albemarlegardenclub.com

Editor's Note: The following Albemarle Garden Club history was written by AGC member Christine McNeely.

The Follow the Green Arrow III history of Albemarle Garden Club from 1995 to present coincided with the arrival of the Information Age. Like a tree with a strong core, our club withstood the stresses of adapting to new technology and changing conditions. Advocacy and educational opportunities expanded. Communication and connectedness flourished. Our legacy endures thanks to careful consideration in all we do and our strong affiliation with the Garden Club of Virginia.

1995 - 2008 A Time of Distinctive Growth: Collaboration, Education, Beautification, and a 90th Birthday Celebration

During the 1990s invitations and the newsletter were sent by postal service and phone calls delivered news and announcements. Garden workdays were billed as “Ivy Pulls" and “Weed Ins” at Morea, a historic property at the University of Virginia, and Martha Jefferson House, a local retirement home. Ivy Creek cleanups were on the activity calendar annually. Daffodil bulbs were planted at Gordon Avenue Library and along the sidewalk of Preston Avenue beside the newly renovated Booker T. Washington Park.

A five-year commitment to create and maintain a meditative grove at the Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center commenced. Additionally, the Civic Projects Committee gave time and money to design and plant around JABA (Jefferson Area Board for Aging) and purchased greenhouse heaters for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center. Other local charities that benefited from our members’ time, talent and funding for plantings were the Educational Center at the Miller School and Blue Ridge House (now renamed Blue Ridge Center), which provides access to mental health services. Every December, members would arrive at the Christmas Workshop in festive attire with a small bedside arrangement made in an empty painted tuna fish can, as was tradition. They came ready to roll up sweater sleeves and create, on average, 70 table arrangements and 45 wreaths for nursing home and hospital patients.

Bonds between members were strengthened through activities of the Time and Talents Committee, and by way of field trips and organized advocacy. The tradition of making floral arrangements for a member's family wedding endured through a shared sense of joy in this long-standing club fundraiser. A future committee – Share Your Joy - would take root in the soil of Time and Talents. The Philadelphia Flower show was an annual destination for some members, and visits to plant centers and public and private gardens were annual field trips closer to home.

In response to environmental concerns of the moment, the Conservation Committee kept the watershed of the Rivanna reservoir simmering on the front burner and advanced GCV’s conservation agenda through editorials and letters to representatives. Calls and appointments were made to speak to local officials and county boards to oppose a proposed Route 29 Bypass and, instead, support the redesignation of Route 250 West as a scenic highway. Members wrote and phoned legislators to ultimately help defeat the tremendously powerful billboard industry. “Save Goshen Pass,” smokestack mercury emissions, public drinking water supplies, Virginia offshore oil drilling and even the Arctic polar bears garnered AGC attention. “Take the bus to Lobby Day for the Bay!” was a favorite memory of group effort. Our role as citizen activists continues today to enrich root systems throughout the Commonwealth.

In the early 2000s, AGC adapted to a computer-generated newsletter, Com.post, a bulletin emailed monthly, featuring news and relevant gardening information. One newsletter editor wrote: “Please, ladies - get your additions to me by the last day of the month! I simply could not CALL everyone each month for news. Thank you!” The bulletin featured a President’s message and a column for “Blue Ribbons” to acknowledge in writing a member’s good work, cooperation, accomplishments, etc. Monthly tips from the Horticulture and Conservation Committees were included and, sometimes, the occasional recipe request. In time, limbs of the Telephone Committee were gently pruned to allow for growth of a Communications Chair and Committee.

In June 2001 the club hosted a Garden Club of America Small Flower Show and plant sale in the auditorium of the former Kappa Sigma National Headquarters. The show featured a special exhibit in the schedule for conservation education, an “Ecology Box'' initiated by the Garden Club of Virginia. Our club served as a pilot in the design and execution of this learning box, which was a teaching aide for children in the elementary grades on how to care for and protect the environment and to conserve and protect its resources.

In September 2003, AGC celebrated 90 years with a cocktail party at the Greencroft Club for a 91 member-strong club! A beautiful photograph featuring many past presidents in attendance accompanied an article published by the Daily Progress and, our historian, Mary Pollock, published a detailed history in the GCV Bulletin.

We initiated casual Garden Walks at member homes and expanded monthly programs to often include casual flower shows. One example was in September 2002, when members brought arrangements for a Show and Tell theme: “Survivors of the Drought." Sometimes meeting program themes were in the form of questions such as, “How do I Find New Perennials for Shade?” or “How Do I have Fun?” for a cocktail party invitation the same year. The desire for more frequent workshops gained momentum in horticulture propagation, floral design techniques and photography skills. Preparation for and participation in GCV’s Lily, Rose and Daffodil Shows proved successful and provided inspiration for future mainstay events.

Tri-Club activities have strengthened our commitment to GCV and relations with our sister club members. In the early 2000s, AGC achieved an important milestone for Historic Garden Week by forming a Tri-Club Committee with the Charlottesville and Rivanna Garden Clubs to share responsibilities in hostess duties and collaborate in property procurement. Years later, the Tri-Club Committee would begin to host a membership meeting for the three clubs in January on the off-year of a GCV President meeting. The first “off-year meeting” featured Tanya Denckla Cobb, author and director of the Institute for Engagement & Negotiation and a mentor at the Institute for Environmental Negotiation at UVA. A favorite tradition of current and past presidents of the three clubs is decorating Charlottesville’s Amtrak Station at Christmas. AGC past president, Katya Spicuzza, conceived of this joint effort after several years of spreading holiday cheer on her own beginning in the early 2000s.

Civic Projects: Our Community Legacy

Since the 1997 renovation of Booker T. Washington Park (BTWP), an urban piece of land donated to the City of Charlottesville in 1926 for the first black public park, the Civic Projects Committee had given much consideration to how AGC might best serve the park. AGC’s leadership, including planting and beautification efforts around the BTWP from 1997-2003, provided a platform from which the city officially launched the Bog Garden and AGC’s association in October 2003. The new garden featured a constructed boardwalk donated by Virginia Power, though very few plants. AGC would go on to receive the Garden Club of Virginia’s Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award in 2014 for “Interpreting the Bog Garden - Where Conservation, Horticulture and Civic Projects Meet,” to enhance the beauty and wildlife habitat of a city park wetland.

In the years since, the Bog Garden has become our signature civic project with funding from the Garden Club of America and from the proceeds from AGC fundraising events, specifically the Design Forums. This urban wetland is replete with a large-scale functional pollinator hotel, more than 1,000 native specimens, and is used as an event site for our community engagement efforts. Local schools use the Bog Garden to teach science lessons and local nonprofits utilize the wetland garden for outdoor educational programs. Most recently, AGC has partnered with the City of Charlottesville and other organizations to rebuild a set of access stairs, added benches and holds monthly workdays to scan the area of invasive plants.

Morea: A Living Botanical Classroom is a special gem on grounds at the University of Virginia and also in the hearts of many members. The house at Morea was built c. 1835 by the University’s first professor of natural history, John Patten Emmet, who planted and experimented with rare trees and plants. Currently reduced in size, the property retains a few trees which may date from his occupancy. Our commitment to planting and maintaining the Morea garden in coordination with the University began in 1962, when AGC established the Albemarle Botanical Collection there to show examples of attractive plants suitable for local landscapes. Over many years AGC has spearheaded creation of professional landscape designs, paid for planting new trees and shrubs and, until a few years ago, held several workdays each year to help with maintenance. Eighty-five varieties of plants are featured. In 2006, AGC was honored to receive the Garden Club of Virginia’s second place Common Wealth Award, which enabled restoring plantings on the northeast border, permanent signage installation, and adding a new bench. In 2016, AGC paid for creation of an updated existing conditions plan of the Morea landscape, noting the location and names of plants, which it donated to the University. As the University has grown and the house is now used as a faculty residence, AGC has turned over maintenance to its professional staff but remains “on call” should the University desire additional help with new plantings or other needs.

In 2006, AGC took a lead role, along with the Charlottesville and Rivanna Garden Clubs, in the landscape renewal of a landmark central to our city’s black heritage: the historic renovation of the Charles B. Holt house. Mr. Holt was a son of a North Carolina slave, a carpenter, owned his business and built his dream house in 1926, which overlooks Booker T. Washington Park. AGC committed money and time to ensure successful landscape completion of the “Rock House.” Prior to renovation, the house fell in disrepair while being used as a storage building for two decades. Current owners use the beautiful bungalow for legal aid housing and support. In 2007, upon dedication of the restored home, The Daily Progress featured an article: “Rock House Reborn: Jim Crow Era House Feted.”

City Schoolyard Garden, an organization which launched vegetable gardens as teaching aids in city elementary schools, was a club favorite for many years through an annual Civic Projects Committee donation, as well as club members volunteer work with students. Around the mid-2000s AGC engaged in the creation of a rain garden and a viewing spot along a trail at Mint Springs Valley Park in Crozet. This commitment lasted several years in conjunction with Henley Middle School and highlighted the importance of water conservation. Later in the decade, the Southwood Mobile Home Park was the site of another important AGC project. We contributed plants and labor for landscape beautification of the Boys & Girls Club at the Southwood Community Center soon after Habitat for Humanity acquired the property for eventual redevelopment into better lower income housing.

The Conservation Committee continued promotion of environmental concerns through support of the Scenic Highways Program and the Adopt-A-Stream cleanups focused on Ivy Creek at Barracks Road and Old Garth Road. Emphasis on attendance at public hearings on historic preservation plans, cell phone towers and power plant installations provided platforms to share our knowledge in a community setting.

What was the brainchild of our Conservation Committee in 2006 has become an AGC signature community fundraiser for Community Projects. The inaugural AGC Design Forum featured design legends David Easton, George Carter and Xa Tollemache as speakers to a sellout crowd at Farmington Country Club. Ever since the May 2, 2006 Design Forum, events featuring world-renowned leaders in the areas of design, history, horticulture, gardening and flower arranging have been staged regularly. Past speakers include: Bunny Williams, Richard Guy Wilson, Renny Reynolds and Jack Staub of Hortulus Farms, Charlotte Moss, Meryl Gordon, Sir Peter Crane and Mark D. Sikes. Design Forum Film presented a documentary film by Thomas Piper - Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf.

AGC joined the Bicentennial Birthday Celebration of America’s premier landscape architect and presented, in partnership with the University of Virginia’s Center for Cultural Landscapes, Olmsted Forum: Olmsted in the Field: “Landscape Travels and Design Practices.” The event, held September 14-15, 2021, focused on the relevance of Olmsted’s legacy in the park movement today, which featured Olmsted scholars and practitioners. This Design Forum also featured a virtual flower show: “Genius of Place: An Ode to Frederick Law Olmsted."

Finances and Additional Fundraising

The Finance Committee, in 2006, began a new protocol of publishing the annual projected budget summary in the monthly newsletter. During the early 2000s, bookkeeping was moved to online accounting software and our successful fundraising necessitated the filing of our first nonprofit organization returns with the IRS, which we have filed every year since. Growth brought the need for more careful administration and attention to legal requirements.

Following our long-standing tradition of raising club funds through flower arrangements for members’ family weddings, the Fundraising Committee pivoted to the sale of pansy plants, which quickly became a blue ribbon, once-a-year source of funds. Around the same time, other popular fundraising came in the form of Kroger Cares cards and members’ donations to the Eternal Attic, a local consignment boutique, which gave sale proceeds back to our club.

2008 - 2015: Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors Meeting and AGC Centennial Celebrations

More AGC members began filling roles at the Garden Club of Virginia during these years, with five members involved at the state level in 2011 alone. This strengthened understanding of the needs and workings of the statewide organization and fostered many enduring friendships across Virginia.

In 2008, many members attended the first ever Garden Club of Virginia Symposium in Fredericksburg, which was the site of GCV’s first restoration project. Two years later, AGC sponsored the Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors Meeting “Celebrate, Conserve and Challenge” in October 2010, in downtown Charlottesville at the Omni Hotel. Besides the business meeting, attendees enjoyed optional tours to see new garden spaces at Monticello, the University, and a self-guided tour of the downtown mall. A luncheon was held at Carr’s Hill, home to the University president.

Centennial 2013

In honor of its Centennial, AGC instituted a $5,000 research grant for several years to fund graduate scholars in fields consistent with the club's mission. It was a great year! Celebratory events included:

“Return to Morven,” Birthplace of AGC. Our members gathered for a kick-off meeting at Morven, birthplace of AGC, and many dressed in 1913 attire. “A Bouquet of AGC Ladies,” a club flower show inspired by and dedicated to members past and emerita who have made our club vibrant and strong. “A History of AGC” talk with slideshow at the Small Collections Library (home of AGC archives) given by our much admired and long serving club historian Mary Pollock. Following the slideshow, Mary presented to each club member a copy of her newly printed book: The Seeds of Time, the First Hundred Years of the Albemarle Garden Club. The book is dedicated to gardeners who came first and those who will come afterwards….

Centennial Chairman Candy Crosby wrote a forward, included below:

Mrs. James Gordon Smith of “Casa Maria,” Greenwood, served as President of the Albemarle Garden Club and the Garden Club of Virginia. In 1963, she was awarded the GCV’s most prestigious award, the Massie Medal. An excerpt from her citation reads: “...guardian of Virginia's natural resources and beauty, restorer of the glories of the past, exemplar of a gentle tradition of service.” Surely there is a bit of those qualities in all of our members today. As we are inspired by our past, so do we provide examples for our future. Imagine, if you will, the year 2113, our bicentennial year. Will future members be amazed by the gardens we’ve made or restored, and the landscapes we’ve preserved? Will they be astounded by the limitless energy and hours we've spent on our club activities at local, state, and national levels, and all we’ve accomplished? I have no doubt that the answer is “YES!” and gratitude fills my heart. Thanks to each one of you, for building on the past and continuing our tradition of service and caring. Long may we reign!

2015 - Present: New Endeavors, Flower Shows and a Pandemic

Through meetings, programs and events our membership began to highlight conservation through a focus on waste reduction. Members brought coffee mugs and water bottles to meetings, eschewed printed materials, replaced oasis with chicken wire and, through the addition of two new initiatives, our members walked the talk on conservation. Rescued and repurposed greens and flowers from workshops and flower shows were the springboard for a new initiative, the Flower Flash, through which we honored health care heroes at local hospitals, lifted hearts of sick children and their families and brought pride to our community spreading buckets of joy! Share Your Joy, another new initiative and club committee, became an instant member favorite. Members gather Sundays at Tourterelle, a floral design studio, that partners with AGC to give new purpose to leftover wedding flowers. Floral arrangements are then donated to local hospitals or other charities.

Flower Shows and Workshops

Our membership is fortunate to include approved judges in the disciplines of floral design, horticulture and photography through the Garden Club of Virginia, the American Daffodil Society, and the Garden Club of America. GCV even created a photography award in honor of one member, Claire Smithers Mellinger. Our judges are excellent teachers. Frequent workshops encourage success through all components of the flower show process: from help with writing show schedules to identifying and grooming specimens on show day. Always fun and educational, a few recent in-club show include: Daffodils Dancing in the Breeze; It’s a Daffodil Party; March Madness; Beautiful; In Time of Daffodils.

Another way we gather for fun and fellowship is through Right Out Our Back Door, a scheduled monthly opportunity to gather with our AGC friends for a walk or hike in nearby areas or to visit interesting gardens and landscapes in beautiful central Virginia.

A new Sustainers Committee was formed around 2015 to keep longtime members connected to the club and each other. The committee organizes a casual annual luncheon for all Sustainers and Emerita and gets together at Christmas by preparing and delivering gift boxes of homemade cookies or another special treat. The committee recently revived a practice started by the late Jane Heyward, a skilled gardener, who used to arrive at meetings with a sprig of something plucked from her garden as a “show and tell.” Today, this “Jane Moment” is a feature at our meetings with Sustainers taking turns bringing a snip of a favorite plant to describe.

