GCV Journal June 2011

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JournalVOL LVI, NO. 2, JUNE 2011

WWW.GCVIRGINIA.ORG The Garden Club of Virginia

The Garden Club of Virginia exists to celebrate the beauty of the land, to conserve the gifts of nature and to challenge future generations to build on this heritage.

From The EditorIn this issue of the Journal we celebrate several women whose superior devotion and dedication to job and passion have made the Garden Club of Virginia a stronger, improved organization. Read about those we honor; congratulate and wish them well.

This is my last issue as Journal Editor. I have thoroughly enjoyed this job and will miss being your Editor. The Journal gives flesh to the mission of the GCV. I have been blessed with a terrific and dedicated Editorial Board and willing writers who bring their gardening passions to life on these pages. Moving gives gardeners new opportunities (see article page 10) yet one is hesitant to leave a garden she has loved. It is with reluctance that I leave. I know that the new garden will hold treasures we can’t even imagine. Join me in welcoming Jeanette McKittrick to the Editor’s chair. Jeanette II has worked on the Editorial Board for two years and brings professional expertise to the job.

Jeanette Cadwallender

Journal Editorial Board2011-2012

Editor and Chairman: Jeanette McKittrick, Three Chopt Garden Club

ExOfficio MembersThe GCV President, Kimbrough Nash, The Warrenton Garden ClubThe GCV Corresponding Secretary, Nina Mustard, The Williamsburg Garden ClubThe GCV Photographer, Casey Rice, Harborfront Garden ClubJournal Business Chairman, Fleet Davis, The Garden Club of the Eastern ShoreJournal Advertising Chairman, Katya Spicuzza, Albemarle Garden Club, The Garden Club of the Northern NeckFormer Journal Editor, Jeanette Cadwallender, The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club

MembersMason Beazley, The James River Garden Club, The Garden Club of the Northern NeckBetty Anne Garrett, The Garden Club of the Middle PeninsulaJulie Grover, The Blue Ridge Garden Club, The James River Garden ClubMary Ann Johnson, The Roanoke Valley Garden ClubSusan Morten, The Martinsville Garden Club

JUNE 2011 WWW.GCVIRGINIA.ORG 1

The Garden Club of Virginia Journal

The Garden Club of Virginia Journal (USPS 574-520, ISSN 0431-0233) is published four times a year for members by the GCV, 12 East Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23219. Periodical postage paid in Richmond, VA. Single issue price, $5.00.

Copy and ad deadlines are: January 15 for the March issueApril 15 for the June issueJuly 15 for the September issueOctober 15 for the December issueEmail copy to the Editor and advertising to the Ad Chairman

President of the Garden Club of Virginia:Kimbrough Nash

Journal Editor:Jeanette McKittrick5111 Cary St. Rd.Richmond, VA 23226Phone: (804) 288-2512Email: [email protected]

Journal Advertising Chairman:Katya Spicuzza500 James Wharf RoadWhite Stone, VA 22578Email: [email protected]

Journal Business Chairman:Fleet [email protected]

Vol. LVI, No. 2Printed on recycled paper byCarter Printing CompanyRichmond, VA

ON THE COVER... The Journal honors the Harborfront Garden Club, host for the 2010 and 2011 GCV Rose Show in Norfolk.

IN THIS ISSUE ...Tribute to Suzanne Munson ......................... 2Massie Medal Award .................................... 3Common Wealth Award ............................... 4de Lacy Gray Medal Award ........................... 6Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award ... 7Mrs. Cocke’s Legacy ...................................... 8Chestnut Trees Return .................................. 9Three Gardens ............................................. 10Andrea Wulf ................................................ 11Horticulture Award ..................................... 12Blandy Experimental Farm ......................... 14In Memoriam .............................................. 15Daffodil Show ............................................. 16Symposium 2012 ......................................... 18Does it Come in Green? .............................. 19Hydrofracking ............................................. 21Conservation Workshop .............................. 21Club Notes .............................................22-23New Directors at Large ............................... 23Poplar Forest ............................................... 24Daffodil Notes .............................................26Lily Notes ....................................................26Lily Show ..................................................... 27Ex Libris ......................................................28Gray’s Lily ................................................... 29Contributions ..............................................30

OTHER REFERENCES...Kent-Valentine HousePhone: (804) 643-4137 Fax: (804) 644-7778Email: [email protected]

Historic Garden Week OfficePhone: (804) 644-7776 Fax: (804) 644-7778Email: [email protected]

2 WWW.GCVIRGINIA.ORG The Garden Club of Virginia

A Tribute to Suzanne MunsonBy Martha Ware Bryan, Historic Garden Week Chairman,

The James River Garden Club

What if we had a party and forgot to send the invitations? For the past

19 years, with Suzanne Munson as Executive Director of Historic Garden Week, we have never had to worry about the invitations or any other aspect of Historic Garden Week. In every way possible, Suzanne made sure that the entire world was invited to “America’s Largest Open House” and that garden clubs across the state had the support they needed to make their tours sensational. The continued success of Historic Garden Week as a celebration of historic Virginia and a fundraiser for restoration projects is a direct result of Suzanne’s efforts and expertise.

Each HGW guidebook, the main marketing tool for our statewide tours, has borne Suzanne’s indelible mark. Every October and November, Suzanne poured through the copy prepared by tour chairs, editing it for publication.She pulled out interesting ideas, such as architectural elements, unusual interiors or historical notes, featuring them on our website and using her contacts to place them on websites and in publications with nationwide distribution. Suzanne’s love of writing and her keen interest in Virginia history was evident in every book. With the addition of more color and larger advertising for a new look, the guidebook itself even turned a profit this past year.

Suzanne was also the best resource for all HGW questions. At the six District meetings she attended and led during February each year, she drew upon her 16 years of Historic Garden Week experience to share ideas and suggestions from the past. She encouraged innovative marketing ideas and outside the box thinking – the addition of an art exhibit or arranging workshop were often wonderful supplements to a tour. She doubled as travel agent and tourism guide for visitors requesting information and itineraries. Her articles in the Journal and her reports at the Annual Meeting and Board of Governors meetings were always interesting and fresh. Always mindful of volunteer time, she thanked our tour chairs and club presidents at every opportunity.

We are so fortunate that in 1929, after their first year of opening their houses, those GCV ladies decided that a house tour was worth continuing. Our beautiful commonwealth is richer for the significant restoration projects we have been able to accomplish with Historic Garden Week funds. Suzanne’s commitment to raising funds for restoration was always evident as she looked for savings in the HGW expenses as well as increased revenue. We are grateful to Suzanne for her service and will look for Suzanne and her husband Ned on garden tours in Aprils to come. Best wishes to Suzanne in her retirement as she pursues research and writing projects. If a book is in her future, maybe her first novel will be set in Virginia during Historic Garden Week. ❁

Karen Cauthen Miller has been hired as the Historic Garden Week Director and will be introduced on these pages in the September issue.

Suzanne Munson, flanked by Martha Ware Bryan and Kim Nash.


Nina Mustard with her family after the presentation of the Massie Medal.

Massie Medal Awarded to Nina MustardBy Lynne Beeler, Massie Medal Committee Chairman

The Martinsville Garden Club

At the 91st Annual Meeting in Roanoke on May 11, 2011, Nina Williams Mustard was awarded the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement, the highest and most prestigious award presented by the Garden Club of Virginia.

Nina’s talents, dedication and immeasurable contributions have eminently qualified her for this distinguished award.

Nina has been an active member in the Williamsburg Garden Club since 2000. She has been treasurer of her club for several terms and has computerized the club’s finances. It wasn’t long before her knowledge and technological proficiency became known to the Garden Club of Virginia.

