Horticulture

July 13, 2022

Chairman Mary Eades, Rivanna Garden Club

Horticulture Field Day was held May 8, 2008, in Leesburg. View photos.

Linda Pinkham of the Horticulture Committee contributed an article on the Beautiful Gardens Program for publication in the September Journal, and was in charge of an exhibit at the Board of Governors in October 2008. The exhibit showcased information on the Beautiful Gardens Program, which supports discovering and promoting new plant introductions for the nursery trade in our region.

Horticulture Field Day was held on May 28-29, 2009, in Orange County, chaired by Suzanne Aiello with assistance from Dolley Madison Garden Club members.  View photos. Montpelier was featured on the first day and included the newly restored mansion, the Annie duPont formal garden, the Big Woods Walk with old growth trees and native flora and the Oriental Garden, an early American adaptation of a Japanese garden that is being restored.

The second day featured Mount Sharon Farm, Retreat Farm and Summer Duck Wood. Mount Sharon was a king’s grant to the Taliaferro family in 1724, and Charles and Mary Lou Seilheimer have created a series of distinctive but related “garden rooms,” using century-old boxwood to frame their creation. Retreat Farm is a 570-acre farm dating back to 1780. Current owners, Porter and Mariel Goss, use sustainable gardening methods. The tour, given by their farm manager, featured the techniques for raising free range chickens, Karakul sheep and cattle.

The two groups reunited at Summer Duck Wood for a garden tour and al fresco buffet luncheon, generously donated by the owners, Jamie and Mary McConnell. Summer Duck Wood is a 1,600-acre hunting park managed for wildlife habitat. The central stone courtyard is planted with flowering perennials, trees and shrubs. Two stone pergolas frame a water garden.

The 2009 BOG horticulture exhibit featured a horseshoe-shaped wreath decorated with ribbons, twine, raffia, seed pods, dried flowers, sprigs of berries, small pine cones and dried herbs, to be displayed on a wall of the historic North Wales Barn.

The fall Horticulture Workshop was held on Sept. 28, 2009, at Bon Air Christian Church in Richmond. Committee members Julie Patterson and Archer Hunt gave presentations to the club chairmen. Norie Burnet, known as the Moss Lady, was the featured speaker, and following the meeting and lunch, the 54 attendees visited Norie’s beautiful moss garden.