Pandemic

Our intrepid club leaders devised meetings, programs and workshops to continue in light of considerable global uncertainty. We had the good fortune of virtual programming for our members. These special occasions included many speakers from whom we otherwise would not have had the opportunity to learn. We became techno savvy through Zoom meetings and webinars and our first “Virtual Flower Show.” When possible, we gathered outside with lots of social distance. Our Photography Committee documented this historic period by creating a lovely slideshow from photos captured of members and their loved ones at their homes.

AGC Awards

AGC Presidents 1995-2025

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gcalexandria.com

Directors at Large and Presidents' Reports 2004-2019

2004

Fundraising Projects: Fundraisers are held every other year, most recently at River Farm.  A club member has designed line drawings of Old Town row houses, to be featured on note cards and sold during Historic Garden Week.

Best Programs: The club's two-year program theme, “Elements of Design: Classic Romantic & Modern,” focuses on the history of American architecture and landscape architecture. The schedule for each meeting has been inspired by a specific architectural period, providing an opportunity for members to learn how to reflect the elements of each period in floral design. Each meeting has been held in a home or building that corresponds to the schedule's architectural period.

Club’s Ongoing Project: Support for Alexandria Seaport Foundation, an apprentice program the provides a hands-on learning opportunity for youth; support for Cora Kelly School, a learning community with emphasis in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Unique Activity: The club is busy planning for the GCA Zone VII meeting in 2006.

2005

Fundraising Project: "Gateway to Spring," was held in March at River Farm, home of the American Horticultural Society. Talented members Marty Moore, Caroline Norman, Margaret Gardner, Elizabeth Norman and Sally Guy Brown demonstrated how to make wreaths, topiaries, entertaining arrangements, pave designs and Easter grass gardens. The arrangements were auctioned at the end of the demonstration. After the arranging demonstrations, members and their guests enjoyed box lunches and shopping through cute boutiques. The event was easy to organize, thanks to chairmen Missy DeCamp and Meg Carter, and it was a great financial success for the club.

Best Program: The club is currently in the second and final year of “Elements of Design: Classic Romantic & Modern.” Lectures have featured designers Andrew Jackson Downing and Calvert Vaux; the Cobb Island Lighthouse as an example of adaptive re-use; and designers Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe and how the concepts they brought to modern design were echoed by landscape architects such as Fletcher Steele and Dan Kiley.

Ongoing Project: The Garden Club of Alexandria has its hands full planning to host the Zone VII Garden Club of America meeting in Alexandria during October 2006. Chairmen Frances Talley and Perry Guy have recruited every member of the club to ensure the meeting's success. The club is also in the planning stages of a conservation project to design a greenscape for a public space in Alexandria.

2006

Fundraising Project: Club members have been assessed to provide adequate funding for hosting the GCA Zone VII meeting in October.

Best Programs: A meeting at Casey Trees headquarters with lunch in the green roof garden; a meeting to install and dedicate the club's civic garden at Oronoco Park; and a celebration of the club's 80th birthday with reminiscences and funny stories of times past.

Ongoing Project: Civic garden at Oronoco Park -- a native plant, low maintenance garden that herbicide and pesticide free.

2007

Fundraising Project: The "Garden Club Man" tie, designed by club members with help from Vineyard Vines. The tie is beautiful and features a man on a bench reading a paper. It sells for $80 and is still available!

Best Program: Efforts this year focused on hosting the Garden Club of America Zone VII meeting that included a flower show. It was filled with wonderful tours, speakers, meals and friends - new and old.

Ongoing Project: Oronoco Bay Garden.

Unique: The club features a conservation tip of the month at every meeting -- recycling, light bulbs, gardening, etc.

2008

Fundraising Project: "Garden Club Man" tie

Best Programs: Anti-litter program and Daffodil Show.

Ongoing Project: Anti-litter campaign

2009

Fundraising Project: "Garden Club Man" tie

Unique: Presented anti-litter program to 115 first grade students at Macarthur school in Alexandria

2010

Comments: Blizzard

Fundraising: "Garden Club Man" tie

Best Programs: Flower arranging mechanics by Lucinda Seale; GCV Landscape Architect Will Rieley; John Guy with Preservation Virginia.

Recommended Programs: Will Rieley

The Oronoco Bay Garden is thriving. The club continues to focus on the sale of its men’s ties which celebrate Historic Garden Week with a background of green arrows as well as a dogwood branch and a garden pergola. The first meeting of the year featured a horticulture scavenger hunt through Old Town. Members are hoping to increase enthusiasm for and participation in flower arranging with speakers and a creative schedule. The current theme is, “Friendship, Fun and Flowers."

2012

The highlight for the club this year was a challenge class for the husbands. Each was given a miniature bottle of Virginia Gentleman and asked to arrange 3 items in it that were emblematic of their interpretation of a Virginia gentleman. Top honors went to an arrangement of a feather, a branch and a fishing fly.

Most successful or popular program: Horticultural scavenger hunt through member's gardens in Old Town Alexandria.

Successful fund raiser: "Garden Club Man" tie

Ongoing activities: Maintaining Oronoco Bay Garden.

Recommended speakers: The club is focusing on more hands-on activities.

Unique Activity: Field trip to GCA headquarters in New York City, along with a visit to the High Line; men's arrangement class at Christmas meeting; appointment of a "chairman of fun" who, at most meetings, presents a 5-minute tribute to a member -- a "this is your life" type of presentation to learn more about members with a humorous and lighthearted tribute.

2013

Recommended Programs and Speakers: Steve Carroll, Blandy Experimental Farm (UVA Arboretum); Solving Mysteries with Botanical Evidence; Eilie Lapham, Botanical Jewelry Workshop; Jennifer Kelley, the Mechanics of Flower Arranging.

2015

Recommended Speakers: Andrea Wulf, speaking about her books, " The Brothers Gardeners" and "The Founding Gardeners;" Bill Portlock, Senior Educator with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; and Annie Vanderwarker, "Fearless Flowers."

Community Outreach: Maintaining Oronoco Bay Garden; The club held a meeting and challenge class at a local retirement home and the arrangements were donated to the residents.

2016

The Garden Club of Alexandria hosted the 96th Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia at the Old Town Hilton on May 9-11, 2016, co-chaired by Catherine Bolton and Jennifer Kelley. Photos

The GCV Board of Directors gathered for luncheon, followed by the afternoon Board meeting on Monday, May 9 at the hotel.

Attendees invited to Mount Vernon on Monday night for cocktails, a tour of the gardens led by Dean Norton and a Dutch treat dinner.

Tuesday morning optional tours included Green Spring Gardens, a GCV restoration property.

President Jeanette Cadwallender called the Annual Meeting to order Tuesday afternoon and introduced Lisa Mountcastle, president of the Garden Club of Alexandria, who began, “Welcome! I know I'm in Alexandria, but I almost want to say welcome to Seattle. It has rained nonstop here for three weeks! But we feel so lucky that the rains held off for our tour at Mount Vernon last night and again at Green Spring Gardens this morning. Mother Nature heard our prayers! We are thrilled to have you all here in Alexandria.”

The awards banquet was held Tuesday evening in the beautiful Potomac Ballroom where the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement was presented to Bebe Luck, and the de Lacy Gray Conservation Medal was presented to Hollis Stauber.

2017

Recommended Programs and Speakers: Will Rieley and the restoration of Stratford Hall's Gardens; field trip to Hillwood in DC, home of Marjorie Meriwether Post; Flower arranging demos by Jennifer Kelley and Margaret Gardner.

Interesting Club Activities: Speaker and luncheon (and fundraiser) with Newport lifestyle blogger Bettie Bearden Pardee.

Community Outreach: Ongoing support for Oronoco Bay Garden. The club is negotiating with the City of Alexandria to revamp the garden at Ramsay house, the welcome center for historic Old town; partnered with the Hunting Creek Garden Club and the Garden Club of Fairfax to replant natives.

2018

In February, members participated in the Garden Club of America’s National Affairs and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. The statistics on climate change were sobering i.e. “97% of climate change scientists say that human activities have caused climate change."

The club has been busy finalizing details with the city on the Ramsey House Garden restoration project. At the March meeting the architect presented the design and answered members’ questions. All are excited about this wonderful project at the entrance to Old Town.

In April the club was visited by Kim DeCamp, Zone VII Chairman of the GCA. Member Anne Baldwin gave a great presentation on GCV restoration projects. By the third week of April all club members were busy with decorating for and hostessing houses for Historic Garden Week on April 21 in Alexandria.

The May meeting was a special field trip to Annapolis and tour of the house and gardens of member Jordan Richards’ ancestral home, Ridout House. Members also toured the Paca gardens.  Member Jennifer Kelley led a judging discussion on the bus with cut specimens, terrariums and photos.  On May 12 members participated in the dedication of the Mason Neck State Park Visitor Center, a GCV Centennial project funded jointly by GCV, the Garden Club of Fairfax, the Garden Club of Alexandria and the Hunting Creek Garden Club.

President Margaret Gardiner reviewed results of the club’s online survey in preparation to launch strategic planning in 2019.

2019

Club members created and donated 54 holiday floral arrangements to residents of Goodwin House, a retirement community. This annual event is very well received by the residents. The club’s civic project, the restoration of the Ramsay House Garden, was featured on the Garden Club of America Zone VII Landing Page as well as in the Zone VII December e-newsletter. Given the success of fundraising efforts, the club can currently cover all the restoration expenses. This allows the club to consider adding extra lighting to the garden. The club finalized all the bulb planting at their second civic project at Oronoco Park. And the club's "no straws" project is producing results. Members are still working to eliminate plastic straws in Alexandria restaurants, but a full campaign will kick off in the fall after the new city government has settled in. The District of Columbia no longer provides straws unless asked.

The focus of the club for the past two years has been strategic planning and renovation of the Ramsay House Garden, a civic project at the Alexandria Visitor’s Center. The club passed a three-year strategic action plan in March. The Ramsay House Garden project is near completion. The renovated hardscape is finished, and native sustainable perennials and trees were installed the week of April 15. The renovated garden is set to reopen for Historic Garden Week in Alexandria, and a ribbon cutting is being planned for the morning of June 12.

GCA Presidents 1995-2021

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theashlandgardenclub.org

Directors at Large and Presidents' Reports 2004-2019

2004

Fundraising Project: Sale of holiday greens and bows in the community

Best Programs: “A lesson on Pruning” by David Seward of James River Nursery; “Roses” by James Diggs

Ongoing Project: Roots & Shoots Intergenerational Garden at Henry Clay Elementary School, started by the club in 1998, continues to be supported by the club through monetary contributions and working with individual classroom lessons; ongoing plans for hosting the 2005 GCV Board of Governors.

Unique Activity: Club trip to Fine Arts and Flowers at VMFA; club trip to HGW tour in Richmond.

2005

Fundraising Project: An annual Christmas greenery (wreaths and garlands) sale underwrites the club's operating and philanthropic budget. Club members made numerous flower arrangements for the local college's 175th anniversary celebration and were given a generous monetary contribution.

Best Programs: A program by club members to explain the state flower show process. The club's daffodil committee divided into arrangers and judges -- interpreting the schedule, selecting appropriate container and plant material, filling the appropriate space and having a strong awareness of how artistic designs are judged. Half of the committee arranged and staged six arrangements for judging by the other half of the committee. Members were able to interact with "arranges" and "judges." The program was a lot of work for the Daffodil Committee, but all agreed it was a huge success.

Ongoing Project: Roots & Shoots Intergenerational Garden at Henry Clay Elementary School.

Unique Activity: AGC, along with two other local garden clubs are creating period floral designs for the grand re-opening of historic Hanover Tavern on June 4.

2005 Board of Governors

The Ashland Garden Club hosted the Garden Club of Virginia's Board of Governors meeting on October 11-13, 2005, at historic Hanover Tavern, chaired by Anne Cross and Pettus Miller. Photos

Board members were invited by Diana Carter for lunch at her home on Tuesday. The board meeting followed at the home of Linda Magovern where parliamentary business required more time than usual.

The Dutch treat dinner Tuesday night was hosted by Mary Anne and Gerry Pugh at their historic home “Shrubbery Hill.”

Martha introduced Rhu Harris, Hanover County Administrator, who proudly pointed out that Hanover County is one of only 200 counties nationwide to have received the “Preserve America” designation from the White House.

Club historian Betty Roane Kendrick described the club’s obsessive tree planting over the years -- dogwood, Bradford pear, hemlock, Centennial 0ak and magnolia, all for a variety of projects and celebrations. She added, “The town should look like a forest, but time takes its toll.” In 1996, Ashland hosted a GCV Lily Show that took place just as the North American Lily Society was meeting in Washington. Lily growers from the national meeting descended on Ashland, bringing lilies from all over the world. Wanting to keep the lilies in perfect condition, they were put in the cafeteria refrigerator. Image the dismay when the refrigerator doors were opened, and the lilies were frozen. “No hard feelings – good intentions.”

The awards banquet was held at the Hanover Arts and Activities Center that night where the Common Wealth Award ($5,000) was presented to the Huntington Garden Club for the Virginia Living Museum’s Virginia’s Botanical History, 1607-Today; Runners up were Albemarle Garden Club ($1,000) for Morea – A Living Classroom and Nansemond River Garden Club ($1,000) for the Cedar Hill Cemetery Project.

Sally Guy Brown delivered a tribute to the Ashland Garden Club, standing before a PowerPoint presentation of candid photos taken throughout the meeting. As the photos scrolled through slide after slide, attendees were delighted seeing themselves in candid moments, bringing peals of laughter and shrieks that nearly drowned out Sally Guy’s tribute.

2006

Fundraising Project: AGC is doing the lunch for HGW; AGC is selling notecards made with reproductions of original watercolors created by Fredericksburg artist, Sara Irby. The cards illustrate informal floral presentations found in private gardens of AGC members.

Ongoing Project: Roots & Shoots Intergenerational Garden at Henry Clay Elementary School.

Legislative Involvement: President Martha Wingfield attended GCV Legislative Day and follows environmental and conservation legislation through her attendance at weekly Virginia Conservation Network legislative meetings.

2007

Fundraising Project: Notecard sales by Fredericksburg artist, Sara Irby.

Best Program: Cooking with Herbs speaker Nicole Schermerhorn; Lavender Fields Farm; Colonial Meets Revival speaker William D. Rieley, GCV Landscape Architect.

Ongoing Project: Roots & Shoots Intergenerational Garden at Henry Clay Elementary School.

Unique Activity: AGC has become involved with the "Adopt a Spot" program in the Town of Ashland. The club will be responsible for the beautification and ongoing maintenance of an area that the town has identified as needing improvements and ongoing care. AGC will be responsible for the entrance to a passive park in the town limits.

2008

Fundraising Project: "Ye Olde Garden Shoppe" was held in conjunction with the club's HGW Walking Tour in Ashland and included plants dug from members' gardens, flower carriers, Soboten clippers and gently used horticulture and floral arranging books, containers and vases.

Best Programs: A presentation by Andre Viette of Andre Viette Farm and Nursery in Fishersville. Mr. Viette came as a courtesy to AGC member Mrs. William Douglas, a personal friend of Mr. Viette.

Ongoing Project: Ashland is celebrating its 150th Anniversary. AGC gathered its club history for a commemorative yearbook. The club will contribute plants and trees to the town. The club decorates each year for the Ashland Christmas House Tour, and for Christmas at Scotchtown.

Legislative Involvement: Martha Wingfield is a driving force for the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. She represents AGC, as well as all citizens of Hanover County each year at the General Assembly of Virginia.