Nina soon moved into a position of leadership, becoming Webmaster and Online Chairman. By creating a website, she unified not only member clubs with the GCV, but provided a connection with a larger community. The outside world became aware of the work done by the members of this vibrant organization. Valuable information about Historic Garden Week, flower shows, awards, conservation and restoration projects was available to all with a click on the website.

Nina developed a Donor Management System entitled Green Gifts. This program enables the Development office to track gifts and acknowledge them easily. Because of her expertise, Nina has saved the GCV thousands of dollars in software.

With patience, talent and graciousness, Nina is a committed innovator who embodies the essence of excellence. She is constantly in search of ways to improve the performance of the operations of the Club. She is delighted to research any suggestion and does so readily.

For her dedication and rare quality of vision, Nina Williams Mustard is honored with the Massie Medal. ❁


Common Wealth Award Finalists

By Betsy Worthington, Common Wealth Award Committee Chairman The Lynchburg Garden Club

Congratulations to the 2011 finalists for the Common Wealth Award: The Hampton Roads Garden Club, The Garden Club of Norfolk and Rivanna Garden Club. The club presidents will vote their clubs’ preferences for this

prestigious award at the Board of Governors’ Meeting in October.

The Memorial Courtyard Peninsula Fine Arts Center (Pfac) Submitted by The Hampton Roads Garden Club

For 29 years The Hampton Roads Garden Club has been the primary partner in developing the grounds of the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News. A natural extension of this long association is the renovation of its Memorial Courtyard. This once stunning but tired garden features sculptural granite seating walls and a soaring water wall combining architectural and horticultural elements to create an “outdoor room” integral to Pfac programming. Art students, children, classes, concerts, family events, private and public gatherings are all part of the Courtyard experience.

The new garden plan is designed to be a frame through which Pfac - in a unique collaboration with Eastern Virginia Medical School - will present sculptures created in the new Healing Arts Project. This project will provide art therapy for wounded warriors returning from active duty - and a re-dedication to the name and spirit of The Memorial Courtyard.

A natural gathering place and an artwork in itself, the garden has become a focal point used by a diverse population. As Pfac expands its outreach to honor the large military community in Hampton Roads, renovation of the Courtyard is essential, but shrinking Pfac funding makes it impossible without intervention by the Garden Club.

A Welcome to ParadiseSubmitted by The Garden Club of Norfolk

This project will welcome visitors to the Paradise Creek Nature Park by showcasing native plants at the entrance and creating a beautiful first impression to Portsmouth’s third largest park. The entrance landscaping plan calls for over 5,000 native plants and wildflowers. These beautiful, low-maintenance natives will enhance the park entrance, parking area, and a one-of-a-kind earthworks sculpture made from earth excavated from a nearby wetland restoration.

Paradise Creek Nature Park, a partnership of the non-profit Elizabeth River Project and the City of Portsmouth is a 40-acre waterfront site for public access and conservation in the heart of Hampton Roads. It is the cornerstone project in a larger creek-wide restoration project called “Paradise Found.” The park land is a former creek bed, filled in the 1950s, which has encouraged invasive plants to thrive. The park will teach the public how to reclaim a degraded urban site through:


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• Enhancement of the habitat value of 40 acres including 15 acres of mature forest through forestry management, invasive species control and the planting of 7,500 additional native plants.

• Two miles of wooded trails will create a looped network accessing the mature forest, a restored 11-acre wetland and Paradise Creek.

• Educational signage will promote environmental stewardship, conservation and horticulture and demonstrate how to restore and maintain wildlife habitat enhancement areas.

Hatton FerrySubmitted by Rivanna Garden Club

The last hand-poled ferry in the United States, Hatton Ferry crosses the historic James River from Albemarle into Buckingham County. The Ferry still offers free rides across the James—a living education in river transportation of yesteryear—and visitors can stroll river banks once peopled by Monacan Indians.

In operation since 1870, the ferry became a casualty of VDOT budget cuts in 2009. The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society assumed ownership and is raising funds to keep it operational. The Rivanna Garden Club will assist in replacing the information kiosk, providing landscaping, and placing substantial picnic tables and trash receptacles. The Club has identified plantings it will install both for beauty and erosion mitigation at the water’s edge, on higher banks, and near the parking lot.

A canoe and tubing business brings over 22,000 people to Hatton Ferry annually. Educational offerings at the ferry and nearby remnants of the Kanawha Canal also attract tourists.

By enhancing the beauty of the area, conserving the river bank and providing educational and recreational opportunities for the public, this award would preserve a unique piece of Americana on the James River that is an asset not only to Virginia, but to our entire nation.

The nominations for the Common Wealth Award are presented as submitted. ❁


Conservationist Sallie Sebrell HonoredBy Karen Jones, GCV Conservation Committee Chairman

The Martinsville Garden Club

The de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation was awarded to Sallie Sebrell at the

Annual Meeting on May 11, 2011. Since 1981 Sallie has been a member of GCV clubs. Sallie is currently a member of the Nansemond River and Blue Ridge Garden Clubs. The entire Garden Club of Virginia has benefited from her passion, as has the state of Virginia. Sallie has been actively involved in every aspect of the Conservation Committee and currently is a presenter for the program, Global Warning: A Virginia Guide to Climate Change that the GCV produced with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

Sallie has actively represented conservation issues in wide-ranging ways. She sells Eco-Bags at the Suffolk Street Fair, drives a Prius and speaks to the Virginia General Assembly. As a result of her efforts, Suffolk now has curbside recycling. She was recognized with the Blue Ridge Award from the Virginia Conservation Network for her work towards preserving the Virginia Citizens Boards. In the early 90’s, while a member of the Huntington Garden Club in Hampton, Sallie received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Sallie and her husband, John, have lovely landscaping at their Suffolk farm created without toxic chemicals. They have planted fields of sunflowers for wildlife. In their new hometown of Lexington, the Sebrells are restoring the historic Sheridan Hotel with emphasis on green renovations. Sallie’s father was a naturalist and conservationist who taught her that as stewards of our earth’s natural resources and the highest animal on the food chain, we have an awesome responsibility to preserve and protect. These early lessons have been the foundation for Sallie’s lifelong passion and personal commitment to conservation. ❁

Sallie Sebrell and Karen Jones

Pam Combs, Karen Jones, Emma Ramsey and Page Carter, winners of the Bessie Bocock

Conservation Award.


The Garden Club of Norfolk wins the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award

At the Annual Meeting in Roanoke, the Garden Club of Virginia announced the Garden Club of Norfolk as its second winner of the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award. The award was established in 2009 by a generous

memorial gift from the family of Bessie Bocock Carter, former Garden Club of Virginia President. The winning club must present a conservation project that will serve as a catalyst for community action. It is a monetary award for natural resource conservation or environmental protection within the commonwealth.

The Garden Club of Norfolk, partnering with the Hermitage Museum and Gardens, will design and construct a rain garden that will capture and treat storm water in the watershed of the Lafayette River. This project will serve as a pilot project for other organizations in the Hampton Roads area to implement.

Storm water is the number one source of new pollution to waterways in urban areas. In Hampton Roads, this pollution is contributing to deadly algae blooms that kill fish and make and water recreation and swimming hazardous. The rain garden will feature native plants and will be highly visible to the community. The garden’s purpose will be to treat storm water runoff from the museum’s adjacent parking lot, thereby protecting water quality and improving wildlife habitat. ❁

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The Garden Club of Norfolk wins the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award


Mrs. Cocke’s LegacyBy Suzanne Carmichael

The Blue Ridge Garden Club

On a crisp, sunny morning this spring, several members of the Blue Ridge Garden Club gathered in Virginia Military Institute’s Memorial Garden to dedicate newly planted native dogwood trees. These trees were given by the

club as part of the Garden Club of Virginia’s plant-a-tree initiative and in celebration of the club’s 85th birthday.

