Community News
Garden Club visits home, welcomes new member
August 14, 2026
5 min read
Members of the Bud ’n Bloom Garden Club participated in a workshop at the home of Marie Zambotti. Pictured, left to right: front row: Lucy Hurley, Laurie Berkshire, Sharon Przybyciel, Marie Zambotti. Back row: Karen Ryder, Nancy Kohler, Judy Wilcox, Vicki Notaro, Angie Leone, Sally Newell.
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It was a perfect summer day when the Bud ‘n Bloom Garden Club visited the Brocton split-level home and gardens of member Marie Zambotti
Greeting the visitors, with their arms full of flowers from their gardens and elsewhere, was a circular garden full of brightly-colored perennials — many in full bloom, with contrasting textures, shapes and hues
In addition to a medium-sized hydrangea bush were purple flowering variegated hostas, gold and tangerine-tinged cone flowers, white smiling shasta daisies, lavender phlox, a peach day lily, purple spikey liatris, sunny yellow lilies, a lavender patch and a stately fuchsia and white Peace Lily
Following the endless solar lights lining the concrete driveway that led to the covered and uncovered parts of the patio were two red mandevilla plants, an interesting tomato plant with red tiny tomatoes on one side and tiny amber tomatoes on the other side of the potted plant, and two cheery hanging baskets of fuchsia pink and yellow blooms
Six huge plants of fuchsia-colored petunias caressed the corner of the patio with one same-sized pot of yellow petunias snuggled in with the others – a lovely contrast
Eyes were drawn to the rear of the lawn and a line of tall evergreen trees. Here Zambotti had nourished a garden of perennials with a rainbow of mixed colors and shapes. Eight fuchsia-colored New Guinea impatience hanging baskets hung on gardening hooks along the front of the garden
Her collection of memory plaques, circular in shape, lined the garden reminding her of special places and people in her life. Several plaques were inscribed with “Amazing Grace.” These were in memory of her Aunt Grace Speziale, who had helped to raise her after the passing of her beloved mother – a special lady
Metal butterflies, bird feeders, bird houses and light-up lilies added to the whimsical enchantment of the garden. Tiny gold finches flitted among the feeders and the plants
Hostas, ferns, purple spider-wort, yellow lilies and sedum were just a few of the plants that were nestled in the semi-sun/shade garden at the rear of the property Even with the use of deer spray – sprayed daily, the deer showed their persistence by nibbling some of the plant specimens. A mother deer and her three fawns visit regularly it seems, in the meadow behind the tree line
Martha Washington geraniums graced the patio as guests were invited into the kitchen of the home where a delightful morning buffet was ready for the group. On a white floral-patterned tablecloth with a patriotic red, white and blue centerpiece, homemade yummy lemon loaf and mini blueberry muffins, a tray of assorted fruits, two juices and water were served
Graciously, Tegan, the Zambotti’s granddaughter visiting from Texas, assisted the ladies in carrying their treats and drinks and later took a group photo
Retiring to the comfort of the covered patio, the gardeners enjoyed their refreshments. Angie Leone circulated names of public places in Fredonia, Dunkirk and Brocton that would be receiving a floral creation from the club. Note cards were shared
New member Laurie Berkshire (originally from Fredonia), now living in Derby, was introduced. Berkshire is a professor of psychology at ECC in Buffalo. She is also a professional flower designer, having her own shop in the past and now working part-time in Derby enjoying her passion
Berkshire demonstrated some tips that she has learned over the years with the ladies and then the talented club members created 16 floral arrangements in a short time using the flowers that they brought. They later delivered them to public places in the nearby communities
First they prepared all the flowers by breaking off all leaves that will be below the water line and trimming the bottoms of the flowers to allow the stems to soak up water
After placing all of them in large buckets of water, she carefully chose several plants with strong stems to act as a crisscross in the vase to build upon
She reminded the ladies that flowers should not be more than two containers tall. She often goes a little shorter. Then she trimmed and placed the flower stems in a crisscross design for stability
She chose Alstroemeria in several colors for the crisscross effect, then added hydrangea, greens, shasta daisies and goose-neck loose-strife. Soon it was perfect
The ladies all shared in filling all of the vases and containers. Before they realized, the huge collection of flowers had been used up. Sixteen arrangements were shared with nearby communities’ public places
A quick tour of Zambotti’s newer landscaping was conducted and enjoyed
An extra event has been added to the schedule. The club plans an outing to the Fredonia gardens of Diane Rafan
Sally Newell announced the August meeting. Members were to tour the Dunkirk garden of Joanna Hill. They were to visit her herbs, vegetables, fruit trees and flower gardens