Unique Activity: Randolph-Macon College has allowed the club to dig up many of the daffodil bulbs planted on what used to be the property of the late Miss Mary Beirne, a renowned AGC and GCV daffodil hybridizer. Members will plant these in their own gardens and will identify next spring.

Comments: The club is proud of its involvement in the Roots & Shoots Intergenerational Garden at Henry Clay Elementary School and is grateful to the Ashland Kiwanis Club for its tremendous help with the program this past year.

2009

Fundraising Project: Fall-planting bulb sales; Christmas decorations/greens silent auction; notecard sales.

Best Programs: Witches' Britches -- replacing plastic bags; Quick arrangements for HGW by Carolyn Helfrich; tour of AGC member Marguerite Bruce's gardens; Restoration of Historic Lee Park in Petersburg; Massey Cancer Center's Rooftop Gardens.

Unique Activity: Participated in a flower arranging workshop with noted horticulturist David Pippin.

Ongoing Projects: Roots & Shoots Intergenerational Garden; preserving Miss Mary Beirne's white daffodils, now on Randolph-Macon College campus; Decorating for the Hanover Gala and the Hanover Arts and Activities Christmas tour.

2011

The Ashland Garden Club shared that its theme for the year will be increased participation and involvement in club activities as well as continuing improvements to DeJarnette Park and the Visitor’s Center at the train depot. AGC will host a meeting with the Brunswick and Petersburg garden clubs at the Kent-Valentine for a program with Kim Nash, GCV President, as speaker.

2012

Roots & Shoots sponsored clean-up days at Henry Clay Elementary School to rejuvenate the beds in anticipation of spring planting. Club members decorated Scotchtown, the home of Patrick Henry, with floral arrangements and greens for holiday events. AGC will celebrate its 90th anniversary this fall.

2013

Fundraising Activities: A silent auction with items provided mostly by members. Members provided items that were new, old, unused and recycled, as well as food items, promises for fixing food, etc. It also included a state-wide HGW pass, a popular item with everyone.

Recommended Programs and Speakers: A wonderful nature walk at a local state park. A state forester guided us through, identifying different types of trees and undergrowth. He also gave an interesting presentation about the life cycle of the forests.

2014 Common Wealth Award Recipient

The Ashland Garden Club received the 2014 GCV Common Wealth Award for its continuing efforts at the Ashland Train Station and Visitors Center. After installing and maintaining plantings for years, club members felt they could do more to welcome travelers to Ashland and Hanover County. They worked with a landscape designer to create a plan and worked together to install the plantings. The club also worked with Town of Ashland to install benches and picnic tables for visitors to enjoy.

2015

Fundraising Activities: Fall Fantasy -- a fundraiser that includes a luncheon with a speaker, a silent auction, two raffles and sales of centerpieces.

Recommended Programs and Speakers: A horticultural walking tour of a local park. AGC did this a few years ago, guided by a local park ranger and it was very interesting and inexpensive.

Touring the gardens of other garden club members. AGC members visited some gorgeous gardens in Fredericksburg of Rappahannock Valley Garden Club members -- a delightful day.

Arthur Chadwick of Chadwick Orchids in Richmond presented an outstanding talk on buying and caring for orchids. He also brought some stunning orchids to sell!

Mike Lockatell presented a talk on irises and sold some stunning specimens to club members.

Club members made hypertufa planters, an interesting and enjoyable meeting.

Members met at a local restaurant for lunch meeting and the chef discussed recipes and uses for spring vegetables and herbs.

A perennial favorite meeting is making Christmas arrangements for a local convalescent center and delivering them. Very uplifting!

The Ashland Garden Club’s Train Station project has become a successful community project. After winning the prestigious Common Wealth Award from the Garden Club of Virginia in 2014, club members began refurbishing the grounds and garden area.

Community Outreach: In addition to the Ashland Train Station and Visitors Center, the club supports Roots and Shoots, an extremely successful public effort. Together with the Kiwanis, members of the school faculty and other volunteers, club members assist in planting a vegetable garden with elementary school students. While planting, maintaining and harvesting the students learn "where vegetables come from."

2016

Ashland is struggling with participation in club activities among active members and has formed a sub-committee to address the issue.

2017

Fundraising Activities: In addition to the successful “Fall Fantasy,” the club has also received monies from grants and gifts from local business, primarily used for the Ashland Train Station and Visitor Center.

Recommended Programs and Speakers: Club members enjoyed a program on boxwoods; a program providing a club history.

Unique Club Activities: ACG conducted a member survey to determine levels of interest in changing meeting times, ideas regarding programs and new categories of membership. The results of the survey enabled the club to increase membership and add a new membership category.

The club remains committed to mentoring the newly formed Three Rivers Garden Club in New Kent and Charles City counties. Members of Three Rivers worked as flower arrangers and hostesses for Ashland’s 2017 HGW tour, and a partnership is planned for a HGW tour in New Kent County in 2018.

The club has committed to helping the Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula as it hosts the 2017 GCV Lily Show in June.

Community Outreach: Major community project is the Ashland Train Station and Visitor Center. This year, AGC started an initiative to help fund community projects. The club is excited to announce its first new project to grant a scholarship to a local high school senior who will be pursuing a degree in botany or horticulture or agricultural studies.

2018

The club donated $250 to Henry Clay Elementary School for an Outdoor Classroom; club members raised funds by arranging flowers for a member's daughter's wedding reception.

2019

The club decorated Scotchtown, the home pf Patrick Henry, for Christmas. The club also decorated the “tracks” in Ashland. The event was called “Light up the Tracks” and was a huge success.

The club’s major fundraiser was the 2019 “Mardi Gras Masquerade” at the Montpelier Center for the Arts and Education. Funds provided attendance to summer camp for four children. "Fall Fantasy" fundraiser will feature a speaker on protecting the bee population.

AGC is proud have 100% of its members give to GCV in celebration of the 2020 Centennial.

AGC Presidents 1995-2021

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augustagardenclub.org

Conservation and civic landscaping remain a major focus of the Augusta Garden Club.

Staunton’s largest creek, Lewis Creek, runs through the center of downtown before joining the Middle River, the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, the Potomac River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. Inspired by efforts of the Lewis Creek Advisory Committee, the City of Staunton and the private sector to clean up the creek, the Augusta Garden Club launched a project in 2006 to place educational signs at key locations throughout the city, providing information about the watershed and its impact on the ecosystem as it flows for 28 miles through the city of Staunton and beyond. The project was completed in 2012. https://frazierassociates.com/portfolio-item/lewis-creek-signs/

In addition, AGC secured grants from Keep Virginia Beautiful to fund the installation of litter receptacles in Gypsy Hill Park and Montgomery Hall.

The Augusta Garden Club has carried on its long tradition of planting trees to enhance the landscape -- most notably the planting of dogwoods. By the 1950s, the club’s Tree Committee had overseen the planting of 1,000 dogwoods throughout the community. Embracing this long-standing tradition, the club formally established Project Dogwood as its signature project. From 2013-2019, the club received grants from the Garden Club of America (2017 Founders Fund runner-up award), the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge, the Staunton Rotary Club and the Garden Club of Virginia (2018 Common Wealth Award) totaling $25,950. With these funds dogwoods were planted at Gypsy Hill Park, local elementary schools, the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind and at a Habitat for Humanity Neighborhood Project. Working closely with the city's horticulturist, Augusta planted seven blight-resistant dogwood hybrid cultivars and created two teaching arboretums with interpretive signs at Gypsy Hill Park and Montgomery Hall.

The club has also contributed to landscaping improvements at the Frontier Culture Museum, Historic Thornrose Cemetery, Valley Mission, Woodrow Wilson Presidenetial Library, Blue Ridge Community College, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton and Augusta Country public libraries, along the Route 250 city entrance corridor and plantings for the Green Thumb Park at the city’s underpass entrance. The club planted four Green Pillar oaks at the City Fire Department in memory of the September 11, 2001, national tragedy.

Flower shows, flower-arranging workshops, annual Historic Garden Week tours, fundraising projects, field trips, monthly meetings and conservation programs are mainstays of the club activities providing both camaraderie and education.

Augusta Garden Club members are active members of the Garden Club of Virginia, with many serving in board and committee positions over the years. Deedy Bumgardner, past president of the Augusta Garden Club, served as President of the Garden Club of Virginia from 2004-2006. During her term, she spearheaded the Buy a Balustrade campaign to raise funds for the much-needed improvements at the Kent-Valentine House and launched the GCV’s first strategic plan. Deedy received the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement in 2017.

The Augusta Garden Club hosted the GCV 1999 fall Board of Governors meeting with featured speaker Andre Viette, host of radio show "In the Garden" and owner of Andre Viette Nurseries. Attendees were captivated as he shared his extensive knowledge of cultivating daylilies, hostas and peonies. Club member Doris Smith hosted the Dutch treat dinner at her home, Smithleigh, and former GCV President Lee Cochran hosted a luncheon at her home, Stuart House.

During the 2011 GCV fall Board of Governors meeting, Augusta Garden Club members organized tours at the Frontier Culture Museum, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Blackfriars Playhouse and walking tours by the Historic Staunton Foundation. A luncheon was hosted at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, a GCV restoration project.

2011 BOG Photos

AGC Centennial

2019 brought reflective celebrations as the Augusta Garden Club marked its 100th year.

Historic Garden Week 2019 featured homes connected to the club's history, including Waverley Hill (former home of Emily Smith, AGC and GCV President), Stuart House (home of Lee Cochran and current member Emily Cochran) and White Stone (former home of member Mary Grasty Bell). Historic Garden Week was established in 1929 during Emily Smith’s tenure as GCV President, and she opened her home many times for the tour. The club was honored that the cover of the Historic Garden Week 2019 Guidebook featured Waverley Hill. A grand Centennial Gala for members and guests was held the evening following the tour at Stuart House to celebrate one hundred years of fellowship and accomplishments.

A centennial lecture on former member Elizabeth Seymour Rawlinson was sponsored by the club and the Staunton Public Library. Elizabeth, a noted horticulturist, was recognized for her pioneering efforts to identify and catalog native Virginia plants, and her work was published in national publications, including House and Garden. Elizabeth served as editor of the GCV’s Garden Gossip from 1936-1941. Following her death in 1942, AGC established the Rawlinson Collection at the Staunton Public Library.  Each year, the club donates books to the library to raise awareness in the community about conservation, plants, shrubs, trees, flower arranging and the joys of gardening. https://vnps.org/elizabeth-rawlinson-virginia-plant-pioneer/

Throughout the centennial year, interviews were conducted with sustaining and long-time members to record their favorite club memories. The Archives Committee completed a five-year project -- reading, sorting and cataloging hundreds of documents, including minutes, committee reports, newspaper articles, scrapbooks and photographs of accumulated club history. These materials and the collective knowledge of many members allowed AGC to publish a Centennial History of the Augusta Garden Club.

2020

When the COVID pandemic temporarily shut down in-person meetings in early 2020, AGC members quickly learned to Zoom -- staying in touch, conducting meetings and continuing the work of the club. “Flower Flashes” were held to recognize community organizations that were giving 100% during the pandemic. “Wednesday in our Gardens” was arranged to give members an outdoor opportunity to learn and gather on walks in members’ gardens. Virtual flower, horticulture and photography shows were organized. Digital communications became more important, and the club's website was updated with more comprehensive content and a fresh, user-friendly format. The monthly newsletter was transferred to an email platform and was published twice monthly in order to keep members connected.

An early historian of the club, Evelyn Jones Yarbrough, wrote, “If the roll was called and the achievements of each member of the Augusta Garden Club recorded, the list would be endless and glorious. For unselfish service, devotion to duty, with a desire to undertake any work that would enhance beauty along the way and preserve the national resource of our land, each member of the Augusta Garden Club is honored and acclaimed.” Or as a long-time, current member of the club stated, “We do not rest on our laurels or rhododendrons!”

AGC Presidents 1995-2025

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Goshen Pass 1929-2009

The Blue Ridge Garden Club assumed its first of several leadership roles in the protection of Goshen Pass in 1929, when Virginia Public Service Co. “filed application with the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to construct a dam at the upper end of the pass (Goshen) and a giant flume to carry water from the dam down to a power plant to be built a Wilson Springs.” The Blue Ridge Garden Club organized to oppose the proposed dam that would make Goshen Pass a large lake.

In 1938, the club organized a successful letter-writing campaign to oppose plans to modernize the road through Goshen Pass.

Goshen Pass is Virginia's oldest state-managed natural area. Located in Rockbridge County, the Commonwealth first acquired the property in 1954 to help protect the views of the 3.7-mile long gorge along the Maury River. The 936-acre preserve was dedicated as a State Natural Area Preserve in 2002. And in 1954, the club organized statewide opposition to timber cutting on the north side of the Maury River in Goshen Pass. Goshen Wildlife Management Area was formed and, since that time, Goshen Pass has been owned and managed by Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

In 2009, the club rallied for a fourth time to save Goshen Pass when the Boy Scouts of America announced plans to move their 2013 National Scout Jamboree from Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County to Goshen in Rockbridge County. The Blue Ridge Garden Club took action immediately and member Catharine Gilliam raised public awareness, creating a website www.savegoshenpass.com; Catharine was joined in the effort by her mother, Mary Stuart Gilliam. The club adopted a resolution at a special meeting of the club to oppose the BSA Jamboree at Goshen, and GCV followed the club’s lead with a similar resolution. BSA announced before year’s end that the site was no longer being considered. Catharine and Mary Stuart were awarded the 2010 de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation for their leadership efforts in saving Goshen Pass.

Natural Bridge State Park 2017-present

The money was used to outfit an interactive classroom for educational programming in the Visitor Center, to create a Base Camp with exhibits in the Visitor Center, and to purchase equipment for Dark Sky certification.

In addition to this support, the club endowed the building of an amphitheater at Natural Bridge near the Monacan Indian Village display. School groups gather in the amphitheater where they are told what to expect from the village they are about to explore.

The Garden Club of Virginia held its 61st Annual Conservation Forum on September 24-25, 2019, at Natural Bridge. The forum, "Trees: Canopy of Conservation," was preceded by a native plant horticulture show in the Visitor Center and guided tree walks in the park. Club members and local residents volunteered throughout the two-day event. Photos

Community Projects

The club’s annual holiday wreath sale funds community projects that include hanging baskets that beautify Lexington streets, and charitable giving to organizations such as Natural Bridge State Park, the Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden, Boxerwood, Nature Camp, Scenic Virginia and the Garden Club of Virginia.

Veterans Memorial Garden (2003 – present): Originally a project of the Rockbridge County Council of Garden Clubs, in 2003, the Blue Ridge Garden Club took on responsibility for planting and maintaining the garden at the Veterans Memorial on Main St. The veterans of the Military Officers Association of America pay for the cost of the plants.

Memorial Benches: The BRGC received the very first Common Wealth Award (1980) for landscaping at the entrance to the Chessie Trail. In 1999 and 2000, five of the club’s longtime active members died, and in memory of those deceased, the club installed a wooden bench in the park overlooking the Maury River. The wooden bench was replaced years later with an iron bench and was moved to the Miller’s House at Jordan's Point, above the floodplain.

Of particular note in the City of Lexington, Molly and Dirck Brown’s Roots & Shoots Intergenerational School Garden for the education and experience of creating a school garden for and by children is hard to match in accomplishment and gratification -- not only for the children having the experience, but also nature’s education. The Roots and Shoots program began in Palo Alto, California, where Molly and Dirck Brown were part of a group that created an educational garden that teamed senior citizen volunteers with elementary school students to plant and learn from the garden. When the Browns retired to Lexington, Virginia, they began to build partnerships in the community to create and build the Roots and Shoots Garden at Waddell Elementary School near their home.  The Blue Ridge Garden Club has worked with the Roots & Shoots program at Waddell Elementary since the program’s inception. In that time, Roots and Shoots has received the Common Wealth Award in 1996 and national recognition from the American Horticultural Society and the Children & Nature Network. Originally the program began with the second grade curriculum in 1995, but has since expanded to all grades, kindergarten through fifth.

