird populations. With so much land being "chopped up", putting native plants in your garden will add to those from your neighbors’ gardens creating larger spaces for pollinators to call home.

​

Pollinators, who work hard to maintain the ecological systems we depend on (like food growth!), need your help!

Here are links to articles, webinars and websites with information on native plants and why they're so important to pollinators, and to us.

Articles:

• How and Why to Use Native Plants

• Choosing the Right Native Plants

Webinars:

• Adventures with Oddities: Strange and Noteworthy Natives (courtesy of the Ecological Landscaping Alliance) with Dan Jaffe (formerly of the Native Plant Trust)

• Landscaping with a Purpose, What's Diversity Got to Do with It? with Randi Eckel

Websites:

• Native Plant Trust

• Grow Native Massachusetts

• Ecological Landscape Alliance

• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Native plants by state)

• Native Plants Lookup (Audubon)