Driftwood Garden Club President and Swampscott resident Cheryl Miller grew up with gardeners. She jokes that she was put to work as a child, helping to sustain her parents’ “gigantic vegetable garden in suburban Chicago.”

“We were always out working with my parents,” Miller said. “Apples don’t fall far from the tree. I think it all started very young.”

Miller’s garden is a mix of vegetables and flowers. She said the hands-on aspects of a garden are the most important to her.

“There is something remarkably therapeutic,” Miller said. “You connect with the environment. You connect with some of these very basic fundamental needs. You connect with other people.”

Miller started her adult life as a scientist, getting a PhD in molecular genetics and working both in academia and biotech. In the early 2000s, however, she decided to go back to school and study landscape design. 

“So much of what I do is, I feel, a huge educational piece,” Miller said. “I try to get people excited about even on a very, very small scale of just growing some herbs and plots, just being able to go out and cut them fresh for your dinner and enjoy them. It means a lot, and I think that it adds something.”

Now Miller is helping to run the garden club’s plant sale this weekend.

The Driftwood Garden Club will host its annual plant sale on Saturday, May 9 at the Masonic Hall in Marblehead from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The sale features perennials, annuals, ground covers and herbs, many of which are from local gardens. 

“I think people really appreciate the fact that the plans are grown locally,” Miller said. 

This year’s event features a new houseplant section. Proceeds from the sale support the gardens and grounds at Abbot Public Library and Marblehead Housing Old Farrell Court.

“It’s our one and only fundraiser,” Miller said. “It’s a big thing for us. It’s all hands on deck.”

The Driftwood Garden Club has been around since 1952, and the group has maintained the grounds at the Abbot Public Library since 1990. Miller has been a member now for five years. 

“One of the things I have always done whenever I’ve moved is join a garden club,” Miller said. “You get to meet people who you have a lot in common with right away.”

That connection has also helped Miller grow, she said. The group bounces ideas off of each other and they continue to learn more about gardening. 

“There is an entry point for every type of gardener,” Miller said. “Garden clubs and gardening are just such a great way to be around people who are enthusiastic, and everybody knows stuff. They’re so excited to share their knowledge.”