Garden Club of Virginia Awards

The 1996 Common Wealth Award was presented to BRGC for Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden; the de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation was awarded in 2000 to Molly Brown for the Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden, in 2010 to Catharine Gilliam and Mary Stuart Gilliam for Save Goshen Pass and in 2011 to Sallie Sebrell for Global Warning; the 2015 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Conservation presented to Virginia Military Institute & Washington and Lee University (proposed by BRGC); the 2016 Conservation Educator Award presented to Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden; and the Horticulture Award of Merit was presented to Augusta Watson in 2009 and to Molly Brown in 2013.

Membership

The club established the Blue Ridge Gardener’s Gazette using the email format from Constant Contact. This media tool was very helpful and gave the club a convenient place to communicate committee reports, GCV information, announcements, member news and community projects.

Sustaining and Nonresident membership categories were created for longtime members who were unable to attend meetings but still wished to participate in club activities. More recently, an Emerita membership category was created for longtime members who have served the club well, but are either physically or mentally unable to participate in the club’s activities.

The club continues to streamline club business during meetings and to reenergize and expand club membership.

2007 and 2017 GCV Board of Governors

The Blue Ridge Garden Club hosted the 2007 Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors meeting in Lexington. Chaired by Julie MacKinlay, Edith Prillaman and Julie Grover, the meeting showcased historic Lexington history and the beauty of surrounding Rockbridge  County.

2007 BOG Photos

The BRGC again hosted the GCV Board of Governors meeting in 2017, featuring Lexington's two universities. Barbara Luton chaired the meeting.

2017 BOG Photos

BRGC Presidents 1996-2024

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boxwoodgc.org

1995-2000

The Boxwood Garden Club saw the completion of a club initiative, chaired by Cissy Howell and Molly Hood, to fund a project for the James River Park System. The two-part project consisted of a scavenger hunt that directed students to find twelve “nature” items within the park, such as a needle from an evergreen plant, a rock smoothed by the river and something that was once alive; and the creation of two six-part, accordion-pleated handouts on the early summer and late summer wild flowers in the park.

The club's new logo, a graduated, double-ball boxwood topiary set in a handled urn, was introduced and graced the cover of the March 1999 edition of the GCV Journal.

Boxwood shared the 1998 Common Wealth Award ($3,000 for second place) with the three partnering Richmond clubs for their work on the Richmond's Library Park.

1999 GCV Annual Meeting

Boxwood hosted the 79th Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia on May 11-13, 1999, at the Jefferson Hotel. The three-day meeting began Tuesday with the Board of Directors luncheon and meeting at “Redesdale,” home of Ann and Charlie Reed. Cocktails were hosted by Scott & Stringfellow on Tuesday night in the hotel’s Rotunda, followed by a Dutch treat dinner in the Empire Room. Boxwood president Millie Stuckey welcomed attendees to the meeting and introduced co-chairmen Loretta Miller and Beese Craigie. She then introduced Mary Frances Flowers, who gave a brief history of the Boxwood Garden Club.

A lovely al fresco luncheon was held Wednesday on the grounds at Maymont where the Garden Club of Virginia presented the newly restored mansion landscape. Attendees were given guided tours of the Dooley Mansion and grounds.

Wednesday evening events at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts began with a cocktail party in the Center for Education and Outreach, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Bruce C. Gottwald. The awards banquet followed in Marble Hall, beautifully decorated in pink to accent the pink marble, with topiaries of boxwood and pink roses adorning the dining tables and enormous floral arrangements on wrought iron stands placed around the room.

2000-2005

Boxwood established its endowment fund in 2000 with a $15,000 initial deposit.

Club members consistently received InterClub and individual horticulture and artistic flower show ribbons. Pat Taylor won multiple rose horticulture ribbons and received the most coveted of all awards, “Queen of Show.”

In 2003, Boxwood funded Richmond Recreation and Parks Foundation for the Monument Avenue Tree Project, planting trees on a 13-block section of Monument Avenue from Roseneath to Staples Mill Road. Club member Mary Glen Taylor and her team worked with landscape architect Anna Galusha Aquino to choose appropriate trees for the project.

The club also contributed to the Friends of Bandy Field for habitat enhancement and participated in workdays to remove invasives and install a mini-wetland. The Boxwood Garden Club and the Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton received the 2004 Common Wealth Award for an Environmental Educational Plan for Bandy Field Nature Park. This award secured funds needed for the environmental education of the student population and the broader community regarding wetlands and natural habitats by providing educational programs, materials and signage.

The club also planted a tree at Mary Munford School in memory of the victims of 9-11 attacks and sponsored a speaker at the Maymont Flower and Garden Show.

An ad hoc committee was formed in 2003 under the guidance of Jody Branch to review the questionnaires concerning membership issues. The history of Boxwood membership was researched and included age profiles, associate attendance at meetings and numbers of members in each membership category. Bylaws changes were approved to cap the Associate list at 30 members and to address resignation and reinstatement issues.

The 2003 Garden Club of Virginia Annual Meeting was a memorable one for the Boxwood Garden Club. Members Barbara Catlett and Mary Glen Taylor received GCV’s highest awards.

Barbara Catlett received the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement, the highest and most prestigious award given to a member or member club, for her dedication, guidance and devoted service to the Kent-Valentine House, GCV headquarters. For 13 years she oversaw the planning, construction, renovation and maintenance of the house which saw a 2,548 square foot addition. Barbara served as past president of Boxwood.

Mary Glen Taylor received the de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation for her outstanding service in the dissemination of knowledge of Virginia’s natural resources and the conservation and wise development of these resources. Mary Glen, a member of multiple garden-related clubs and organizations in the Richmond area to protect and preserve treescapes, median and open spaces, also served as past president of Boxwood and was a recipient of the GCV Horticulture Award of Merit.

Boxwood member Susan Flowers was recognized by GCV for her fifteen years of service as Historic Garden Week Administrator. A lovely article in the June 2003 edition of the GCV Journal congratulated Susan on her dedicated service. Susan has overseen many changes in the HGW office during her tenure -- from typewriters and mimeograph machines to computers and publisher-quality Xerox machines; rotary phones to cell phones and walkie talkies; printed sales tickets to websites and internal ticket sales and dramatic increases in HGW ticket sales. It was indeed a wonderful meeting for the Boxwood Garden Club.

2005-2010

The Bandy Field Project was completed in 2007 with signage in place at the entrance to the park, and with an informative website up and running. bandyfield.org Club members participated in the dedication of Bandy Field as an official park in the city of Richmond on May 19, 2007, a momentous occasion for those who worked for almost a decade to save this 18-acre park from development. Mary Glen Taylor was honored for her dedication to preserving Bandy Field as a place of quiet beauty when all around her were talking of building and development.

To ensure its park status in perpetuity, the four Richmond area clubs supported a conservation easement developed by the Friends of Bandy Field in 2010 and have each written to Councilman Bruce Tyler encouraging his sponsorship.

Boxwood members continued to support Bandy Field with workdays to control invasive plants. In March 2014, after fifteen years of diversions and intrigue, a Bandy Field conservation easement was finally voted through City Council.

Boxwood established an ad hoc Strategic Planning committee and held roundtable discussions to solicit input for a new strategic planning report. A new membership category was added in 2006 -- Life Membership -- open to anyone who has been a member of Boxwood for 40 years or more.

With a generous gift from George Stuckey, husband of member Millie Stuckey, the club made a $4,000 gift from its endowment fund to the Garden Club of Virginia’s Support, Education, Events and Development (SEED) Fund in memory of Millie. Funds were directed to underwrite the cost of speakers at GCV Flower Arranging School over ten years.

The club’s annual holiday greens sale during this period saw numerous changes in an effort to increase revenues -- the addition of vendors, themed ideas such as Ooh La La - French Holiday Decorating Ideas, decorative bow sales -- and focused on best-selling items. The club completed a two-year funding pledge to Brookfield, a home for adolescent women, and pledged funds to the James River Extreme Stream project to stabilize and beautify the Horsepen Branch.

In 2009, Boxwood hosted the biennial, four-club joint meeting at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden with guest speaker Peggy Cornett, Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello.

Club historian Susan Overton searched under members' beds, opened closets and searched car floorboards to gather the club's historical documents and delivered them to the Library of Virginia. Scrapbooks, meeting minutes and other miscellaneous information are now living in archival storage splendor.

Club president Nancy Bowles presented a new Silver Award to the membership -- the Boxwood Membership Award of Merit -- to be awarded at the annual meeting to recognize an individual member for outstanding service and for generously contributing her time and talents in promoting the goals of the club.

Read a list of the Boxwood Garden Club award recipients.

The club engaged Margot Shaw for a fundraiser at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in 2009. She was hosted throughout her stay in Richmond by Cathy Lee and was honored the night before at a dinner hosted by Molly Carey. Margot spoke about “birthing the nation’s only floral lifestyle magazine,” and gave a floral arranging demonstration highlighting the use of everyday containers and simple arrangements. The fundraiser was a huge success.

GCV held its 2010 Symposium at the Homestead and eighteen Boxwood members participated in three days of tours, lectures, demonstrations and camaraderie.

2010-2015

Boxwood member Pat Taylor stepped down in 2010 from her role as GCV Rose Chairman after six years in the position. She was honored by the GCV Flower Shows Committee and the GCV Board of Directors by renaming the Mini Rose Award the Pat Wade Taylor Miniflora Cup, Queen of the Minifloras.

Boxwood began making plans to host the Garden Club of Virginia Rose Show in 2012 and 2013, co-chaired by Ann Sanders and Molly Hood. The club’s board approved a $15,000 request by the Rose Show committee for each show, to be supplemented each year by $3,000 from the Garden Club of Virginia.

Jil Harris and Ashley Farley announced the creation of a Rose Show blog. Numerous club members attended the 2011 Rose Show in Norfolk as trainees. The club made donations to the GCV Rose Show Honorary Award in honor of Co-Chairmen Molly and Ann; and to the GCV Rose Show Memorial Award in memory of Linden Gorman.

The 2012 club year began in September with club members immersed in last minute Rose Show details. The Quintessential Rose took place on October 3-4, 2012, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Members worked long, hard hours and produced an extremely successful show, with members Kay Clary and Lisa Caperton winning ribbons at the show for their rose specimens. The 2013 show was held October 2-3, 2013, also at Lewis Ginter. The club made donations to the GCV Rose Show Honorary Award in honor of Co-Chairmen Molly and Ann; and to the GCV Rose Show Memorial Award in memory of Janet Dennis, Anne Miller, Leezie Laughlin and Harriet van Houten. Two successful Rose Shows and an exhausted membership happily closed the book on The Quintessential Rose!

2013 Rose Show Photos

The greens sale continued in 2011 and 2012 with increasing profits. The 2012 sale strained the membership after an exhausting 2012 Rose Show and in a “momentous decision,” the 2013 greens sale was canceled to give bone-weary members a rest after its second Rose Show. To replace the lost revenue, the club decided to host a spring event featuring author Danielle Rollins.

Capital Trees

capitaltrees.org

Club President Jane Cowles reported that the 2009 GCV Conservation Forum in Charlottesville featured speaker Rachel Flynn, the City of Richmond’s Director of Community Development. Her talk revealed that Richmond was lacking 500 trees for 500 empty tree wells. That need resonated with the four Richmond area clubs, which joined together to develop a plan to restore the urban tree canopy in the gateway area of the 14th and Main Street intersection. Eight thousand dollars was raised from the four clubs to help fund the project. At the May 2010 GCV Annual Meeting, the first Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award in the amount of $5,000, was presented to the four clubs for the project.

The project was officially named Capital Trees, and members Jane Cowles, Mary Glen Taylor and Jody Branch served on the steering committee.

By 2011, Capital Trees had a new website, capitaltrees.org, with comprehensive project descriptions, photographs, architectural drawings, people and groups involved in the project, funding sources and an opportunity to donate.

Phase I of the project was completed in 2012. Funding was received and grant requests written by Sarah Jane Wyatt to the Jackson Foundation and the Robins Foundation to support completion of Phase II, up 14th from Main to Broad Street. Scenic Virginia also contributed to project funding.

Capital Trees received the 2015 GCV Common Wealth Award second place for the Canal Walk at Dock Street.

Capital Trees completed Phase 1A of the Low Line Project just in time for the 2015 UCI World Road Cycling Championships held in Richmond, September 19-27. The First Lady of Virginia, Dorothy McAuliffe, named the Low-Line Project one of Virginia’s “treasures.”

Mary Frances Flowers, former president of the Boxwood Garden Club and former President of the Garden Club of Virginia (1970-1972), passed away March 16, 2010.

On March 22, 2011, Boxwood hosted “Flowers with a Southern Flair -- A Morning of Flower Arranging with Sybil Brook Sylvester” at the University of Richmond Jepson Alumni Center. Sybil, a renowned floral designer from Birmingham, Alabama, treated attendees to a wonderful demonstration of simple flower arrangements, technique ideas and tips of the trade, all delivered with her good-natured humor, charm and southern drawl. Cathy Lee beautifully arranged all the details of her visit as well as hosting her for her time in Richmond and organizing dinners, luncheons and “helper bees” the day of the event. Pre-event dinner was hosted by Jane and Don Cowles at their home for Sybil and the event committee. The event was a huge success with funds contributing to community projects.

In the spring, Boxwood joined its three sister Richmond-area GCV garden clubs in hosting David Howard, Prince Charles’s organic gardener at his Highgrove estate in England. Proceeds from Mr. Howard’s lecture at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts supported the joint Capital Trees Project. Additional funds were raised from a private tour with David Howard at Tuckahoe Plantation.

75th Anniversary

After 75 years, the Boxwood Garden Club members continued to bring home ribbons and accolades from GCV and VMFA flower shows -- InterClub artistic and horticulture and individual artistic and horticulture.

After researching the viability of a Boxwood Garden Club website and electronic storage site, Molly Carey presented a proposal to the board and membership requesting funds to create a website and funds to maintain it annually. Approval was given, allowing the club members to access records in the "electronic file cabinet from anywhere in the world, if we really need to." Boxwood.org was launched and included a directory of all members and their contact information, "so we don’t have to carry around our Green Book all the time anymore!" In addition, gardenclubboxwood@gmail.com was created, a new official email for disseminating information to club members and to use for meeting notices and RSVPs.

The club's 2012 annual meeting was held at the Kent-Valentine House, followed by a seated luncheon in the first-floor parlors. President Cathy Lee regaled attendees with fun facts and interesting tidbits from the club's history. Programs from the many activities and events throughout the years were available and included a copy of the telegram announcing the club's acceptance into the Garden Club of Virginia in 1951.

The anniversary committee, chaired by Molly Carey and Nancy B. Gottwald, planned a beautiful cocktail party at the Country Club of Virginia in 2012 to complete the festivities. Susan Overton produced a 20-minute DVD showing photographs of Boxwood members throughout the club's 75-year history. Guests were given a copy of the DVD, Boxwood's newly printed history and a box of truffles tied with ribbon citing “Happy 75th Boxwood." It was an exciting ending to a great year and even better 75 years!

The club's semiannual cocktail party was held at Anne and Garnett Hall’s lovely home and was a wonderful way to celebrate an amazingly busy year for our members. The club's 2013 Annual Meeting was held in Williamsburg.