The garden itself was originally the gift of Mrs. William H. Cocke while her husband was VMI’s Superintendent. Assisted by landscape architect Ferruccio Vitale, Mrs. Cocke, in 1927-28, created the garden as a memorial to commemorate “the noble sons of the Institute” who had died in World War I. This formal, sunken garden is entered by descending a grand double stair from the parapet, which borders one side of the space and on which are the names of the memorialized cadets. In 1939, to honor her husband following his death, Mrs. Cocke continued her beneficence by donating the sculpture “Spirit of Youth” by Attilio Piccirilli for the west end of the garden. It is in this area that the newly planted dogwood trees are now flourishing.

In addition to her generosity, Mrs. Cocke is revered by the Blue Ridge Garden Club as a founding member, its first president and the first-ever recipient of the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement. The award was made to this most remarkable lady specifically “for the construction and planting of the VMI Memorial Garden.” It was said of her that “not alone the Garden Club of Virginia, but the State of Virginia is indebted to her for the creation of a work of lasting beauty.” The words of that time remain true today. What a joy for our members to assist in the preservation of Mrs. Cocke’s visionary gift. ❁

We Fall for Felled TreesTurning House fashions furniture from vintage wood that has the character only age can confer.

The Bassett, Virginia, company began by reusing timbers from old industrial buildings that were beyond rehabilitation. Now, Turning House is looking for big, old-growth trees that have been felled by weather, wind or water – forces of nature, not chainsaws.

Species sought include cherry, walnut, maple, oak, ash and hickory. Turning House tells the story of the wood used to make each piece, so trees from properties or areas with aesthetic or historic significance are preferred.

Email: [email protected] about felled trees.

For more about Turning House, visit www.turninghousefurniture.com.


Chestnut Trees ReturnBy Christine R. Bradshaw

Mill Mountain Garden Club

Chestnut fever or chestnutedness is a genuine

phenomenon affecting many Mill Mountain Garden Club members (many of whom have become known as the chestnut chicks). Those affected have an affinity for this near perfect tree that once dominated the east coast forests from Maine to Georgia and provided food and lumber. These mature trees were giants, some 600 years old and averaging 4 to 5 feet in diameter and 80 to 100 feet in height.

An early 20th century pandemic obliterated the entire species. This virulent pathogen introduced from Asia rampaged across the eastern seaboard. The chestnut blight killed more than four billion trees over the course of one generation.

Recent developments in genetic and plant pathology, along with the breeding program of the American Chestnut Foundation, have produced a hybrid tree. This backcross breeding of the American chestnut and its cousin, the Chinese chestnut, has created a tree with a rapidly growing characteristic of the large American tree and the blight resistance of the Chinese tree. These hybrids are still not available to the public without a required signed agreement to protect their germ plasma. Reforestation has begun with trees planted at Thomas Jefferson’s homes, Monticello and Poplar Forest, at the White House and at Mount Vernon.

A collaboration between the city of Roanoke, the American Chestnut Foundation, and Mill Mountain Garden Club held a ceremonial planting of five hybrid American chestnut trees on October 21. This chestnut grove on Mill Mountain will be incorpo-rated into our garden club’s master plan for the mountain where we have maintained a wildflower garden since 1971. An amphitheater is also being installed in the garden this year for educational programs.

The reforestation of Mill Mountain, with its grove of hybrid American chestnut trees, will help protect these species for future generations. Lucy Larcom, a New England writer known for her work to change the role of women in society, said “He who plants a tree plants a hope.” Mill Mountain Garden Club members are hopeful for the future of the American chestnut tree. ❁


Three Gardens and Three Gardening Groups—Forty Years with Hoe and Spade

By Sally WittThe Boxwood Garden Club

My first garden was an acre of formal beds in Surrey County,

England. With a baby on each hip and armed with little more than curiosity and a passion for playing in the dirt, I began the great British pastime of being a gardener. With the help of Jim, my gardener for seven years, and a membership in the Royal Horticultural Society, I made for the back garden. I wore Wellington boots and a raincoat and kept both babies on leashes so they didn’t run into the road. Wisley Gardens, the headquarters for the RHS, was close to my house. It was a valuable resource for a novice, and I made many trips there for information and supplies. It was there that I discovered the wonders of herbs.

My herb plot was framed by an old Spanish wagon wheel with a different planting in each of the spoke spaces. What fun it was to run out beside the kitchen door and collect fresh herbs!

We moved to North Carolina in 1977. My second acre had little more than a clothesline and a majestic silver birch. It was hard to fail at gardening in England with its cool weather, mist and rain, soil that looked like chocolate, the RHS and, of course, Jim the gardener. However, I had not counted on the scorching heat and oppressive humidity, clay soil, mosquitoes, and most importantly, no Jim. I soon learned you cannot grown 6-foot delphiniums in a Piedmont summer, but help was on the way. I joined the North Carolina unit of the Herb Society of America and began a happy 18-year education in landscaping with herbs and old roses. I learned to make compost, double dig and enrich the soil with various manures.

Twenty years later we moved back to our native Richmond, and a not-quite-an acre garden. This time I was confident enough to undertake much of the design myself, with terraced beds and a courtyard overflowing with pots. Again I relied on a mixture of flowers and herbs. In the past ten years I have grown many varieties of lilies and daffodils, built a greenhouse and discovered the fun of container gardening. As always, scented geraniums, lemon verbena and other herbs have been my mainstays.

I am lucky enough to be a member of the Boxwood Garden Club, with the attendant benefits of the Garden Club of Virginia. I have learned a great deal about garden design from workshops, and benefited from visiting wonderful and inspiring private gardens. That said, the growth and flowering of friendships is the best part of GCV membership.

My adventures in gardening have brought me life-long happiness and satisfaction. Thank you RHS, HSA, and GCV! ❁

JUNE 2011 WWW.GCVIRGINIA.ORG 11JUNE 2011 WWW.GCVIRGINIA.ORG 11

Founding Gardeners, by Andrea WulfBy Louise Gilbert Freeman Three Chopt Garden Club

On April 6, historian Andrea Wulf spoke at Three Chopt Garden Club’s event benefitting the Capital Trees Project, co-hosted by the Woman’s Club in Richmond. Wulf provided an evocative preview of her new book, Founding

Gardeners, which examines the role of gardening, agriculture and nature in the lives of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In her book Wulf argues that the identities of all these men were deeply grounded in their understanding of themselves as farmers and gardeners, perhaps even more eminently than as statesmen and politicians.

Wulf suggested that these men used the idea of nature, of landscape and of agricultural fecundity to create a nascent national identity. The abundance of America’s natural resources, the thickly timbered forests and the fertile fields, emerged in this period as a trope for this country’s economic independence from England and as a symbol of its own vitality and viability. In her talk Wulf described how the founding fathers self-consciously fashioned an identity for their young country by using metaphors drawn from the world of nature and of gardening in their political speeches.

Wulf shared a few anecdotal gems garnered in her extensive research. With an arch smile, she described how, at a critical and grave moment in the Revolutionary War during 1776, General Washington, surrounded by the British in Manhattan and with his cause seemingly doomed, retired to his tent to pen a letter to his estate manager. At this moment in history General Washington wrote the letter to instruct the manager to obtain trees for Mount Vernon. In other words, when the going got tough, the tough thought of gardens! More central to her theme, however, was her observation that, in this letter, Washington demanded that Mount Vernon be planted ornamentally with all native American species. Eschewing European prototypes, the founding fathers wanted to create gardens and landscapes that were patriotic and singularly American.

