We were so lucky to have Jennifer Ott from My Thyme Gardens visit us on Monday, September 14th as speaker at our first meeting of the fall. She talked to us about weeds and how to make them work in your garden, pollinators, invasive plants, native plants, and garden design. She was so interesting! Thank you, Jennifer!

Our End-of-Year Luncheon was held at the Kreger House on Friday, June 19, 2026. We lucked out with a beautiful, warm, sunny day and enjoyed lunch on the patio. The committee did a fabulous job with a theme celebrating our nation’s 250th birthday, featuring festive red, white, and blue decorations. They outdid themselves and treated us to a huge array of salads, sandwiches, cookies, and a 250th birthday-themed cake.

All in all, we had a wonderful day simply being together and celebrating another great year of speakers, field trips, our holiday luncheon, and another successful Garden Walk. Now we get to relax and enjoy our members’ summer garden visits!

We had a wonderful field trip on April 24, 2026, to Ford House on a beautiful, crisp spring morning. Ford House is the historic lakeside estate of Eleanor and Edsel Ford, located in Grosse Pointe Shores along the shores of Lake St. Clair. Built in 1928, Ford House is an English Cotswold-style mansion designed by Albert Kahn, with gardens designed by Jens Jensen. This National Historic Landmark served as the much-loved home where Eleanor and Edsel Ford raised their four children and nurtured their shared love of design, nature, and culture.

The 86-acre estate sits on the shores of Lake St. Clair with expansive views of the lawn, gardens, water, and Canada in the distance. We enjoyed a wonderful guided tour through the gardens and learned about the history of the home, the people who lived and worked there, and their vision for the future. Eleanor made sure that the estate would be preserved for the public to enjoy for generations to come.

We got to peek into their daughter Josephine’s playhouse, with everything in three-quarter size, even the light switches—just adorable. We were also excited to tour the garage, see all the antique cars, and learn more about the Ford legacy in the auto industry. After our tour, we went to the visitors center and shared lunch together—all in all, just a wonderful day. Thank you to Ford House for giving us such a special experience!

Another beautiful Franklin Garden Club holiday luncheon in the books! We gathered this past Friday at the Village Club in Bloomfield Hills for our beloved annual holiday gathering. As always, the food was delicious, the company was fabulous, and the Village Boutique orchestrated another amazing fashion show with our members as models. Great job ladies!! We wish you all a very happy holiday season filled with everything you love!

We enjoyed our fall field trip today at the Oudolf Garden on Detroit’s Belle Isle. Docent Richard Thomas gave us a really informative and interesting tour of the gardens, sharing with us how the gardens were created, how they are cared for, and imparting his vast knowledge of the perennials planted there and the unique qualities of each. We were lucky enough to have a gorgeous October day and afterwards enjoyed a lunch at Zef’s Dockside in St. Clair Shores. What a lovely day!

On September 8 we had our first meeting to start this year and it was so good to see everyone! We had a delicious lunch as always, and our speaker was one of our favorites, Ed Blondin of Hortulus Gardens. Ed is a fabulous local landscape designer and such an interesting and engaging speaker. This time his program was “Witches: From Wonderful to Wicked to Wonderful”. As always we learned so much from Ed!

Annuals and Perennials 2025

With George Papadelis