Boxwood's 2014 annual meeting was held at Lavender Fields Herb Farm in Glen Allen, where members enjoyed an interesting walking tour, lecture and luncheon.

The 2014-2015 club year "blissfully began without a Rose Show to host," and GCV President Jeanette Cadwallender appointed Boxwood members to fill state level positions: Missy Buckingham, GCV Parliamentarian; Kay Tyler, Kent-Valentine House Chairman and Cathy Lee, 2020 GCV Centennial Chairman. Boxwood was congratulated for being in the top five GCV clubs participating in the annual fund.

Boxwood hosted Gracious Living and Stylish Entertaining at the Jepson Alumni Center. Featured speaker Danielle Rollins regaled attendees with stories of her parties and soirees while she demonstrated beautiful floral arrangements. She sold and signed her new book “Soiree- Entertaining in Style." Fourteen members created eight tablescapes demonstrating a wide variety of styles, decorating techniques and fun which were judged by Danielle. Six vendors sold their wares and donated 15% of their sales to Boxwood. Door prizes were won by attendees donated by two local businesses. This fundraiser netted almost twice what the annual greens sale had in the past. For this reason, the sometimes beloved greens sale was officially cancelled.

2015-2020

GCV Flower Show awards and VMFA accolades continued to roll in for Boxwood members. Sally Witt and Vickie Blanchard opened their lovely gardens in June 2015 for members to relax after a long garden club year. The Boxwood executive board hosted members at C Street in Carytown for Christmas cheer where members generously donated garden and horticulture-themed books to George Mason Elementary School library as a Christmas philanthropy. Kay Tyler shared her lovely home for Boxwood's biennial cocktail party.

The 2016 annual meeting was held at Grelen Nursery in Somerset.

The club's website was given a new look by Mercer Taylor, and the Fit4Kids arranging team of Molly Hood, Vickie Blanchard, Loretta Miller and Janice Whitehead made twelve arrangements using edible materials for a fundraising event held at Pasture.

The 2017 annual meeting was held at Pearl Adamson’s lovely home, where members enjoyed an elegant luncheon and relaxing camaraderie after a busy year.

Boxwood member Missy Buckingham was elected at the 2018 GCV Annual Meeting to be the Garden Club of Virginia First Vice President.

A successful fundraiser featuring Birmingham floral artist Sybil Sylvester was held at the Westwood Club. Proceeds from this fundraiser supported selected projects at Peter Paul Development Center in Church Hill -- Enhancing the Community Garden with more fruit bushes and trees and landscaping the new playground. Club member Anna Aquino was instrumental in leading the project and keeping members informed. She procured a grant from the Tree Stewards for Peter Paul for 7-9 trees that were planted in and around the playground. Anna was honored by members with donations to the tree fund. The club received the coveted GCV Common Wealth Award for its project at Peter Paul, and Anna Aquino received the GCV de Lacy Gray Memorial Award for Conservation.

Missy Gullquist shared her lovely home for the club's spring cocktail party, and the 2018 annual meeting was held at Belmont in Fredericksburg. Members enjoyed tours of the gardens, home and studio of artist Gari Melchers, as well as a lovely box lunch.

The members stayed active throughout 2018 and 2019 -- attending GCV events, participating in holiday arranging workshops and supporting Peter Paul and Capital Trees with active participation and generous funding. The COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 shut down in-person meetings, and Zoom meetings became the norm. Members began sharing their beautiful spring photographs. As a result, the club added a photography option to its monthly exhibits.

Boxwood Garden Club Member Awards

Boxwood Garden Club Donations 1995-2020

BGC Presidents 1995-2024

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1995 -2000

The Brunswick Garden Club began plans for hosting the Garden Club of Virginia’s 64th Annual Rose Show, to be held October 5-6, 2000.

Successful Historic Garden Week tours were presented in Lawrenceville and the Brodnax area, with the number of visitors at each beyond expectation.

Annual contributions were made to Prestwould Plantation near Clarksville and MacCallum More Museum & Gardens in Chase City. Proceeds from the annual Geranium Sale and the Christmas Auction were used for Historic Garden Week.

The club began a project at Oakwood Cemetery in Lawrenceville to include pruning shrubs, planting new flowers, repairing broken tombstones and adding direction signs at the cemetery. A list of all those buried at the cemetery along with their locations will be compiled and registered at the Daughters of the American Revolution Library in Washington, D. C.

2000 to 2010

The GCV 64th Annual Rose Show, “Time Frames: 1900-2000,” was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in South Hill on October 5-6, 2000. Chairman Joyce Moorman reported 438 stems in 35 horticulture classes and 69 artistic arrangements. The GCV 65th Annual Rose Show, “Global Harmony,” was held on October 3-4, 2001, at the new Workforce Building at Southside Virginia Community College in Alberta, chaired again by Joyce Moorman. During judging Randy White, well-known rose grower and exhibitor, presented “Exhibiting Roses in the Fall” in the school’s theater. For the first time, Hilldrup Moving & Storage picked up the Rose Show properties and transported them to their Richmond facility for storage.  When the properties left for storage and the clean-up was completed, club members enjoyed a celebration lunch.

The club received the 2008 Common Wealth Award for “A Fort Called Christanna and its Indian Trading Center.” The funds enabled the club to develop a learning center at the site where students could learn about the history of Fort Christanna, an early 18th-century fort in Colonial Brunswick County.  The Learning Center was developed based on the diary of Charles Fontaine, a teacher at the site hired by Governor Spotswood.

Founded by Governor Spotswood in 1714, Fort Christanna was built to offer protection for white settlers and friendly native tribes and to act as a trading center. The site consists of 26 acres that encompass the site of the fort and runs to the scenic Meherrin River. The original outline of the fort has been cleared and marked and can be walked by visitors.

Inside the fort was a school for Indian children, taught by a Charles Griffin, where they learned to speak and write English, and to read the Bible and Book of Common Prayer.

Lieutenant John Fontaine, who spent some time there in 1715-1716, left a detailed account of his observations of life in the fort.

The monopoly of the Virginia Indian Company on trading soon aroused the ire of private merchants such as William Byrd II, who had inherited his father's lucrative Indian trade. While back in London, he lobbied the Lords of Trade, arguing that Christanna was an unnecessary expense, and calling on them to return to independent trade and dissolve the Company. Despite Spotswood's objections, they did so on November 12, 1717. In May 1718, a treaty was signed with the Iroquois of New York, whereby they agreed not to come east of the Blue Ridge, and the Burgesses thereupon voted to discontinue manning the fort. Mr. Griffin remained until September, then transferred to become master of the Indian school at the College of William & Mary.

Work at the Oakwood Cemetery continued throughout the decade and included removal of trees, new plantings and tombstone repairs. Historic Garden Week tours were held in Lawrenceville, Emporia, the Pea Hill Section of Lake Gaston and South Hill.

The club welcomed Robert (Bob) Henkel, the first male to become a member of the club and the Garden Club of Virginia.

2010 -2020

Work on the cemetery project continued.  Directional signs were put in place to better enable visitors to locate their plots.

Successful Historic Garden Week tours were held in Boydton, Clarksville and Blackstone.

COVID-19 brought in-person club activities to a halt in 2020, but members quickly learned to meet by Zoom.

2021 -2022

Plans for the upcoming Historic Garden Week tour in South Hill continued to be finalized as the pandemic situation improved and restrictions were lifted. Visitors welcomed the opportunity to visit homes and gardens, and the club celebrated another successful tour.

The club held a successful Christmas Auction and Geranium Sale and donations were made to Prestwould Plantation near Clarksville, MacCallum More Museum & Gardens in Chase City and the Kent-Valentine House Endowment Fund. The club received 2021 Common Wealth Award funding to open a walking trail from the Fort Christanna site to the Meherrin River.

The club completed their project at Oakwood Cemetery in Lawrenceville. Directional signs were installed, the circle was replanted, shrubbery was pruned, and broken stones were identified and reported to authorities.  A plat was made of all persons buried in the cemetery with their death dates.  This information is recorded in the Daughters of the American Revolution Library in Washington, D.C. for research.

Club members are currently making plans to host the GCV Board of Governors in the fall of 2025.

BGC Presidents 1996-2022

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In progress.

thecharlottesvillegardenclub.com

In the years since publication of Follow the Green Arrow II in 1995, The Charlottesville Garden Club has not only flourished, but blossomed. The club has grown in numbers; categories of membership; diversity of programs and program times; creativity in educational and floral arranging opportunities; as well as many aspects of technology -- an updated website, an Instagram account charlottesvillegardenclub, a reimagined monthly newsletter format, the use of credit cards as a form of payment at special events and programs, and the use of Eventbrite for purchasing tickets.

CGC Membership

After much research by an ad hoc committee on membership, CGC has now secured a more stable and thriving membership by adding a Junior membership category for a maximum of ten women under 45 years of age (with a term limit of three years). This new category is in addition to the club’s Active, Associate, Honorary, and Life Membership categories. CGC has also increased the maximum number of Active members from 42 to 45. This small change increases the club’s workforce but still allows it to be small enough to continue to hold meetings and luncheons in members’ homes, as the founding members did to foster opportunities to enrich club friendships.

Fundraisers, Project Development and Community Projects

CGC continues to sell two educational publications, What to Do When and The Art of Conditioning Flowers at the downtown Charlottesville Caspari flagship store, as well as online. These often-revised publications were the combined efforts of a small group of club members in 1992 for the education of CGC members and the public. They continue to be profitable for the club as an ongoing fundraiser, raising close to $40,000 over the last twenty years.

Fundraising opportunities have increased through the hard work and creativity of CGC members. What started out as a small silent auction of seasonal gifts (baked goods, art, potted bulbs and floral arrangements) among members, has recently grown into a much larger Holiday Bazaar that’s now open to the public as well.

As an additional fundraiser at some monthly meetings, members have had an opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win an arrangement created by one of the club’s many talented floral arrangers. Another successful holiday fundraiser item has been the sale of waxed amaryllis bulbs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, members moved to a Grab-and-Go Silent Auction of Gifts using a drive-thru format, another creative innovation of the club's Fundraising Committee.

These increased sales opportunities have led to an increase in consistent monetary profits, which has allowed us to use these funds to expand our outreach to community projects:

• 1999: Made a $5,000 donation to Monticello for establishment of an Outdoor Classroom as part of the Thomas Jefferson Monticello Parkway Project.
• 2002: The Blue Ridge House Landscaping Project (now known as Region X, Blue Ridge Center): The CGC completed a landscaping project and continued to take floral arrangements to the house and/or fresh flowers for them to arrange.
• 2002: Planted a Legacy sugar maple at the Charlottesville Regional Airport Memorial and Tribute (in partnership with Albemarle and Rivanna garden clubs) as a memorial and tribute to the victims of September 11th.
• April 2006: Made a donation to the Rock House Renovation Project. The Charles B. Holt Rock House was a part of a prominent African American business district, which was officially listed on the Virginia Landmarks Registry and the National Registry of Historic Places at this time. The CGC donation was for adding to the landscape by planting bulbs and groundcover.
• March 2007: Made a $10,000 donation to the Roadside Enhancement Project (Fontaine Avenue Exit at the 29 S./ 250 W. Entry Corridor). This was a beautification project agreement made between CGC, Albemarle County and VDOT for the installation of trees, shrubs, bulbs and other plantings in a triangular bed created at the Fontaine Exit, which serves as an entry corridor (just off I-64) to Charlottesville and UVA. Upon completion, CGC installed a sign indicating the area was sponsored by CGC.
• 2016: CGC approved a proposal to develop a Habitat Demonstration Garden, in cooperation with Charlottesville Parks and Recreation, by helping with plant installation and placing signage for the Native Habitat Garden (after Parks and Recreation cleared the site of invasive plants, prepped the site and then planted native trees).
• April 2017: Made a donation of 100 Roses for the Memorial Celebration of Daughters of Zion Cemetery, an historic, African American two-acre burial ground listed on both the Virginia and National Registers of Historic Places, City of Charlottesville, and makes an annual contribution for this memorial.
• 2018: Another recipient was Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, which had formerly housed a shipping warehouse. After the removal of dead bushes and invasives, new plants, shrubs, and bulbs were planted and mulched by club members to make a new, more welcoming entrance for clients. A member’s husband, who had helped with the original renewal project, helped coordinate with an interested Eagle Scout to design and build a board fence at the entrance.
• Fall 2020: A small group of members returned to plant daffodil bulbs around the fence at Loaves and Fishes.

The Tay Gwaltney Flower Arranging School

The Tay Gwaltney Flower Arranging School (TGFAS) was established in 2006 in honor of CGC member ‘Tay" Sarah Parrot Gwaltney, a talented, award-winning arranger and GCV artistic judge, as well as a knowledgeable horticulture judge. “The purpose is to reflect Tay Gwaltney’s love of flower arranging and teaching and her belief that the art enriches people’s lives in a profound way.” The TGFAS is meant to encourage this art in the community by providing an educational opportunity to observe demonstrations by talented arrangers, to hear speakers and/or to create arrangements.

The first Tay Gwaltney Flower Arranging School was held at Olivet Church with demonstrations by talented Associate members Gene Barnes, Pattye Leggett, Ellie Whiteley and Aileen Kelly. It was targeted toward new members. The workshop highlighted conditioning, mechanics and arranging techniques.

TGFAS has offered a variety of programs and formats since its founding, but to this day, it still continues as a flower arranging school.

• October 2008: Randy Ouzts (Blowing Rock, NC), known for Napa Home and Garden products, gave a flower arranging presentation and demonstration at Farmington Country Club. Floral products were available for sale afterwards. It was open to the public and chaired by Nan Brody. CGC Vice President Trish Burton hosted a dinner the night before in his honor.
• October 2010: Chris Giftos, Master Floral Arranger and Manager of Special Events at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Honorary Member of the GCA, gave a lecture and floral arranging demonstration at Farmington Country Club, open to the public and chaired by Holly Macauley Casey.

CGC began a partnership with Caspari in November 2018, hosting TGFAS at Caspari's flagship store on the Charlottesville downtown mall. Lisa Milbank, a CGC member and president of Caspari, generously offered store space and provided materials for members to create a personal set of holiday placemats. In November 2019, five CGC members made floral arrangements for Caspari holiday-inspired tablescapes displays. The designers gave talks about the design process they used for creating each of the individual tablescapes. The event and event was a huge success.

1998 GCV Board of Governors

The Charlottesville Garden Club hosted the 79th GCV Board of Governors meeting on October 6-8, 1998, at the Boar's Head Inn and Conference Center, co-chaired by Kate Kessler and Jane Maddux.

The Board of Directors was invited for lunch on Tuesday, October 6, by Dr. and Mrs. John Janes at their UVA Pavilion V home. Cocktails were served that evening at "Double Fault,” the delightful home of Hunter Smith, followed by Dutch treat dinner.

Charlottesville Garden Club President Linda MacIlwaine welcomed attendees to the BOG on Wednesday morning and introduced Kate Kessler, who provided a brief history of the club beginning with a project to arrange dried flowers at Monticello. She told of the first CGC president, Martha Rankin, who authored a pamphlet on drying flowers that sold 27,000 copies to benefit the club. With $2,000 from the 1988 Common Wealth Award, members attempted to clean up the fraternity/sorority area at UVA. Kate remarked, “At least the entrance on University Avenue shows some positive results.”

Following business reports on Wednesday, guest speaker Dr. Richard Guy Wilson, Commonwealth Professor and Chair of the Department of Architectural History at the University of Virginia, presented “The Colonial Revival in Virginia.”