For Jefferson, Wulf remarked, this rubric also meant combining beauty with utility, one of the hinge pins of his philosophy. Illustrating this point with a photograph of Monticello, Wulf described the view from Jefferson’s plots of vegetables. Among the tidy, regimented rows, one looked out at the spectacular wild and untamed Blue Ridge mountains, Such sublimity became a symbol of American nationhood, one that can still be observed today. ❁

Flower Arranging SchoolTuesday, September 20, 2011, 10:00 a.m.

Speaker: Hitomi Gilliam, an internationally known floral designer, lecturer, and instructor from Vancouver, British Columbia is a megastar in the world of floral design.

Registration will begin July 1st. See gcvirginia.org

Do not miss this excellent learning experience.


The 2011Recipients of the Horticulture Award of Merit

By Lucha Taylor, GCV Horticulture CommitteeThe Hunting Creek Garden Club

The highlight of the March meeting of the Horticulture Committee was reading the unusually large number of proposals for the Horticulture Award of Merit. This award is given to individual members of the GCV who have achieved

significant accomplishments in horticulture, both personally and in the community at large. All the nominees are outstanding and accomplished gardeners. If your club’s candidate was not chosen this year, do resubmit her name again next year. In choosing the eight award recipients, the committee placed heavy emphasis on community outreach and education.

Minouche Robinson, The Williamsburg Garden ClubFor the past six years, Minouche has taught horticultural skills to sentenced juvenile offenders between the ages of 14 to 17. The goal of the program is to encourage students to further their education in the field once they have completed their sentence.

Susan Gentry, The Virginia Beach Garden ClubIn addition to her work as a Garden Club of America horticulture judge, Susan is an active member of the committee that produces the Tidewater Garden Symposium, a conference on gardening that takes place every other year.

Mary Wick, Three Chopt Garden ClubWith a strong background in horticulture and landscape design, Mary has been an invaluable board member of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and a long term contributor to the Gillette Forum.

Betty Steele, The Petersburg Garden ClubBetty is very involved with the Wilcox Watershed Conservancy in Petersburg Bird Sanctuary. She has been instrumental in the development and promotion of her club’s With Paintbrush and Shovel book and prints.

Marie Bundy, The Garden Club of NorfolkPresident from 1992 to 1994 of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, Marie was instrumental in having the Old Dominion Horticultural Society take over the Gardens from the city of Norfolk.

Margaret Ford, The James River Garden ClubMargaret gives talks to groups and conducts workshops on the planting, growing and care of daffodils. She has started a very successful children’s program for the Virginia Daffodil Society, where she encourages children to grow daffodils and arrange for the Daffodil Show.

Cam Williams, The Garden Club of GloucesterCam generously shares her 50-acre farm and garden with a long list of groups. She organized Horticulture Field Days twice a year for the public during her tenure as Horticulture chair of GCG.

Nan Freed, The Garden Club of DanvilleNan has been the guiding star behind the creation of the Perkinson Rose Garden established on the grounds of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History. She is also the principal caretaker of this garden. ❁


The Garden Club of Virginia appreciates responsible advertising and reserves the right to accept or reject submitted advertisements. Inclusion in the Journal is not and is not

to be construed as an endorsement by the Garden Club of the advertised goods or services.

Martha Moore, Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton, accepts the Inter Club Artistic trophy from Kim Nash.


Blandy Experimental FarmBy Anne Brune

Albemarle Garden Club

At almost any time of the year, even in mid-winter, there is much to see and enjoy at the State Arboretum of Virginia at UVa.’s 700-acre Blandy Experimen-tal Farm in Clarke County in the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley. The

Albemarle Garden Club made Blandy its Spring 2010 field trip meeting destination. We explored the Arboretum grounds, which include formal borders of perennials,

an herb garden with culinary, medicinal, and ornamental plants, and graceful landscap-ing that enhances its tree collections. Many native plant species are featured in the Ar-boretum’s Virginia Native Plant Trail. One of our favorite spots was Lake Georgette, a picturesque intermittent pond surrounded by dramatic limestone outcroppings covered in a patchwork of stonecrop (Sedum spp.) and lichens.

The State Arboretum of Virginia at Blandy is the only major mature arboretum in the East situated on karstic limestone soil. With these soil conditions, which are favor-able to many conifers from around the world, the Arboretum’s collection of more than 8,000 trees and woody shrubs now includes a third of the world’s pine species. Visiting Blandy provided our club members an opportunity to see trees, shrubs and perennials in a different soil environment.

Blandy is also national headquarters to the American Boxwood Society. We explored the boxwood collection, which holds specimens from around the world. The popular “Graham Blandy” boxwood cultivar was developed at Blandy and is named for the donor who bequeathed the property to the University of Virginia in 1926.

Blandy lies just west of the Blue Ridge, near Winchester. Its mountain vistas are beautiful, and its perimeter bridle trail is a popular destination for riders. Some of Clarke County’s many historic houses, such as Long Branch, designed by Benjamin Latrobe, located close to Blandy, are open to the public. After our tour, our group pic-nicked at a nearby antebellum house owned by a member’s family.

The University of Virginia operates Blandy Experimental Farm as a research facility within its Environmental Science department. Current research includes studies of honeybee decline, invasive species and plant succession. Open every day of the year, Blandy presents many educational programs for schoolchildren and adults. It welcomed nearly 150,000 visitors last year and hosts many special events, including a huge Garden Fair early in May and an Arbor Fest in early October. Anyone can enjoy a self-guided tour with excellent interpretive brochures and signage. More information on group visit options can be found at http://www.virginia.edu/blandy/ and by calling the Blandy office at 540-837-1758. ❁

The Editorial Board welcomes submissions and reserves the right to edit them.


Florence Bally AdamsMary Brewer AllenVirginia Leigh AustinCarolyn Bray BagbyAnne Nelson BagwellAnne R. BarnesNancy Kendrew BellNancy D. BridgforthJoanne Raines BrinkleyMary Smith BryanElizabeth Stuart BurkeJean CollinsLaura Tramel CollinsMary Fitzhugh CunninghamGeorgia Bahnsen FusonMary Parke Maddux GibbJane GoldenRuth P. HancockSarah Townsend HarrisonChandler Allen HotchkissFrances Moose JenningsJuliet Anne JohnstonJean Lacy McIntyreMadeleine Dura LaneSallie Drummond MajorMeriwether Hodges MajorTeresa Jennings MassieElizabeth Willson MattoxLizora Schoolfield Miller

Jane Tarleton MooreNancy MullinsElizabeth Tankard NealJane K. NolandJane Mawyer OrgainPeyton Handy ParkerJean Wilson ParkerGale Palmer PennEdith Davis PrillamanEdith Dean ReidEllen Barnard Wallinger RuegerSuzanne P. ScullEvelyn Sterchl SettleHarriette ShankRebecca Hogg ShermanMargaret Walker SydnorElizabeth TaskerJanet Roszel TayloeFlorence Gray TullidgeVirginia Taylor VoorheesAdeline Jones VoorheesJean Fuller WatkinsElizabeth Beck WeltonMolly Flagler WileyJullianna Garrett WilliamsFannie Richardson WilliamsJean Major WilsonElizabeth Yancey

In Memoriam2010-2011

In Memoriam lists the names of Garden Club of Virginia members who have died within the past year, compiled by the Journal

from names submitted by club presidents. Look for this column in subsequent March issues of the Journal,

where listings will be for the preceding calendar year.

Grateful appreciation extended to Mary Wynn and Charles McDaniel and Hilldrup Transfer & Storage for support of the GCV Flower Shows. The complete list of winners and additional photographs can be viewed at www.gcvirginia.org.


