Our Olde Dominion Holiday

December 3, 2011: Forty-five District I members and guests took a holiday tour of Virginia. We started with a buffet dinner at historic Hanover Tavern with extra time to enjoy their holiday festival. We then had a magical early bird tour of the GardenFest of Lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond followed by a "tacky lights" tour of Richmond residences decorated for the holiday.

Most of us boarded the bus in Cheverly:









After we settled in, Santa Claus sent us on our way:









HANOVER TAVERN









Across the road was Hanover County Courthouse, the oldest courthouse still in use in the United States. It was the site where Patrick Henry argued against The Parson's Cause.
LEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN





















































TACKY LIGHTS TOUR

Ankeney Feted at Franklin's Fundraiser

Hyattsville, MD, November 8, 2011: District I members participated in the annual eat, drink and shop fundraiser at Franklin's Restaurant, Brewery & General Store. District I board members held a meeting before lunch, The board accepted the resignation of David Healy as Director and the appointment of Danielle Brabazon as Director and David Healy as Treasurer.

On behalf of the Prince George's County Beautification Committee, Charmane Truesdell (r below) presented this year's Golden Trowel Award to Ted and Arleen Ankeney.

Arbor House Sale Coupon

For sale discount, click on coupon, print a copy and take the copy to Arbor House.

NCA GARDEN CLUBS CELEBRATES 60th BIRTHDAY

Alexandria VA, September 27, 2011: District I presented corsages to the past presidents and elected officers of National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc., at the organization's 60th birthday party. Thank you to members of Cheverly Garden Club who fashioned the corsages.

Among the past presidents were (from left): Libbey Coffey 1995-97, Anne Bucher 1991-93, Marion Caldwell 1989-91 and Helen Reed 1983-85:
--photos by Mary Cottrell.

Moss for Beginner at Woodward Garden Club

September 21, 2011: Linda Davis presented a program on Moss for Beginners to the Woodmoor Garden Club. Davis and her husband Charlies have inventoried mosses and liverworts for the National Park Service at Great Falls Park in Virginia and at Piscataway and Fort Washington Parks in Maryland. Her presentation involved a demonstration on reproduction of mosses, a microscope viewing to observe moss uptake of water and valuable information about this great groundcover.

For more information on moss check out the Natural History Society of Maryland.

Woodmoor Garden Club Plants at Decatur House

September 18, 2011: Seven members of the Woodmoor Garden Club redesigned a flower bed at Decatur House on Lafayette Square in downtown Washington, DC. Woodmoor President Betsy Scroggs arranged this project with Butch Winters, a Woodmoor neighbor and Facilities Manager for Decatur House. Two focal bushes, a fall-blooming Camelia and a Pieris japonica 'Variegata', were planted along with 55 hostas of different varieties, sensitive fern and Christmas fern, Chrysogonum virginianum, and spring-flowering bulbs (scilla, hyacinth and crocus).

--Danielle Brabazon

Rain Gardens and Conservation Garden at Fall Meeting

September 13, 2011: Kit Gage of National Capital Region Watershed Stewards Academy gave an excellent presentation on the use of rain gardens and conservation gardening as a solution to stormwater runoff at District I's annual fall meeting.

Then Scott Aker from the National Arboretum gave an overview of the five rain gardens that the arboretum will install to handle stormwater runoff from the parking lot at its headquarters. Each rain garden will have its own kind of plants and signage to educate the public about rain gardens and the variety of plants for sun or shade or other situations.

These rain gardens are the president's project by current National Capital Area Garden Clubs president Vickie Godwin.

THE GARDEN POST Fall 2011

Garden Post Fall 2011

The Cheverly Garden Club Bench

August 18, 2011: The Cheverly Garden Club bench has arrived. The town will place the bench near the town Christmas tree, which is between the town hall and the public work department. A dedication ceremony is being planned.

UPDATE August 23, 2011: The bench has been placed:

Container Gardening Trend

California, July 2011: For container gardening it's back to the farm or ranch supply store for galvanized stock tanks to be used in even the toniest neighborhoods.

Lotus Bloom at Kenilworth

July 2, 2011: We dropped by to see whether the lotus were in bloom and they were.

We bumped into a group from Ayr Hills Garden Club in Vienna, VA. From left, Anne Marie Mulvihill, Diana Killcullen, District I Director David Healy, Anne Stuntz and Nancy Moats.

--Photos by Bill Dean