After adjournment for the day, attendees enjoyed a tour of Bessie's Redlands, followed by lunch on her front lawn served by Albemarle Garden Club members. Attendees were then offered afternoon tours of the Kluge Japanese Garden or the gardens at Morven, a three-story, brick manor house built in the late-Georgian/Federal Style that dates to 1820. The land on which it sits was part of the original Carter family land grant and was known to Thomas Jefferson as “Indian Camp.” The formal gardens at Morven were restored in 1930 by landscape architect Annette Hoyt Flanders and have been open to the public for Historic Garden Week every year since 1933. The property is on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Virginia Landmarks Register.

As if the day was not special enough, CGC then treated attendees to a candlelight tour of Ashlawn-Highland, home of James Monroe, and followed that with the awards banquet at the University of Virginia Rotunda. Quite an amazing day, filled with Virginia history.

At the close of the business meeting on Thursday, GCV President Bessie Carter hosted a farewell luncheon at her historic home, Redlands.

2013 GCV Annual Meeting

The Charlottesville Garden Club hosted the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia on May 6-8, 2013, at the Boar’s Head Inn, chaired by Trish Burton, Renee Grisham and Elizabeth Neff. Photos

The Board of Directors met Monday, May 6, hosted by Peggy Quayle and Jane Maddux at Peggy's lovely hilltop home in Farmington for luncheon and meeting.

Attendees were invited to a wine reception Monday night at the historic Paramount Theater on the downtown mall. With drinks in hand attendees toured the beautifully restored theater and watched a video introduced by Barbara Sieg that highlighted the history of the Paramount and its revival. Dutch treat dinner followed at Orzo Kitchen and Wine Bar and featured a tasty spring-inspired menu.

CGC offered activities on Tuesday morning as described by Catherine Madden in her meeting summary: "Tuesday morning arrived a little soggy, but that didn’t dissuade our intrepid group from venturing forth to first tour the fascinating home and garden of Barbara Sieg. Barbara graciously invited us inside to Flordon, which started its life as a hunting lodge in the early 1900s and was later enlarged in 1936 by noted architect Marshall Swain Wells. We also admired the formal gardens originally designed by Charles Gillette, including a charming secret garden tucked in beside the house. Then we were off to Fran and Andrew Boninti’s wonderful never-ending garden where we were amazed at the extensive and varied plant material that clearly demonstrates a passion for horticulture and a really green thumb.”

Lunch at the Boar's Head followed morning tours, where member club presidents dined with their Directors at Large in the Patio Room while others met up with new friends and old in the Hearth and Arbor rooms.

Following announcements, the meeting was adjourned for the evening. Cocktails and the awards banquet were held in the Boar's Head Inn ballroom Tuesday evening. Attendees were thrilled to be serenaded by the Virginia Gentlemen during cocktails, especially with their rendition of The Good Old Song.

Wednesday's guest speaker was Sam Abell, noted National Geographic photographer, author and artist.

GCV Centennial: A Commemorative Tree Planting Ceremony at Monticello

On February 24, 2020, the three local member clubs of the Garden Club of Virginia hosted a Centennial Celebration at Monticello in honor of the GCVs 100th Anniversary. A member and representative of The Charlottesville Garden Club, Sue Ann Morgan, served as a liaison with Monticello to plan the tri-club project with representatives from the other two member clubs (Albemarle and Rivanna) to commemorate the GCVs Centennial by planting three Commemoration sugar maples at Monticello: one for each of our garden clubs. (Commemoration in honor of the occasion and sugar maples because they were a favorite of Thomas Jefferson’s.) Tri-club members and honored guests from the Garden Club of Virginia were invited to the celebration, and Thomas Jefferson, as interpreted by Bill Barker, suprised attendees with a special apperance to assist with the tree-planting and to provide fitting remarks. Peggy Cornett provided a guided tour of the gardens afterwards, and a lovely reception followed at the food café. Coverage was provided by the local NBC 29 News that evening,  as well as a write-up in The Daily Progress the following day.

GCV Officers and Committee Members

GCV Awards

The 1998 Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement awarded to Mavis Bayles, a member of CGC since 1969, “for fiscal gardening and artistic talent shared with wit and joy.” (1980-1994, GCV Treasurer)

The 2004 Common Wealth Award 2nd place ($2,000) awarded for the creation of the CGC website, Gardening in Virginia, designed by CGC member Zan Short.

The 2015 Common Wealth Award ($10,000) awarded for the Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center garden, a joint partnership between Rivanna Garden Club and The Charlottesville Garden Club. Funds were requested to expand the garden, which the residents plant, maintain, consume, sell or donate. An expert gardening individual was already in place to help with this project.

The 2018 Horticulture Award of Merit awarded to CGC member Meredith Mercer, “for their significant accomplishments in horticulture, both personally and in the community at large”; a Master Gardener, often hosting groups in her garden; willingly sharing her expertise.

GCV Flower Show Awards

The 2012 Annabel Josephs GCV InterClub Artistic Award. A perpetual (silver cup) trophy for the club accumulating the greatest number of points in the interClub artistic division of the three GCV flower shows from Annual Meeting to Annual Meeting. Accepted by CGC President, Betsy Casteen at the GCV Annual Meeting.

Lily Show Awards

1996 Lily Show Members'Club Cup: Barbara Sieg 2013 Lily Show Ann Carter Walker Somerville Award: Anne Vanderwarker 2015 Lily Show Blue ribbon and Quad Blue Ribbon for best InterClub arrangement)

• The Katharine Leadbetter Bloomer Award: 1995, 1998, 2000, 2007
• The Eleanor Traux Harris Challenge Award: 1991, 2000, 2002
• The Helen Louise Broyhill Trophy: 1999, 2000
• The Louise Morris Goodwin Bowl: 2001
• The Reds Cup Award: 2002
• Blue Ribbons at ten shows in 2005 and tied for the most Blue Ribbons in one show
• Virginia Daffodil Society
  • April 2005 Head Judge, VA Daffodil Society Show for Miniature Division
  • April 2005 The Ads Throckmorton Ribbon, the 2nd highest award given by The American Daffodil Society (15 cultivars--and each of the 15 blooms must be perfect! Best Collection of 12 Stems: 1996, 1997, 1999
  • April 13, 2002: The British Medal: Marie Bozievich Collection of 12 Stems

CGC Anniversary Celebrations of Membership in GCV

The Charlottesville Garden Club celebrated its 50th anniversary of becoming a member of the Garden Club of Virginia on May 16, 2007, at Oakwood, home of member Renee Grisham. Attendees enjoyed a presentation by CGC President Allison Schildwachter, "Celebrating the Decades," followed by memories and skits by many members. Guest speaker and noted National Geographic photographer, Sam Abell, spoke on the influence of gardening in his life. Members received a copy of his book, Seeing Gardens. The club's annual flower show and tablescapes were displayed under an elegant tent. Each member was given a copy of The CGC 50th Anniversary Memoirs, edited by Sue Ann Morgan. (25th anniversary book incorporated at back of the 50th book.)

The club celebrated its 60th anniversary of becoming a member of the Garden Club of Virginia in  September, 2017, "Celebrating Our Club’s History," at the home of member Whitley Rotgin.  Co-Historian Allison Schildwachter led the celebration, and club members contributed memories. Members received a copy of Celebrating 60 Years of The Charlottesville Garden Club (Becoming a Member Club of the GCV): May 15, 1957–May 15, 2017, edited by Sue Ann Morgan, Co-Historian. (25th and 50th books incorporated at back of the 60th book.) New members receive a copy at their orientation.

Read CGC Directors at Large and Presidents' Reports 2004-2019

CGC Presidents 1996-2022

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The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God’s Heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth.

~Dorothy Frances Blomfield Gurney

After 100 years, Chatham Garden Club is still asking the question, “How can we beautify Chatham?” The club celebrated its centennial in 2021 and, as former club president Mary Jac Meadows proudly says, “It’s amazing that any club can sustain for 100 years. We’re stronger the longer we exist. We have so much talent, devotion and love."

Community Involvement

The club has a long history of beautifying Chatham and the surrounding Pittsylvania County area -- providing wreaths for the Pittsylvania County Courthouse doors; participating in creating hanging baskets of mixed greens and swags for Main Street; planting and maintaining garden areas at Chatham Town Hall; planting and maintaining a large planter at the Pruden Street parking lot; and partnering with a variety of civic groups in beautification projects.

Funds for community projects are generated by the club’s annual geranium sale. Members and loyal supporters look forward each year to the early spring arrival of their purchases -- just in time for Historic Garden Week -- and the town showcases hundreds of geraniums each summer.

Chatham Garden Club maintains strong ties with its nearby sister GCV clubs -- the Garden Club of Danville and Gabriella Garden Club. Since 2017, the three clubs have joined for Historic Garden Week tours. The clubs assist each other when one is called upon to host a GCV event, and annually hold a joint meeting to welcome the GCV President or to enjoy a special presentation.

Flower Shows and Artistic Design

The club boasts GCV artistic design judges and talented floral designers. Members often participate in Garden Club of Virginia flower shows and VMFA’s Fine Arts & Flowers, winning InterClub awards and individual ribbons. The club is celebrated for its outstanding floral designs during Historic Garden Week.

Chatham Garden Club hosted the Garden Club of Virginia’s Annual Lily Show in 2001, “The Meeting House,” and 2002, “Celebrate America,” at the Watson Memorial United Methodist Church, chaired by Nancie Motley and Pattie Motley. The artistic schedule for the 2002 show called for an interpretation of 9/11 and undoubtedly left a lasting impression on all who exhibited or attended.

2021 Centennial

Chatham Garden Club made plans to celebrate its centennial throughout the club year beginning September 2, 2020, with a groundbreaking ceremony at Gilmer Court, a parcel of land which was originally deeded to the club in 1936 "to be kept and maintained as a park." The club chose to plant a redbud, the club’s flower. Chatham’s mayor presented a framed proclamation to the club that was followed by a presentation of the history of Gilmer Court.

Although many celebratory plans were curtailed due to COVID-19, a club history was presented via Zoom at each monthly meeting that followed.

Members gathered in June 2021 for a final celebration at Banister Bend Farm, home of club member and de Lacy Gray recipient Betty Davenport and her husband, Ben. Each member was presented with a gift bag containing an apron embroidered with the new club seal. Chatham’s 5th District Delegate attended to present a resolution commending Chatham Garden Club.

CGC Presidents 1995-2020

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Coming soon.

facebook.com/thegardenclubofdanvilleva

The Garden Club of Danville hosted the 94th Board of Governors Meeting on October 15-17, 2013, at the Comfort Inn, chaired by Anne Foster and Sue Lea. Photos

"Later in the afternoon we boarded lovely buses to what would be a magical evening for Boots and BBQ down on the farm, the Gentry Farm, for a toe-tapping, finger-licking good time with plenty of cheer to keep the GCV chatter at a roar. The Danville girls’ magical powers did not stop there; they have husbands extraordinaire! These charming men served us wine, beer and punch then performed a Broadway-worthy production, “We Got This,” that was over the top. They even gave us a new name -- GDGCV, which I am sure stands for Great Dames of the Garden Club of Virginia!

"Wednesday morning came early but our buses were awaiting and off for a tour of Danville. "The Wreck of the Old 97" on your right, the city of churches surrounded our buses and the loveliest homes provided us a view of old Danville but "the future" was at our first stop -- IALR, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. The future indeed! Propagation, breeding, tissue cultures and words I cannot spell, much less pronounce, but it was truly where education is growing in forms that allow us to see the future for Danville and the world.

"Our next stop brought us to the loveliest rose garden at the Museum of Fine Arts and History at the Sutherlin Mansion which we could tour, followed by a delicious lunch. This magnificent mansion was the last capital of the Confederacy and a GCV restoration site.

"Finally, time to get down to business. We were all sincerely happy to see Ann Gordon who greeted us warmly, as usual, and Jo Silvers, the President of the Garden Club of Danville who officially welcomed us as if we did not already feel welcomed!"

The Gentrys, familiar to attendees following Tuesday night’s Boots and Barbequeat the Gentrys' Farm, hosted attendees again Wednesday night, this time at their fabulous city home for cocktails. Then, a short ride to the Danville Golf Club where the dining room was shimmering with candles, beautiful tables and a delicious dinner, with the Danville husbands serving wine. The highlight of the evening was the announcement of the 2013 Common Wealth Award winner, the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club for its project at the Chatham Manor Garden, a historic home and garden in Stafford County. The award check in the amount of $6,500 will be used to restore and maintain the formal gardens designed by Ellen Biddle Shipman in the early 1920s and to repair statuary. The second-place award was presented to the Princess Anne Garden Club for its native plant landscaping project and exhibit updates at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach.

Director at Large Reports

May 2011: The Garden Club of Danville had another successful and fun season. It included flower arranging classes,  great speakers including our new president and Sally Spangler Barnet(author and member of Garden Club of America).  Our annual geranium sale fund raiser was again a success.  The Perkinson Rose Garden at the museum is well attended by locals and visitors alike.  Our historic garden week chairs went above and beyond. Their husbands (one a dr.) dressed in white shirts and black bow ties shuttled our visitors around in 6 passenger golf carts, while other members did flower arranging demos. to a standing room only crowd.  As you can see this has been a busy and fun year with great participation by all.  At our final business meeting there will be a changing of the guard and a new young gal (Kris Carbone) will take over as our president.

May 2012: The Garden Club of Danville has had a great year.  We have had two outstanding programs.  We had the opportunity to tour The Institute for Advance Learning and Research.  Our tour included the research greenhouses where the Lady Astor Rose was propagated for future sales.  Our second wonderful program was given by Libby Oliver.  She presented "Flowers are Forever". This wonderful program was focused on the conditioning of flowers for maximum life.  Historic Garden Week was a grand success despite terrible weather.  We are currently planning our Board of Governor's meeting in October of 2013 and look forward to everyone visiting!

May 2014: Garden Club of Danville is reviewing membership requirements, by-laws, and standing rules. They are monitoring the Dan River coal ash spill and have a joint meeting planned with Gabriella Garden Club featuring a panel of experts to address this topic.  This November meeting will be open to the public.

May 2017: The Garden Club of Danville continues to support their community projects including The Grove Street Cemetery, The Danville Science Center entrance, The grounds of the Danville Museum of Fine Art and History, and the Perkinson Rose Garden; the club is planning its upcoming centennial in 2018; The yearly geranium sale fundraiser continues to be success.; the club supported the grant applications for both Fairy Stone State Park and Staunton River State Park for the GCV’s State Park Initiative.; the club collaborated with the Gabriella Garden Club and the Chatham Garden Club to host the first Danville-Chatham Historic Garden Week tour.

May 2018: The Garden Club of Danville is celebrating its centennial this year with a planned reception for its members in September including a display of club artifacts. A granite bench will be placed in the downtown area that will commemorate this milestone with a dedication in October. The members had the opportunity to learn and improve their horticulture staging skills by attending a presentation/workshop given by Kim Cory and Fran Carden to the club.

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dmgcvirginia.org

1995-2005

Members of Dolley Madison Garden Club (DMGC) continued their activities in both the Garden Club of America (GCA) and the Garden Club of Virginia (GCV), as well as in the local community. The club focused on conservation for proper pesticide pickup and disposal. Members organized a one-week Natural History Day Camp for youth at Montpelier, historic home of James Madison. The club’s major project was the continued maintenance of Taylor Park, which won the Orange Downtown Alliance “Green Thumb” award.

 Mrs. Gilbert K. Queitzsch (Virginia) won the Violet Niles Walker Memorial Cup and the Eleanor Truax Harris Cup, and Mrs. James H. T. McConnell, Jr (Mary) won the Sponsor's Cup at the 1996 GCV Lily Show. Mrs. John James won the Jacqueline Byrd Shank Memorial Trophy at the 1996 Daffodil Show.