NUMBER OF HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITORS: 107NUMBER OF ARRANGEMENTS: 66

NUMBER OF HORTICULTURAL STEM: 1188“Everything Old is New Again.” April 6 – 7, 2011

The 77th Annual Daffodil Show, 2011

Artistic Awards

Sponsored by the Hillside Garden Club

Inter Club Class 238A (Stablie) The Tuckahoe

Garden Club - Quad Blue

Inter Club Class 238C(Late Victorian) to The

Lynchburg Garden Club

Inter Club Class 238B(Creative Line)

Chatham Garden Club

Inter Club Class 238 D (Panel design) to Dolley Madison Garden Club

The Sandra Sadler BaylorAward to Matilda

Bradshaw, The MillMountain Garden Club

The Decca Gilmer Frackelton Award (Tri-Color) and The

Flower Show Chairman’s Cup to Caroline Parrish

Grateful appreciation extended to Mary Wynn and Charles McDaniel and Hilldrup Transfer & Storage for support of the GCV Flower Shows. The complete list of winners and additional photographs can be viewed at www.gcvirginia.org.


NUMBER OF HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITORS: 107NUMBER OF ARRANGEMENTS: 66

NUMBER OF HORTICULTURAL STEM: 1188“Everything Old is New Again.” April 6 – 7, 2011

The 77th Annual Daffodil Show, 2011

Artistic Awards

Sponsored by the Hillside Garden Club

GCV The Pat LawsonMemorial Trophy for the

best stem to Kathi Marshall

ADS Gold Ribbon for best standard daffodil

in Horticulture divisionto Clay and Fran Higgins

(from the Quinn collection): also winners of theADS Quinn Award

The Jacqueline BirdShank memorial (Miniature) toKaren Cogar

Miniature Gold Ribbon for best miniature daffodil

to Chris Rainey

Horticulture Awards

ADS Purple Ribbon Best collection of five different standard daffodils

to Karen Cogar


The Garden Club of Virginia’s Symposium 2012 Take the Leap—To Timeless Trends

Celebrate 2012 and the leap year with an exciting three-day event at the Homestead.

Date: February 27-29, 2012

Location: The Homestead

Speakers:Mathew Dickinson, our keynote speaker, has achieved recognition as a leading bridal florist in the UK and mainland Europe, with clients including Prince William and Kate. He will be speaking about the “traditional and modern” aspect of flower arranging. His website is: www.mathewdickinsonflowers.co.uk

Jack Staub and his edible gardens of vegetables and herbs are multiple award winners at the Philadelphia Flower Show. With his partner, Renny Reynolds, he is the founder and owner of Hortulus Farm in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, considered a leading specialty greenhouse and perennial plant operation and “a garden of world-class charm.”

Renny Reynolds is one of the nation’s most renowned entertaining, gardening and lifestyle experts. His reissued book, The Art of The Party, is known widely as the “party planner’s bible.” His client list includes Presidents Ford, Nixon, Reagan and Clinton. In 2008 he was awarded the Great American Gardener Award by the American Horticulture Society.

Rick Darke author of In Harmony with Nature: Lessons from the Arts and Crafts Garden, is a landscape design consultant who has studied and photographed North American native plants in their habitats for more than twenty years. His focus is on the balance of nature and culture in the North American region.

Joe Eck along with his late partner Wayne Winterrowd, founded the garden design firm North Hill in 1977. Both lifelong gardeners served as expert design consultants, lecturers, writers and authors on topics of horticulture and garden design in North America.

Special Events will include antique appraisals by Ken Farmer, tea and concert at Garth Newell and yoga classes.

Cost: Symposium reservation of $250 per person will include: all lectures, two lunches, first night cocktail party and buffet dinner and second night cocktails and banquet. This fee does not include special events.

Room rates: $165 for a single room with an additional $82.50 for a double; plus tax. For rooms with more than two guests, please add $85.00 for each additional adult. Suites also available upon request.

Registration: Reservation brochures will be mailed in November 2011.

Contact: Elaine Burden, Chairman (540) 687-6940 [email protected]

The 2012 Symposium is open to all GCV members and their guests.


Does it Come in Green?By Joyce Childress

The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club

If it’s time to get started on a more sustainable lifestyle, or time to recharge your intentions, Does it Come in Green is an invaluable resource. The 27-page booklet, compiled and written by the Conservation Committee of the Stony Brook Garden

Club of Princeton. N. J., is offered as a small but forceful voice for the commitment of the Garden Club of America to Mother Nature. The opening page asks the question, “are we poisoning both ourselves and our universe?” and, if so, what can we do to reduce our impact and become better stewards of the environment?

The story describes Penelope in her McMonster SUV truck and GiGi, a.k.a. the Green Goddess, on her one-speed bike. At a stoplight, their eyes meet and the story begins. Penelope lives to consume and, so far, she has never had reason to consider doing otherwise. Climate change? (Debatable.) Recycling? (Too busy.) Reducing pesticides and other chemicals? (How?) Penelope sees these as subjects that are definitely boring. And besides, what difference can one person make?

The Green Goddess, able in ways unknown, gains Penelope’s confidence and she and Penelope go everywhere together for one week. Miraculously, Penelope listens to the suggestions and warnings the Green Goddess offers.

No matter what combination of consumer/non-consumer we may be, the booklet has information to give us cause for concern if we are in a Penelope mode, or reason to

peddle on if we like GiGi’s model.Are you too busy to recycle?

Picture 1.4 billion pounds of trash being dumped into the sea every year, and landfills clogged with two million tons of plastic water bottles. Did you know that only one in five water bottles is recycled? Need ideas for new things to do for sustainability? Here are recipes for a solution to unclog drains, remove lime and rust stains, and recommendations of brands of safer personal care products, tips for pet health, water conservation, and much more.

The booklet closes with this quote by Edmond Burke: “Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.” To purchase a copy, contact Susan W. Finlay, at (609) 730-9914, or [email protected]. The cost is $6.00 plus shipping and handling. ❁

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HydrofrackingBy Sandy Hodge

The Spotswood Garden Club

The Spotswood Garden Club, located in the western part of Virginia, with members in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, recently held a program on a local energy issue that reflects energy-related topics throughout the

Commonwealth. That issue is hydrofracking. Fracking is the process of drilling 6 to 7 thousand feet into shale reservoir rock formations to increase the rate and recovery of oil and natural gas.

Fracking is not a new process . It has been used in Texas and adjacent states since 1947. With the invention of a way to drill horizontally, interest has developed in the Marcellus shale deposits that run from New England to West Virginia. A small part of this shale is found in the western part of Virginia, specifically the western part of Rockingham County, hence our interest to learn more about this process of recovering natural gas.

We invited two speakers who spoke on the opposite sides of the issue. On the plus side, hydrofracking provides one more source of natural gas and oil which makes us less dependent on foreign supplies. Although tests are ongoing, there has been no discernable leakage of chemicals into surrounding water supplies.

A representative from Community Alliance for Preservation in Rockingham County shared their concerns with this process. There are environmental concerns including cutting of trees to form roads for access, clearing of land for work areas and overuse of water supplies. Some of the more serious concerns have to do with the chemicals that are added to the water before it is pumped into these deep pipes. These chemicals include ethylene, propylene and benzene. After the gas and oil are extracted the water containing these chemicals is either piped back into a deep injection well to stay forever, put into a holding pond or sent to a local sewage system to be cleaned up.

It seems the more we know the more concerns are raised. Energy issues are brought before the General Assembly each session. All of us have the future of the commonwealth in mind as we try to understand the consequences of the decisions being made. Let’s hope we all make informed ones. ❁

Conservation in Virginia:What is working?Hollis Stauber, Co-chair Conservation Workshop, Conservation and Beautification Committee

The Garden Club of Danville

What are recent state and local conservation success stories, and how do we multiply them effectively? This is the focus of the 2011 Conservation Workshop Monday, September 26th from 10 am until 1:30 pm. All

conservation chairs and club presidents are asked to save the date for this inspiring workshop, and everyone is invited. The full information will be on the GCV website and in an article in the September Journal.

