Horticulture

April 11, 2022

Chairman Suzanne Wright, The Petersburg Garden Club

Suzanne Wright sent a report to the Board of Directors in July 2003 describing the Flora of Virginia Project. The Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project, a 501(c)(3) project, plans to research and document the identification, distribution and habitat of Virginia’s plants. Scaled illustrations and captions will be included, and the publication will be accompanied by a website that enhances its utility through color photographs and auxiliary natural history information about the plants. The Board of Directors voted to send a letter of support to the project.

2002 Horticulture Field Day was held June 5-6 in Alexandria and included a tour of Green Spring Gardens and Old Town Alexandria. Garden walks of private gardens in Old Town were offered Wednesday afternoon. C. Colsten Burrell presented “Art, Ecology and the Wild Garden” on Thursday. In his words, the lecture “explores ecological design principles in the context of creating gardens of the highest artistic merit and shows how we can make the landscape of home a place that restores the soul and at the same time restores and preserves the environment.”  Burrell is a garden designer, award-winning author, photographer, naturalist and teacher. He is a principal in Native Landscape Design and Restoration which specialized in blending nature and culture through artistic design. He authored A Gardener’s Encyclopedia of Wildflowers and is a contributing editor to Horticulture Magazine.

Lunch followed at Green Spring Gardens, a 31-acre park with 20 different gardens, a 1780 historic house, forested paths, ponds and a horticulture center and library.

The 2002 Horticulture Workshop, “Garden Mania,” was held at the Kent-Valentine House on September 23. Fleet Hurlbatt, the Garden Club of the Eastern Shore, spoke on creating a garden from scratch and Linda Pinkham, the Elizabeth River Garden Club, provided recommendations for unusual plant material. Fran Boninti, Rivanna Garden Club, joined Fleet and Linda in answering questions.

The 2002 Fall Board of Governors horticulture exhibit, “Ferns, Fronds and Fiddleheads,” featured an exhibit of three ferns.

The 2003 Spring Annual Meeting horticulture exhibit, “Plant of the Year,” called for one particular plant that a gardener could or should not live without.

2003 Horticulture Field Day was held June 4-5 on the Northern Neck and featured eight private gardens.
A 2003 Horticulture Workshop, “How to Pique Your Club’s Interest in Horticulture,” was held September 11, 2003. Topics included orchids, propagation and division of plants, best bulbs for growing and cutting (other than tulips and daffodils), and gardening tips and information.

The 2003 Board of Governors horticulture exhibit called for three conifers displayed as specimens, accompanied by photographs as they appear in the landscape.

The 2004 Spring Annual Meeting exhibit featured, “Unusual Flowering Shrubs.”