The club voted to support the Dorothy Hunt Williams Book Collection for its GCA millennium project, Project 2000. A selection of horticulture, botany and garden design books were donated to the collection at the Orange County Public Library, including gardening books for adults and children. Mrs. Williams was a past president of Dolley Madison and a former President of GCV.

In 1999, DMGC celebrated its 80th anniversary with a luncheon meeting, inviting members to dress in attire appropriate for 1919.  Montpelier invited DMGC to join other groups in laying a wreath at the grave of James Madison on the occasion of his birthday. In 2001, the Dorothy Hunt Williams Book Collection was completed with over 300 books -- a remarkable gift to the community. DMGC members entered Fine Arts & Flower at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with great success.

In 2002, DMGC celebrated the "Year of the Rose," with a special program, "An Afternoon of Wine and Roses.” The club hosted Mary Tonetti Dorra, author of Beautiful American Rose Gardens, who presented a lovely and educational program that was open to the public.

The club held several fundraisers in preparation for its highly successfull GCV Zone VII meeting in September 2004.  Japanese maples were transplanted by members from the woods near the Japanese Garden at Montpelier for a plant sale, and the monies from this endeavor were given to Montpelier for further restoration of the Japanese Garden.  The club continued assisting Habitat House, donating $1,500 for plantings, as well as plants from members’ gardens, and also pledged $2,500 for a grounds project at the historic Orange County Courthouse. DMGC continued its support of GCV and GCA goals and programs, as well as expanding its community outreach and a growing number of programs benefiting youth.

2005-2015

During this decade the club continued to provide educational programs for the public that included a daffodil program with Brent Heath and a huge conservation forum, "Energy Conservation and Renewal Resources: What Will Tomorrow Bring?” The club also presented a program with a panel of experts on renewable energy that was open to the community. Many fundraising projects -- poinsettia sales, bake sales, and notecards made using photographs taken by members -- netted funds to be used for community projects. Landscaping at the Orange County Animal Shelter was a huge success using monies from the club's community project funds and plants donated by members.

As its project for Jamestown’s 400th birthday celebration, the club again worked with Montpelier to plant an educational garden around the new visitor center that opened in 2007. The homes and gardens of two DMGC members, Mary Lew Sponski's Tre Sorelle, and Marge Grills' Holmlea, were photographed, submitted and accepted into the Smithsonian Archives of America Gardens collection of outstanding homes and gardens.

In 2009, the club pledged Montpelier monies for a new tree identification brochure, and supported the Boys & Girls Club of Orange in purchasing raised beds and garden tools. Members worked with the children at the Boys & Girls Club once a week to plant and maintain the beds, as well as to provide gardening education. Page Sullenberger designed the club's first digital club newsletter, Dolley Madison Musings. The newsletter was a vital communication asset for members, providing business minutes and announcements, as well as educational articles, photographs, tips, Q&A, and Worker Bees columns.

The June/July 2011 issue of GCA Bulletin featured an article by member Pam Hudson about member Bridget Bryant and her Egg of the Day photographs. Mary Zocchi was appointed to the North American Lily Society board for a three-year term. She was a judge for the mid-Atlantic lily show in Philadelphia.

In 2011, Bernice Walker was the first Dolley Madison member to earn “Queen of the Rose Show” in more than a decade with her specimen, 'Marilyn Monroe.' DMGC presented "Bringing Nature Home" with the renowned Doug Tallamy, organized by chairman Zan Thomas. The club achieved local and statewide recognition for the presentation and enjoyed a large community attendance. Fifteen vendors were present for sales of conservation-related material. At the 2012 GCV Lily Show, DeLane Porter won the prestigious North American Lily Society Award for the best potted lily, Lily Looks™ Tiny Skyline. In 2013, DMGC remained committed to assisting the Orange Downtown Alliance with plantings, and the Boys & Girls Club of Orange and the Free Clinic Valentine’s Day benefits with floral arrangements. Continuing in the DMGC tradition, Jane McKinney won the 2013 North American Lily Society Award for the best potted lily, 'Tiny Sensation,' and Adrianne Foshay won in 2014 for 'Little John' and in 2015 for 'Mona Lisa.'

Trish Falcon won the Virginia Ewers Queitzsch Memorial Bowl, awarded for three stems of the same species, variety or cultivar, and the James A. McKenney Award for the Best Longiflorum/Asiatic hybrid lily. Pam Gottschalk won the Sponsor’s Cup, awarded for best Asiatic lily, and the Spotswood Garden Club Award in honor of Laura Dansby for best up-facing Asiatic hybrids. That same year, DMGC sponsored campers to attend Nature Camp and the Montpelier Mud Camp. Member Mary Zocchi’s article on fertilizing lilies, “Lily Libations,” was published in the 2013 Spring GCV Journal.

In 2014, the club organized historic hotel tours of Orange, “Decorating for the Holidays,” to raise funds for the Board of Governors meeting. Pam Hudson and Alice Smith, co-chairmen, organized the Board of Governors three-day event, “Field to Feast,” which demonstrated DMGC spirit. A celebration of recognition was held for Bernice Walker for fifty active years of participation in DMGC, GCV, and GCA. DMGC members purchased an engraved silver pitcher in her honor to serve as a perpetual trophy. The donation of the trophy was announced at the GCV Annual Meeting.

2015-2020

These five years began with enthusiastic participation by club members. DMGC continued to promote principles to encourage gardening, horticulture, conservation, beautification, restoration of historic gardens, and the protection of our native trees, wildflowers and birds. Many plans were made in anticipation of our one hundredth birthday in 2019.

The DMCG Community Project for 2015 was selected to take place at the Dogwood Village of Orange County. Members donated and planted a tree in the village garden to honor Virginia Mason, then a current resident, and a past president of DMGC. The project was a multifaceted event involving the residents who made edible bird ornaments for the newly planted tree. DMGC celebrated members Delane Porter and Carla Passarello, who received an Honorable Mention for Trillium grandiflorum in the GCA’s  2016 Montine McDaniel Freeman Medal recognizing North American native plants.

The club's conservation, horticulture and flower design committees presented Colston Burrell to the community speaking on “Can A Garden Have Everything?” This event, co-sponsored by James Madison’s Montpelier and Virginia National Bank, was an excellent example of the community working together to provide educational and informative material for the public.

Member DeLane Porter was presented with the GCV’s Horticulture Award of Merit. Mary Queitzsch published “Flowers of Historic Garden Week” to be sold on Amazon and at events with photographs of the arrangements for the 2017 tour. In 2017, Ada Harvey, centennial committee chairman, met with community project chairmen to outline criteria for the club's centennial project. The centennial committee announced the Honorable Helen Marie Taylor, DMGC emeritus member, as the honorary chair. Taylor Park was bequeathed to the Town of Orange, in part, by Helen Marie Taylor and her husband Jack in the 1970s. Under Gail Babnew’s leadership, the park was archived as a public garden by the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens.

For the years 2018 to 2019, the focus was on the preparation for DMGC’s centennial celebration. In 2019, DMGC hosted the Centennial Garden Tour as part of Historic Garden Week. The homes and gardens featured in the centennial tour were all related to early members. At Taylor Park in Orange, DMGC held a 100-year celebration ceremony. Many members, politicians -- icluding U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, seventh district congressional Rep. Abigail Spanberger, State Sen. Bryce Reeves, and Del. Nick Freitas -- GCA President Dede Petri, GCV President Jean Gilpin, and the Smithsonian Gardens Manager of Collections and Education, Cynthia Brown, attended as VIPs. During the celebration DMGC held a ribbon cutting and dedication of a new Taylor Park lotus flower sculpture fountain. The centennial celebration continued during the year with a DMGC-sponsored Summer Concert Series in Taylor Park, and a Community Zinnia Show. The centennial celebration was a spectacular success thanks to Ada Harvey, chairman, and members Suzanne Aiello, Anne Cantrell, Joanna Davies, Jacque Johnson, Mary Queitzsch, Normie Sanford, Mary Lew Sponski and Annie Vanderwarker.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. DMCG’s planned fundraising event, "Dueling Arrangers," to feature designers David Pippen and Tom May challenging one another for the top spot, was canceled. HGW in Orange County, “Salute 100 years of the GCV,” was also canceled, but DMCG organizers, in conjunction with Orange County Tourism and the Orange County Review were able to provide a “virtual” garden tour of the properties that would have been featured on the Orange County tour.

Several DMGC members wrote gardening articles for the Orange County Review, a local newspaper. Carla Passarello, president, Suzanne Aiello and Gail Babnew wrote about many interesting and informative gardening subjects that helped all of us during the pandemic.

Club meetings were conducted via Zoom with great success. DMGC held the first virtual, and judged, flower show put on by any GCA or GCV club. The show was chaired by DMGC lily committee members Mary Queitzsch, Jacque Johnson, DeLane Porter and Mary Zocchi, and connected not only DMGC members, but also members from across the state. This event was rewarding and fun during this time of isolation and inspired GCA and GCV to pursue virtual, judged shows.

The club closed out 2020 with a great sense of survival and thankfulness that all DMGC members stayed healthy and were able to move forward by the brilliance of our leaders and by the willingness of members to find ways to move ahead by using technology.

DMGC Presidents 1995-2020

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The Garden Club of the Eastern Shore, possibly a reflection of its unique location, lovingly refers to its members as “from heres,” who are born and raised on the shore, and “come heres,” who are not truly natives but perhaps having spent most of their adult lives on the shore.

Membership demographics have changed over the years with increasing numbers of women with working hours and demanding careers, making mid-day meetings challenging. GCES has adjusted meeting and program schedules to provide flexibility.

Community Projects

The Garden Club of the Eastern Shore has been active within the shore community and has nurtured long-standing relationships. The club provides annual grants for improvements and beautification of grounds of Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital, has contributed funds for mammogram equipment and has funded nursing scholarships. Most recently, the club funded improvements to the landscape adjoining the cancer center with new plantings visible from the infusion room. A club committee maintains the planters at the hospital entrance, providing an uplifting display as patients and visitors pass.

When Historic Garden Week was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, club members rallied to express gratitude for first responders. They coordinated with the hospital’s staff and “masked up” to create a Flower Flash at the hospital's main entrance. Materials were gathered exclusively from members’ gardens, and the result was a stunning flower display that surprised and moved hospital staff and visitors alike.

GCES has supported a small children’s camp, Camp Osprey, established by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the Fisherman Wildlife Refuge; provides an annual scholarship to send a shore resident to Nature Camp in Vesuvius; helped establish a garden for culinary classes at a local high school; held conservation workshops called Project Wild for science teachers; and provides landscaping, horticulture and flower arranging books annually to the local library in memory of deceased members.

The club supports the Eastern Shore Community Services Board with landscaping and the installation of bird feeders at six facilities. Established in 1971, the Board provides support for mental health, developmental disabilities, substance use and prevention services, where they are needed, in locations throughout the shore.

GCES donates to the Bank of Cheer, a long-standing Christmas tradition on the shore to deliver food to hundreds of residents in need of assistance and provides Christmas bulbs for a local retirement home. The club provides gift certificates for residents of Eastern Shore Coalition for Domestic Violence and, with three additional shore garden clubs, created and helps maintain a kitchen garden and play area at the facility. This project included the solicitation of donations from local nurseries and businesses.

The club supports Ker Place, a historic home and garden in Onancock, and frequently schedules club event at the site. A restoration project of the Garden Club of Virginia, the project included new fencing, perennial plantings, installation of outdoor lighting and walkways – with ongoing updates and consultations as needed. Each year club members decorate a Christmas tree on the lawn at Ker Place, joining other community organizations who decorate trees throughout the mansion. All are lit throughout the season and bring numerous visitors to the historic site. The club frequently schedules club events on-site throughout the year. GCES celebrated the GCV Centennial in 2020 by gifting a bench to Eastern Shore Community College and by providing financial support to Kiptopeke State Park, a GCV Centennial grant recipient.

Fundraising efforts to support the club’s community projects have included the sale of orchids, sales of reusable grocery and produce bags, and an ongoing partnership with Dogwood Branch Consignment Shop of the Eastern Shore Historical Society to share profits of donations by GCES members.

The club produces a quarterly newsletter, Blooming Bits, and has plans to establish a web presence in late 2023 or early 2024. Members of GCES have ventured far from the shore for numerous educational field trips -- Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond; the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, NC; Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC; Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in Delaware; Anne Spencer House and Garden in Lynchburg; Ladew Gardens in Monkton, MD; and Colonial Williamsburg.

GCV Awards

The Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement was awarded to Katty Mears in 2000, and the de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation was awarded to Suzanne Wescoat in 2009. The Horticulture Award of Merit has been awarded to many individual members of GCES over the years, most recently Claiborne Dickenson, 2002; Evelyn H. Nock, 2005; Carolyn Jones, 2007; Cynthia Hall, 2012; and Susie Brown, 2017. The club received the GCV Common Wealth Award in 2002 for its Community Garden at Cape Charles Central Park. Previously received funds supported the local library and Port Isobel.

Eastern Shore hosted GCV's Horticulture Field Day on May 19-20, 2010, with full capacity of 130 members in attendance. Tuesday's visits featured woodland gardens with rare native and exotic plants, seaside landscapes with perennial borders and a pasture with a small herd of nanny goats. Attendees enjoyed an Eastern Shore clam bake on Wednesday evening. Tours continued Thursday after a visit to the Barrier Island Center. Four gardens featured views of marshlands, perennial and mixed borders, cutting gardens, vegetable gardens and herb beds. Photos

The Garden Club of the Eastern Shore hosts a Saturday Historic Garden Week tour on the shore each year that is steeped in tradition. The tour offers a significant boost to the local economy, bringing visitors from points north and south during the "off-peak" tourist season -- a plus for local shops. restaurants and hotels.

The club spent closing months of 2020 planning to host the GCV Board of Governors in 2023.

GCES Presidents 1995-2020

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elizabethrivergardenclub.org

The Elizabeth River Garden Club was organized in April 1927 in Portsmouth's Trinity Church Parish Hall. The club’s mission at that time was to beautify the city. The club has broadened its vision to include conservation of the city’s resources, fostering the knowledge of horticulture and flower arranging, and preservation and restoration of the city’s parks and gardens. Sponsored by the Nansemond River Garden Club, the ERGC became the forty-fifth member of the Garden Club of Virginia in 1975, and its members have since that time devoted many years serving on GCV committees and the Board of Directors.

One of the club's earliest projects focused on the city's first downtown public park, Swimming Point Park. That was followed by the planting of pin oak trees along the city’s main streets. As early as 1938, the club was campaigning against the erection of unsightly billboards. When the historic Portsmouth Courthouse was renovated in the 1970s, the club became interested in improving the courtyard and, with encouragement and support from ERGC, the Garden Club of Virginia chose the landscape surrounding the courthouse and courtyard as a restoration project in 1980.

For many years the club has supported the creation and maintenance of the Friendship Garden in Portsmouth City Park.

Conservation and Beautification

Portsmouth's Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve was the club's focus during the early 2000s when ERGC provided funds for solar panel restoration at the preserve's Outdoor Pavilion and Creekside Lab, and provided funds and manpower to provide entrance landscaping.

The club has supported the Elizabeth River Project since 2001, with funding for miscellaneous projects. Club members create flower arrangements and provide assistance for the organization's major donor luncheons and its Moon River Suppers. The club also endorses that organization's River Star Homes initiative.

Paradise Creek in Portsmouth was once so polluted that the EPA named three Superfund sites in this area. One shore has been transformed by a partnership between the Elizabeth River Project and the community into an urban oasis, Paradise Creek Nature Park. ERGC received the GCV 2018 Common Wealth Award for its project to create an outdoor classroom in the park, "Urban Garden Invites Youth to Dream a Different Future."