We will highlight the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award recipient as a model for successful community partnerships and hear from a few of the strongest conservation groups at the state level. We will also explore opportunities for collaborative work at the General Assembly. Break-out sessions will offer examples of important achievable projects at the state and club level. Last year’s comments were positive: “I met many creative, committed GCV members and went back to my club motivated.” Please mark your calendar for Sept. 26th and join us at the Kent-Valentine House in Richmond. ❁


Club NotesThe Petersburg Garden Club

The Petersburg Garden Club (PGC) was pleased to present a framed resolution to Mrs. Shirley Moore Turner Vanlandingham at its opening meeting. Mrs.

Vanlandingham has been a loyal member of PGC for over fifty years.The resolution that was read and included in the minutes of the meeting, noted

Mrs.Vanlandingham’s diligent work in state and local historic preservation projects. She served 12 years as restoration chairman for the garden club and is credited with having the Garden Club of Virginia adopt for a project the restoration of the Centre Hill Mansion grounds. Mrs. Vanlandingham has also worked on the preservation of the Appomattox Iron Works, Battersea Mansion through Historic Petersburg Foundation, Capitol Square in Richmond and projects for the restoration and furnishing of the Kent-Valentine House, GCV Headquarters.

Since joining PGC in June of 1958, Mrs.Vanlandingham has served as president of the club and has served as as chairman of Historic Garden Week on three occasions. She opened her home twice for Historic Garden Week and graciously served for five years as Chairman of District I for the Garden Club of Virginia.

The resolution concluded with these heartfelt words: “A faithful person to her family, vocation and endeavors of this club, the garden club extends our deepest appreciation for her support, hard work and dedication. Her tenacity and passion has directly impacted the City of Petersburg and garden club.” ❁

Molly Sammler

Club NotesThe Augusta Garden Club

The Augusta Garden Club is cultivating and planting serviceberry trees in public places in Staunton. The project was inspired by the Garden Club of America Centennial Tree Project in honor of the 100th birthday of the GCA. The Project

promotes long-term tree projects that will have a meaningful impact in the communities where the garden clubs are active; it also encourages planting native trees.

The horticulture committee of the Augusta Garden Club has chosen the serviceberry tree Amelanchier Canadensis for a number of reasons, but primarily to promote the cultivation of native Virginia trees. The serviceberry is one of the earliest trees to flower in Virginia woods throughout the state. In the summer they produce little shiny red edible berries that the birds usually eat before people can harvest them for delicious jellies or pies.

The first group of serviceberry trees will be planted this spring along Lewis Creek in Gypsy Hill Park. By planting the trees along Lewis Creek, the AGC is complementing another ongoing club conservation project involving the cleaning of waterways, particularly Lewis Creek, which feeds into the Middle River, then the Shenandoah River, the Potomac, and on to the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to the Gypsy Hill Park location, the horticulture committee members are propagating additional trees for another location in Staunton. ❁

Carrie Darricott and Sally James


Club NotesThe Lynchburg Garden Club

If you happen to be in the Lynchburg area, please drive into Riverside Park and check out our two beautiful

gardens. Last fall we established our new Gazebo Garden, adjacent to our garden at the historic Miller Claytor House, with 25 members working for two days. The garden was designed over many hours the previous summer by member Catherine Madden and her core committee. Working closely with the City of Lynchburg, the committee had to provide a plan that would meet the city’s approval as well as provide appropriate plant material with manageable upkeep, and had to overcome the challenge of matching the stonework of the new patio with the existing stone of the historic gazebo. This spring the garden bloomed for the first time, with peonies, spirea, dwarf deutzia, St. John’s wort and nepeta, framed by three types of boxwood and Japanese maples. At a recent Lynchburg City Council meeting, we were recognized by the City Council with a letter of appreciation ❁

Ferrell Nexsen

Officers of the Club2010-2012

President: Kimbrough Nash — The Warrenton Garden Club

First Vice President: Ann Gordon Evans — The Huntington Garden Club

Second Vice President: Meg Clement —Three Chopt Garden Club

Treasurer: Anne Baldwin — The Garden Club of Alexandria

Recording Secretary: Jeanette Cadwallender — The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club

Corresponding Secretary: Nina Mustard — The Williamsburg Garden Club

2010-2012Missy Buckingham

The Boxwood Garden ClubDonna Lawhon

The Garden Study ClubDianne Spence

The Williamsburg Garden Club

2011-2013Linda Consolvo

Nansemond River Garden ClubJean Gilpin

Winchester Clarke Garden ClubCatherine Madden

Lynchburg Garden Club

Directors at large


The Garden Club of Virginia Joins Forces with the Corporation for

Jefferson’s Poplar ForestBy William D. Rieley

Landscape Architect to the Garden Club of Virginia

Thomas Jefferson inherited the property called Poplar Forest in Bedford County near Lynchburg

from his father-in-law when he was thirty years old—three years before he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Over the next three decades while Jefferson served as Virginia’s Governor, Minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice President and President, the 4000-acre Poplar Forest property produced income for him, provided sanctuary when he needed to flee the British, and served as a retreat to escape the press of visitors at Monticello.

It wasn’t until his second term as President, when he was in his sixties, that he turned his attention to creating a new house and landscape composition at Poplar Forest. By that time, he had seen first hand the architecture of Europe, tinkered ceaselessly with the house and grounds at Monticello, and designed or helped design numerous public and private buildings. He studied several alternative locations, finally settling on a knoll near a grove of young tulip poplars where a tobacco barn was located. He chose a novel and ingenious plan for the house: a regular octagon subdivided by irregular polygonal rooms that surrounded the perfect cube of a dining room, which he lit by a long skylight. While Monticello was a collection of elements added over many years, he conceived of his house at Poplar Forest as a complete architectural thought, one that has proved enormously significant in American architectural history.

He applied the same geometric attention to the landscape, incorporating many of the techniques he had successfully implemented at Monticello or seen at the White House and elsewhere. He used the soil removed to create the sunken lawn to build mounds on either side of the house that he planted with willows and shrubs, and he connected these mounds to the house with rows of paper mulberry trees, creating a composition that reflected a Palladian five-part house—but with four of the five parts represented by landscape elements. He designed a circular road around the house and ornamental grounds, and flanked the sunken lawn south of the house with rows of ornamental plantings. He also planted oval beds with roses and bristly locust and


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planted unusual thickets of trees and shrubs which he referred to simply as “clumps.” These consisted of groupings of large trees, understory trees and shrubs, all compressed into a relatively small area. Jefferson and John Adams saw such thickets on their tour of English landscapes and Jefferson had also admired those on the grounds of Woodlands, the Philadelphia home of his friend, William Hamilton.

Since the Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest was formed in the early ‘80s to purchase and restore the property to its Jeffersonian condition, the house is re-emerging as Jefferson knew it through steady leadership, careful scholarship and wonderful craftsmanship. The Garden Club of Virginia now joins Poplar Forest in applying the same scholarly approach to the restoration of the grounds. Archaeological work under the direction of Poplar Forest’s Jack Gary is yielding important information about the layout of the rows of paper mulberries, and the configuration of plantings in the oval beds, the mounds and the clumps. Once the archaeologists complete their work, Jefferson’s plants will return in their proper locations to recreate the setting he so carefully planned and implemented. The hard work of Garden Club of Virginia members during Historic Garden Week will help to replace these unique early 19th century landscape features to the grounds of Poplar Forest and, in the process, support one of the most significant landscape restorations ever undertaken in America. ❁


Lily NotesBy Mary Nelson Thompson, GCV Lily Chairman

The Franklin Garden Club

The GCV 69th Annual Lily Show, “Green Spaces in Busy Places,” hosted by the Garden Club of Fairfax, June 22-23, promises to be a spectacular event. Co-Chairmen, Tricia Kincheloe and Anna Fortune, with the able assistance

of very talented club members, have planned a creative, artistic schedule to be staged at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 9350 Braddock Road., Burke, Virginia. Accommodations will be available at the nearby Mason Inn on the George Mason University campus. Participants will enjoy local attractions, shopping and dining in this beautiful, historical area of our state. Information on these options will be available at the registration desk.

