District 1 Hosts State Fall Meeting

September 22, 2009: Charles Wilts, in association with Claymore C. Sieck Wholesale Florist, presented a program on practical flower arranging for the everyday enjoyment of flowers at the fall meeting of National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. While making arrangements, Wilts gave tips on the care and handling of flowers, including reviving drooping roses by given them a bath in warm water and using a little Chlorox to get Gerber daisies to stand up straight.

His first arrangement was based on flowers from a typical retail assortment. His second "Georgetown arrangement" combined small tight bouquets of single-type flowers together into one arrangement. [Right click on individual photographs for a larger view in another window].
















His finale was the creation of complementary arrangements in three nesting baskets, which could be combined into one towering arrangement for a buffet table and later separated into individual arrangements for display throughout one or more rooms.














At the end of the business meeting, the five arrangements were raffled as door prizes!

District 1 hosted the luncheon following the state meeting. Thirteen clubs donated salads, sandwiches and desserts. The District 1 board provided coffee and tea. Charmane Truesdell created a charming fall arrangement for the luncheon buffet table.

Memorial Grove Planted at Prospect Hill Cemetery

September 19, 2009: Thirty volunteers completed the planting of a memorial grove at historic Prospect Hill Cemetery on Saturday morning. The grove was a joint project of District 1, National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. and Prospect Hill Cemetery. Seventeen members from 8 District 1 garden clubs were joined by volunteers from the cemetery and the Sängerbund for Saturaday's planting day. The 32 trees and shrubs planted along a portion of the cemetery's northern boundary are intended when mature to screen an unsightly maintenance yard across the fence. [For larger views, click on individual photographs or right click to open in another tab or window.]






























































Sonia Johnson and Julie Harrison check out the angel statue while Charmane Truesdell marks the spot where the statue will be relocated.

Save the Date for Nemours

District 1 has scheduled a bus trip for May 23, 2010 to Nemours, the Alfred I. Dupont estate in Wilmington, DE. The estate features the finest French formal garden in North America. Trip details will be provided in the new year. For a sneak preview, click here.

Iris at Fall Meeting

September 10, 2009: Iris was the topic for Carol Warner, the proprietor of Draycott Gardens in Upperco, MD. While Warner sells beardless iris and the new Pseudata iris, her informative talk covered all varieties of iris from the Iris reticulata, bearded iris, beardless iris, Siberian iris, species iris, Japanese iris and the varieties of iris that rebloom in the fall.

Warner explained the mechanics of bee pollinization of iris and the process of hybridizing iris. She gave tips on the planting and dividing of iris, on how to treat the iris borer that eats out the rhizome, and discussed how to winter over water iris. She said beared iris should not be mulched and beardless iris should only be lightly mulched after planting to conserve moisture.

Warner also discussed the display of iris in landscapes and in beds and how to combine them with other plants so as to show them at their best. She said this region was home to two native iris--Iris versicolor which grows from here north and Iris virginica which grows from here south through the Carolinas.

Coffee, tea and pastries were served before the meeting while waiting for those delayed by traffic. Maggie Lippert of Paint Branch Garden Club provided a seasonal floral basket arrangement for the buffet table and Anne Gardenhour shared freshly picked Gala apples from the orchards of central Maryland.