
Generous Gardners delight us with Flowers and Smiles

My View of Life on the Dock
From FOB Kiley Davis
Thank you Generous Gardeners.
Proceeds from the plant sale will fund the Gloucester Education Foundation’s gardening program and Generous Gardeners’ beautification efforts throughout our city.
Thank you, Generous Gardeners. The flowers on Stacy Boulevard are beautiful and makes everyone smile. On Friday it was cloudy, but it seems to make the colors bright.
Thank you, Generous Gardeners,
Beauty of the seasons on the beaten path!
After big rain and wind storm Monday evening and Tuesday, Wednesday’s sunny morning shines on Generous Gardeners beds along Stacy Boulevard. Tulips are rising. Pansies and daffodils showing. Go!
There’s a bright autumn haze in Stacy Boulevard gardens. Thousands of fall dahlias are waiting. Go find your bloom and color!
The varieties are labeled. I wondered how many were chosen, and if any were grown from area heirloom seeds? The Glory of New England, a prizewinning “fancy dahlia” dazzler was cultivated from seeds by the Lufkin dahlia gardens of Gloucester and introduced in 1925 (see below). I love reading about Gloucester gardeners.
Dahlia flowers were eventually named after Swedish botanist, Anders Dahl. The giant ones are nicknamed dinner plate dahlias. In the 1800s avid gardeners and commercial seed and plant firms bloomed in Massachusetts. Established in the early 1800s, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society is recognized as the oldest in the country. A gardener from Bridgewater is credited with the first American collarette dahlia variety in 1912.
Thousands of gorgeous dahlias, exhibited by 50 growers attracted throngs to Horticultural Hall on the opening day of the free dahlia show, held under the joint auspices of the New England Dahlia Society and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
For the site of his exhibit and the magnificence of its setting, L.L. Branthover of Wakefield held first place. His pompom dahlias decorate the stage of the lecture hall, and rays from a warm moon falling obliquely over the stately blooms, against their evergreen background, lend added glory to the scene.
Wonderful tints of orange, cream, scarlet, vermillion and gold are to be seen in the dahlias exhibited by George L. Fish of Billerica, president of the society. (“Francis Cooper Hav-A-Look” illust.)
Giant blossoms, some of yellow with white tips, are introduced for the first time from seedlings of the Lufkin dahlia gardens of Gloucester. The new blossom is called “The Glory of New England.”
Another prize winning variety is the dark-red “Alexander Pope,” one of the most beautiful of the collection in the A.I. Strobel exhibit, grown in the Montrose dahlia gardens of Wakefield.
Boston Globe 1925 – 2 Wakefield gardens, 1 Billerica, and the “Lufkin dahlia gardens of Gloucester” are featured
Have any Gloucester gardeners entered the Topsfield Fair this year? There are usually dahlias in the running.
Whenever any one flower is cultivated and shown, I always think of Mrs. Miniver and the rose. Maybe someone can propagate a “Glory of Gloucester Gardens” variety for the city of Gloucester’s horticultural history then & now, generous gardeners and public works!
Even though it was very gray on Tuesday the dedication of the Betty Smith Garden with the Triton Sculptor was beautiful.
Generous Gardeners has done an amazing job. Thank you for all your hard work.
Thank you Generous Gardeners for the beautiful flowers on Stacy Boulevard.
Generous Gardeners were busy again, this time at Cross Street at the end of 128. There was lots of hard work clearing and planting, with a welcoming thanks at Pratty’s afterwards.
The flowers near Triton on the Boulevard are so pretty.