Please note there are a few changes in the Rules for Horticulture Exhibitors (#6-8). All entries in Section A, Class 1 (Eleanor Truax Harris Cup), must be passed by classification to assure that all stems are registered lilies.

All entries in Section A, Class 3 (Inter Club Collection), must contain eight stems. Each stem is to be labeled with the name of the lily and the year of the collection. A composite list of all eight stems with the above information and the name of the grower will be placed face down at the back of the entry.

Entries not passed by classification will not be judged. Remember to use address labels on both places indicated on the entry card. Please check the GCV designation on both sides of the card. The purpose of these changes is to facilitate judging, assure everyone is following the rules as set forth in the schedule and allow each entrant to be on an even playing field.

Should anyone wish to continue her lily show experience, the Potomac Lily Society Show is being held in Fairfax at the Merrifield Garden Center, Fair Oaks Location, June 25-26, 2011. The information and schedule can be found at www.potomaclilysociety.org. ❁

Daffodil NotesBy Lucy Rhame, GCV Daffodil Chairman,

The Hunting Creek Garden Club

For all of you who did not get to the GCV Daffodil show in Lynchburg on April 8, you missed a feast for the eyes. Hillside Garden Club, under the leadership of chairwomen Melanie Christian and Becky O’Brien, hosted a beautiful show

featuring 1811 stems in 817 exhibits entered by 155 exhibitors. The flowers were gorgeous with bright colors and fabulous substance as a result of the cool weather and adequate rains. The members of the Hillside Garden Club worked hard and extended gracious hospitality as hosts of the show for the past two years.

Despite the women from Hillside being busy organizing a show for us all to enjoy, they managed to sweep a number of the awards too. Spotswood Garden Club overcame stiff competition from 15 other collections entered in their class to win the blue for The Daffodil Chairman’s Cup. Gale Frizzell presented The Gale and Lockwood Frizzell Award to one of the members of her own garden club, Charlottesville, Pam Bracey, whom she has mentored over the years. Please see the GCV website for the complete list of winners. ❁


June 22-23, 2011

Sponsored by the Garden Club of FairfaxAssisted by the North American Lily Society

The Church of the Good Shepherd9350 Braddock RoadBurke, Virginia 22015

69thAnnual69thAnnual

THE GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIAPresents the

THE GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIA

Lily ShowLily Show

Entries Accepted: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 22, 2011 8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.

Open to the Public: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Thursday, June 23, 2011 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Artistic ClassesInter Club Classes:Class 51A Blenheim—A Hogarth CurveClass 51B Sully —A Federal ArrangementClass 51C The Ford Building—An Early Victorian ArrangementClass 51D Old Town Hall —An Art Nouveau Arrangement

Open Classes:Class 52 The Washington and Old Dominion Regional Park

A Stretch ArrangementClass 53 Green Spring Garden and Horticultural Center

A Pot-et-Fleur ArrangementClass 54 Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

A Synergistic ArrangementClass 55 Great Falls Park

A Cascade Arrangement

For more information contact show co-chairmen: Tricia Kincheloe (703) 861-1388 [email protected] or

Anna Fortune (703) 969-5205 [email protected]

Green Spaces in Busy Places


Ex LibrisBy Molly H. Sammler,

Kent-Valentine House Library CommitteeThe Petersburg Garden Club

Radford University professor

Jim Minick’s recent memoir

entitled The Blueberry Years, A

Memoir of Farm and Family is a wonderful

book of the sites, stories and tastes of

Virginia’s blueberry fields and of organic

gardening.

Minick, also a poet and freelance

columnist for The Roanoke Times,

preserves for the reader a personal account

of his efforts at organic blueberry farming

for over a decade in Floyd County,

Virginia. He tells the story of operating a

certified-organic pick-your-own blueberry

farm and includes anecdotes about the

many pickers and surrounding neighbors

in the community.

This memoir is filled with “Blue

Interludes” which are highlighted short

sections that detail the many wonderful

aspects of blueberries, not only including

their health benefit, but also their

appearance in our nation’s history and

literature. The book is an educational and

enjoyable read all the way to its epilogue, full

of creative blueberry ideas and recipes. ❁For information, please contact: (804) 673-7015 or (804) 673-6280

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In Search of Gray’s Lily, Lilium grayiBy Barbara Holland,

The Garden Study Club

Several years ago, I read an article in the North American Lily Society Yearbook about native lilies in the Southeast. A native lily is one that occurs naturally in a specific region without direct human action. The article piqued my interest because a few

lilies that were listed supposedly lived in driving distance of my home in Martinsville, Virginia. My husband Morgan and I set out on a quest to see these native lilies in bloom. We were successful in seeing a few; however, there was one that eluded our search. It was Gray’s Lily, named for the renowned botanist, Asa Gray, who discovered it.

Last summer Morgan and I visited the North Carolina mountains at the time that the Catawba rhododendrons are usually in bloom because we had learned that the lily was also in bloom in that area on the Appalachian Trail. About twelve miles past Roan Mountain State Park is the North Carolina / Tennessee state line and an access area at Carver’s Gap to the Appalachian Trail. Once again, Morgan and I set out in search of this lily.

The first lily we spotted was off the trail. We only spotted it because a path led to the site of the blooms. There we found three stems about four feet high; two had two blooms and the third was a single bloom. As we captured their image with our camera, we realized how lucky we were to have spotted the path through the grass because as far as we could see there wasn’t another red bloom in sight. Satisfied with our sighting and pleased to have a picture, we headed on to Jane Bald where we had been told was the main habitat of the lily.

When we reached Jane Bald, we were rewarded with the sight of several groupings of L. grayi along the side of the trail. Jane Bald is a small knob between Round Bald and Grassy Ridge Bald. It has an elevation of 5,820 feet. As its name implies, it is treeless, crowned only by rock, low shrubs and thick stands of rhododendron. The Appalachian Trail crosses its summit. As we looked across the area as far as we could see, there were numerous flashes of color from these lovely little red bells. They were scattered about, holding their heads high and waving in the breeze, just as they must have looked when Asa Gray collected the first specimens in 1840. ❁

Barbara and Morgan are both horticulture judges accredited by the North American Lily Society. Morgan is an honorary member of the Garden Study Club.


C O N T R I B U T I O N SGiven in January, February and March 2011

Annual FundProvides essential ongoing support necessary to maintain GCV operations.

DonorThe Garden Club of Alexandria

The Garden Club of Danville

The Elizabeth River Garden Club

The Garden Club of Fairfax Leesburg Garden Club Winchester-Clarke Garden Club

GCV Massie Medal Committee

Di Cook Family Foundation

Hubard Family TrustsFarrar Timberlake Foundation

Victoria AlexanderSheila E. BakerJoan M. BakerAnne G. BaldwinMarilyn C. BarrowAnne M. BealsJoanne G. BeckMargaret Page BemissNancy F. BowlesHolland BradenBetty S. BrownDianne ButlerJeanette CadwallenderTrina EnglishMrs. Peter O. CareyMrs. Hill Carter, Jr.Nancy G. ChamleeJoyce C. ChildressJane M. CowlesCecile A. CoxAnne Geddy CrossLaura DansbyKathleen Dickinson

Margaret B. DouglasMrs. F. M. Downey, Jr.Clarkie EppesMadison FairburnBeverly C. FlippoJinxie ForbushMary Carter FrackeltonPatricia H. GarnerKathleen B. GlassElizabeth S. GoffigonSusan GravesGlenna GravesFreddie GrayMiriam L. GreenMary Anne B. GriffinMichelle H. HamnerElizabeth HargroveAnn HarryMartha HearnMrs. Charles R. Hooff IIIMary McMillan HortonShannon E. HowellSuzanne D. HuffAlice J. JanneyCecelia R. JohnsonMrs. Lucius J. Kellam IIIEllen KelsoAnn KingtonJoAnne H. KinnamonSue C. LangLucy LeeLisa W. LewisFrances M. LindsayPatricia H. LintonLyde A. LongakerLinda F. MacdonaldDr. Linda L. MagovernAnn S. MartinTammy MasonMary Wynn McDaniel

Mary E. McManusLucille P. MidyetteLouise A. MortonBarbara Schoeb NelsonMrs. Alan NewmanJamie OldAnn C. PalmoreSarah Belle E. ParrottSarah H. PiersonMary Louisa PollardMrs. Douglas E. Quarles IIIVenetia L. Raines ReddMollie ReinhartJeanne ReynoldsJanet F. RosserHelen J. RyanMalvina H. SavageLaura Daughtry SmartPat StaplesCarol Wells StevensonSharon M. StilesMrs. James StrykerAnne StuartMs. Page D. StylesMrs. Norman E. TadlockSue C. TaylorLiz ThompsonLauren D. ThompsonMrs. Robert F. Turner IIIAnne J. VaughanSue Forbes WatsonShannon WescoatSandra B. WhittleNancy Coleman WoodMrs. Clifton A. Woodrum IIISuzanne WrightPage YoungMarion Zimmerman


Donor In Honor ofAlbemarle Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashThe Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton . . . . . . . . . . Cabell Goolsby WestLee Cochran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashChristine G. Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suzanne MunsonMargaret H. Millam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nancy Jiranek Marcia-Lee RichLucinda Smith Seale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. Nash

Donor In Memory ofThe Garden Club of Warren County Mrs. Duncan Gibb Juax Parker Margaret H. Millam Peyton Parker Larry ParkerMary Henley Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane NolandCabell Goolsby West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. George M. CochranJanet C. Whitehead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Libba Tankard Neal

Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award FundDonor In Honor ofWinchester-Clarke Garden Club Missy Janes

Garden Club of Virginia EndowmentSupports the ongoing preservation of the historic Kent-Valentine House, headquarters of the Garden Club of Virginia and Historic Garden Week.

DonorThe Ashland Garden Club The Blue Ridge Garden ClubThe Garden Study Club Estate of Ellen Wallinger Rueger Betsy Rawls AgelastoDianne Nea SpenceDonor In Honor ofThe Elizabeth River Garden Club. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashThe Garden Club of Fairfax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Francis Margaret KincheloeFranklin Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashHarborfront Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alison ClockThe Huntington Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashThe Lynchburg Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashThe Martinsville Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashThe Nansemond River Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frances CardenThe Nansemond River Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashThe Garden Club of Norfolk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alison ClockThe Rappahannock Valley Garden Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimbrough K. NashSally Guy Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Wynn McDaniel Susan ThompsonDeedy Bumgardner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rieley & AssociatesMeg Clement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joan RobinsLori M. Dibernardo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Nelson ThompsonNellie E. Healy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Nelson Thompson


Franca Higgins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Nelson ThompsonJean M. Kelley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Nelson ThompsonMary T. Kincheloe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diane WilkinsonThelma Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Nelson Thompson

Donor In Memory ofThe Ashland Garden Club Ellen Wallinger RuegerThe Brunswick Garden Club Jane OrgainThe Hampton Roads Garden Club Nancy MullinsThe Hunting Creek Garden Club Betty Stuart Burke Jane Goldman Elizabeth TaskerThe Huntington Garden Club Jane K. Noland Elizabeth Sanford Suzanne ScullThe Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula Julia JohnstonThe Garden Club of Warren County Mrs. J. N. Major, Jr.Dykeman & Company Georgia B. FusonMavis J. Bayles Anne BarnesSally Guy Brown The Hon. FitzGerald D. Bemiss The Hon. George M. CochranDeedy Bumgardner Florence Gray TullidgeMeg Clement John Craig Cranston Mr. Howard D. Woltz, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Austin T. Darden, Jr. The Hon. FitzGerald D. Bemiss The Hon. George M. CochranNan C. Freed The Hon. George M. CochranMary Bruce H. Glaize The Hon. FitzGerald D. Bemiss The Hon. George M. CochranEllen G. Godwin The Hon. George M. CochranLula Hopkins Mrs. William H. Parker, Jr. Mrs. Thomas H. TullidgeDeane Ferguson Mills Mr. Micajah Quincy Holt Jane Noland Mrs. Woodward Meredith ShermanThe Hon. and Mrs. W. Tayloe Murphy, Jr. The Hon. FitzGerald D. Bemiss The Hon. George M. CochranCharles and Betty Schutte The Hon. George M. CochranCabell Goolsby West The Hon. FitzGerald D. Bemiss

GCV Conservation FundSupports GCV clubs in local and statewide conservation projects.

DonorThe Blue Ridge Garden ClubDonor In Honor ofThe Franklin Garden Club Sallie SebrellHarborfront Garden Club Sallie SebrellThe Garden Club of the Northern Neck Anne OlsenMargaret H. Milam Hollis StauberDonor In Memory ofJane Sherwin Chesson Jane K. Noland

JUNE 2011 WWW.GCVIRGINIA.ORG

RestorationSupports GCV Restoration projects across the commonwealth.

Donor In Honor ofThe Boxwood Garden Club William D. RieleyDolley Madison Garden Club Suzanne MunsonThe Garden Club of the Eastern Shore William D. RieleyThe Garden Club of Fairfax Suzanne MunsonGabriella Garden Club Mary Jac MeadowsVirginia Beach Garden Club Judy PerryJane Covington Suzanne MunsonMary Hart Darden Suzanne MunsonJulie Whitehurst MacKinlay Suzanne MunsonMary Wynn McDaniel Charlotte Benjamin Sally Guy Brown Deedy Bumgardner Susan Claytor Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Claytor Meg Clement Candace Crosby Fleet Davis Mary Ann Johnson Kimbrough K. Nash Judy Perry William D. Rieley Dianne Spence Susan Thompson Suzanne Wright Katherine Van AllenKatherine T. Mears Suzanne MunsonHelen Raney Pinckney Suzanne MunsonMartha M. Pollard Suzanne MunsonBetty G. Schutte Suzanne MunsonMargaret W. Talman Suzanne MunsonKathryn Q. Wafle Suzanne MunsonMary Denny Wray Suzanne MunsonSuzanne P. Wright Susan and Bob Claytor

Donor In Memory ofFleet Davis Libba Tankard NealMr. and Mrs. Charles W. Dickinson Libba Tankard NealBetty Shaw Catherine Anne Eberly

SEED FundSupports Events, Education, and Development.

DonorBlue Ridge Landscape & Design, Inc.

Donor In Honor ofTata Kellam Suzanne MunsonLina Zvonar Barbara Luton

Donor In Memory ofTata Kellam Libba Tankard Neal

WWW.GCVIRGINIA.ORG The Garden Club of Virginia

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GCV Journal June 2011

Documents

Transcript of GCV Journal June 2011