The Elizabeth River Garden Club plan for an outdoor classroom is the second phase of landscaping around the new UVA-designed River Academy building. Children will go from the academy to the adjacent outdoor classroom where native flowers, shrubs, trees, a sensory garden and outdoor art will enliven their learning experience. They can view a solar-powered building with cisterns to provide water for plants and with sustainable materials used throughout.

Club members have worked to eradicate invasive plant growth in the park and have planted a secret garden of 200+ native plants around an American Elm in the park's Fox Trail area.

The club has supported the Portsmouth Service League with landscaping at the Woman’s Club of Portsmouth and, at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Suffolk, has created and maintained the scatter garden, provided memorial wreaths and planted dogwood trees and bulbs at the grave site of former First Lady of Virginia Grace Phillips Pollard, who was instrumental in dogwood plantings throughout Virginia. The club has provided Christmas decorations at Hill House Museum and the 1846 Portsmouth Courthouse. Frequently recruited by courthouse flower guild chairman, ERGC member Jean Knapp, members place flowers in the Portsmouth Arts & Cultural Center galleries each month and during special events.

Historic Garden Week

ERGC began partnering with the Nansemond River Garden Club in 2010 to host Historic Garden Week in Virginia, with each club assuming the lead in alternating years. The lead club selects tour properties and is responsible for the tour brochure and other printed materials. In 2015, the Franklin Garden Club joined the partnership.

Garden Club of Virginia

ERGC hosted the Garden Club of Virginia's eighty-ninth meeting of the Board of Governors on October 14-16, 2008. Held at the Renaissance Hotel in Portsmouth, the meeting was co-chaired by Tricia Halstead and Judy Perry.

Member Pam Kloeppel hosted the GCV Board of Directors at her home for a lovely luncheon on Tuesday, October 14, prior to the board meeting.

Following the board meeting, the club hosted a beautiful evening on the Elizabeth River aboard the “Carrie B.,” providing cocktails prior to a Dutch treat dinner.

Elizabeth River Garden Club President Sharon Knowles welcomed attendees to the business meeting on Wednesday morning. Following business reports, member Judy Perry introduced Randi Strutton, founder and Executive Director of the Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, who presented an informative program about the preserve and conservation of Virginia's natural resources. The meeting was adjourned for the afternoon and attendees were invited to club members’ homes for lunch, followed by a tour of the preserve.

Cocktails and the awards banquet were held at the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, where beautiful floral centerpieces were cleverly designed to feature sports equipment.

ERGC hosted the Garden Club of Virginia's ninety-ninth Annual Meeting May 7-9, 2019.

2019 BOG Photos

2019 BOG Highlights and Minutes

ERGC has participated in flower shows at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Chrysler Museum of Art; assisted the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center with its landscaping; sponsored flower arranging workshops; organized bus trips to GCV's Horticulture Field Day, the Kent-Valentine House and the White House at Christmas; and supported HGW tours around the state. Individual members have presented educational programs to other organizations and have served on boards and committees in the community, including the Elizabeth River Project, Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, Portsmouth Federation of Garden Clubs, Portsmouth Service League and the Portsmouth Girls Club. Members Lynn Wiggins and Judy Perry have each been named the First Citizen of Portsmouth.

Twice a year the club has a plant exchange where club members share their plants with other club members. Annual awards are presented to members who achieve excellence in flower arrangements and horticulture. In 2017, the club established the Honor Our Own award to honor a club member for outstanding service to ERGC and the community.

The Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement was awarded to Judy Perry in 2019. The Horticulture Award of Merit has been awarded to many individual members of ERGC over the years, most recently Linda Pinkham, 2004; Uta Rowe, 2009; Romayne Byrum, 2013; Wanda Russo, 2014; Maggie Sue Creamer, 2015; Linda Patton, 2016; and Jean Knapp, 2000. The club received the 2019 Common Wealth Award ($10,000) for its outdoor classroom at Paradise Creek Nature Park, a public park created by the Elizabeth River Project. Annual Meeting attendees toured the park in 2019, when ERGC hosted the meeting. ERGC's nominee, Randi Stratton, founder and director of Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, received the  2006 GCV Dugdale Award for Meritorious Achievement in Conservation.

The Elizabeth River Garden Club members continue to share knowledge of horticulture, flower arranging, preservation, conservation and restoration, moving forward into the 21st century with service to the community.

ERGC Presidents 1994-2024

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As the Garden Club of Fairfax (GCF) approaches its centennial in 2026, this small but mighty club continues to focus on enhancing its community and encouraging the next generation of gardeners.

Community projects are an important feature of the club as it focuses on beautifying the community and on encouraging children to experience nature. The Garden Club of Fairfax contributed funding for an interior courtyard project at the Woodburn Center for Community Mental Health in Fairfax in 1997-98. Two cement garden benches were placed by the pond on the campus of George Mason University in memory of Elizabeth Bradley Stull in 2000. In 2015, with a grant from the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, the club planned and installed a garden at the Embry Rucker (Cornerstones) Community Shelter in Reston.

In honor of the 75th anniversery of the Garden Club of Virginia, GCF planted daffodil bulbs at Green Spring Gardens, and, in support of the GCV Centennial project that provided funding at Virginia State Parks, GCF  joined with Hunting Creek Garden Club and the Garden Club of Alexandria in 2020 to landscape the entrance at Mason Neck State Park’s Visitor Center. Also in recognition of the GCV Centennial, the club planted a copper beech tree in at Historic Blenheim in Fairfax City, former home of GCF member and past president Barbara Scott.

Due to COVID-19, this was the last in-person GCF event until Historic Garden Week in April 2021. The club held online meetings during the pandemic.

The Garden Club of Fairfax has a long-standing relationship with Meadowlark Botanical Gardens (MBG) and continues its ongoing support of the gardens. In September 2005, the club planted a tree in memory of 9/11. Over the years, contributions to MBG have included funding for touch screen computers, bog plants, pitcher plants, the Children’s Garden, a butterfly-pollinator garden and for signage around the gardens. GCF has also provided funds for campers to attend MBG Camp Grow and was a patron of the 2013 Native Plants of the Mid Atlantic, A Book for Artists & Gardeners, which was compiled by MBG garden manager Keith Tomlinson.

In addition to supporting Camp Grow at Meadowlark, the club has contributed scholarships for children at Nature Camp in Vesuvius, and to the Junior Ranger Program at Mason Neck State Park. GCF established a Junior Garden Program at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax. Organized by member Linda Schlesinger in 2019, this program brings in speakers and programs for the students both during and after school.

Searching for ways to help during the pandemic, the club initiated “Food for Others” in 2020. The club donated funds, not only for garden plots, but also directly for food. Fund recipients included “Food for Others” garden plots at Daniels Run Elementary School and West Springfield High School.

The Garden Club of Fairfax has received generous donations each year since 2009 from the Exxon Mobil Star Grant Program which is available to retired employees and their spouses for volunteerism within a nonprofit organization. This grant money was then used for various community projects.

The annual Holiday Luncheon and Auction continues as a major fund raiser for the club and for community projects. Greens arrangements created by members are auctioned along with other donated items.

The Garden Club of Fairfax was the first GCV club to sign on as a partner to Save River Farm and supported the effort (2020-2022) by writing to legislators and spreading the word. The Save River Farm Committee received the 2022 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Conservation from the Garden Club of Virginia.

Horticulture and Artistic Design

GCF held a lily mini show in 2002, a rose mini show in 2007 at the Great Falls home of Nancy deLaski and a daffodil mini show in 2012 with Hunting Creek Garden Club at the Goodwin House in Alexandria.

GCF hosted the GCV Lily Shows in 2011 and 2012, co-chaired by Tricia Kincheloe and Anna Fortune.

The Garden Club of Fairfax won InterClub blue ribbons at the 2002 Daffodil Show for a waterfall artistic design; the 2003 Daffodil Show for it's daffodil horticulture test collection; the 2007 Daffodil Show for an early Georgian artistic design; and the 2016 Daffodil Show for a naturalistic landscape artistic design.

The club’s InterClub arrangement in 2018 was a stunning reflective design, which was disqualified because it included tiny lights. It received the most attention of all the arrangements in the show because of the disqualification!

Tricia Kincheloe, the club’s resident expert on lilies, received the North American Lily Society’s 2020 Regional Service Medal, presented by GCV President Missy Buckingham (2020-2022) at an open-air District 5 Board of Governors meeting during COVID-19. Not only an accomplished grower, Tricia regularly judges at shows and mentors other lily growers. She received the 2022 GCV Horticulture Award of Merit. Kathy Welch received the Horticulture Award of Merit 2006 for her work with daffodils.

Mary Kincheloe joined GCF in 1965. A true daffodil lover, she bought and planted the yearly collection starting in 1966. The collections were planted chronologically by year and separated by individual variety markers and hardy string. The Kincheloe family chronicled Mary's collections in a series of notebooks, which identified the collections, particulars and photographs of each variety. Her collections were highly treasured and were "requisitioned" for GCF's collection entries and other arrangements for years.

Debbie Stevenson swept the awards at the 2018 GCV Symposium with her outstanding roses. She received the Edith Farr Elliott Memorial Triad Award, the Bernice S. Walker Perpetual Trophy, the Jane Marshall Broyhill Memorial Trophy and the Dr. and Mrs. James R. Hundley Cup for the most blue ribbons in the rose division.

Other award recipients at the state level include Susan Malcolm, who won a blue ribbon for her waterfall arrangement at the 2012 GCV Lily Show; Donna Moulton, who won best in show for photography at the 2021 Daffodil Show; and Linda Schlesinger, who won a blue ribbon for her "Tea for Two" functional table design at the 2022 GCV Daffodil Show. Her Pot-et-Fleur Design won blue and best novice at the 2011 GCV Lily Show.

The Board of Directors gathered on May 12 at the home of Suzi Worsham in Clifton for lunch, followed by the board meeting.

After adjournment of the business meeting on Wednesday, attendees were treated to luncheon at Mount Vernon, followed by a film, lecture and garden tour led by Mount Vernon's head of horticulture, Dean Norton. The tour included a visit to Washington's bowling green, one of Rudy Favretti's final restoration projects before his retirement.

GCF member Marty Whipple received the 2001 Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement in for her many contributions to the Garden Club of Virginia. She served as the GCV First Vice President 1996-1998, Finance Committee Chairman 1994-95, Parliamentarian 1998-99 and Journal Editor 1998-99. She was president of the Garden Club of Fairfax 1985-87 and editor of the GCF Yearbook for 31 years.

Diane Wilkinson served as GCV Membership Committee Chairman 2018-20. Charlotte Benjamin served on the GCV Restoration Committee and Linda Shlesinger on the Artistic Design Committee.

Historic Garden Week

The Garden Club of Fairfax continues to host HGW in locations all over Northern Virginia, including Arlington, Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Reston, Fairfax City, Fairfax Station, and Clifton. The 2016 HGW tour was awarded a Best of Arlington Award. The club’s HGW property, Ballantrae in McLean, was selected as the cover property for the HGW 2021 Guidebook with photos taken by club member Donna Moulton.

The March/April 2018 issue of Horticulture Magazine included a six-page article about GCF’s 2018 HGW property, the 1750 William Gunnell House in Great Falls, once owned by Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, illustrated by photographs by Donna Moulton. An article in Virginia Living April 2019 highlighted Old Langley Ordinary, a home on the club’s 2019 HGW McLean Tour, and featured stunning floral arrangements by Margaret Kincheloe and Linda Schlesinger.

Notable speakers for GCF have been Peter Hatch, Former Director of the Gardens and Grounds at Monticello, and Dean Norton, Director of Horticulture at Mt. Vernon. Keith Tomlinson, former Botanical Garden Manager at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, has presented to our club and worked closely with us on donations for Meadowlark. Laura Dowling demonstrated her White House flower arranging skills at a Tri-Club meeting in 2016.

The Garden Club of Fairfax celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a Hat and White Glove Tea at the Country Club of Fairfax in May 2002. Our 90th Anniversary cocktail and dinner party in 2016 was held for members and spouses at James and Jane Mitchell’s home in Arlington. Judy Landolt-Korns wrote a poem that was presented for the occasion. At least eight previous presidents attended.

Ann Farr Lewis was honored for her 60 years of membership in the Garden Club of Fairfax at the annual Holiday Luncheon in 2017. She has now been a member of our club for 65 years.

A logo for GCF was designed by Loretta Stepka in 2017. In addition, business cards and a brochure were created to promote our club’s mission and to attract new members.

The club initiated a new leadership model during 2021-2022, with a three-person Leadership Team to guide the club for a year. The team of Judy Landolt-Korns, Susan Malcolm and Diane Wilkinson divided the duties formerly done by president, two vice presidents and recording secretary. This model continues with Ali Simanson, Maribeth Malloy and Nancy Perkins sharing leadership for 2022-23.

GCF Presidents 1995-2021

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flgardenclub.org

Directors at Large and Presidents' Reports 2004-2019

2004

Fundraising Project: The Garden Symposium (every other year). It took place last January in the Middle of a snow storm and was very successful.

Best Programs: “Landscaping Small Spaces” with Jane MacLeish; artist Antonia Walker “Impact of Color in the Garden”

On-going project: Preservation of Goose Creek Stone Bridge.

Legislative Involvement: Trying to keep growth in check.

Unique activity: Ongoing education in horticulture and flower arranging.

2005

Fundraising Project: The Middleburg Symposium. Our speakers on February 26, 2005, were Renny Reynolds, Chip Calloway, Patrick Chasse and Pamela Harper (filling in for Ken Druse who got the flu). We had seven vendors who shared their sales income with us. The expenses of producing a quality symposium such as this are high. Our net was $8000.

Best Programs: This is hard to determine as we had so many good ones, all tied together by our theme, "The Year of the Animal," created by program chairmen Nicky Perry and Dootsie Wilbur. Garden tours are always popular, and we enjoyed visiting Mary Lou Seilheimer's garden and look forward to a visit in Donna Hackman's garden in May.

Ongoing Project: The historic Four Arch Bridge over Goose Creek continues to be a valuable asset for the community, for historic preservation and for tourism and recreation.

Legislative Involvement: Representatives from our club are very active on a personal level in matters having to do with conservation and the environment. They report to our club what is going on and encourage club members to participate in a personal way in matters of interest to them.

Unique: We nominated Eve Fout for the GCA Zone Conservation Award which she handily received.

2006

Fundraising Project: Our fundraising project, the Garden Symposium, is held every odd year. Every even year, this one including, we concentrate on Historic Garden Week, fundraising for GCV restoration programs.

Best Programs: In October we celebrated the club's 90th anniversary of it's founding. A cocktail party was held at Confederate Hall, site of the first meeting of this club, albeit a different location because the late Mrs. Alice duPont Mills many years ago moved Confederate Hall to Hickory Farm to save it from demolition. Of secondary, but no less importance, Nicole Perry and Dootsie Wilbur, as program chairs, provided a year of meetings in some of the many historic buildings in the area: Aldie Mill, Armistead House, Buchanan Hall, the Caleb Rector House, Dodona Manor, Historic Stone Bridge over Goose Creek (our club project), Oak Hill, Oatlands and The Plains Depot. A brief history of the building was given, in addition to the featured program.

Ongoing Project: The historic four-arch Stone Bridge over Goose Creek, built during the administration of Thomas Jefferson. Over the years, we have had several fundraising campaigns, by letter, as well as applied for and received, a Federal ISTEA grant to repair and maintain the Bridge and the land surrounding it. This location is used for historic reenactments, water conservation and study projects, weddings and other events. It is a featured stop on the Civil War Trail.

Legislative Involvement: We have very active conservation chairmen who keep us abreast of federal, state and county legislation so that members can lobby or inform our representatives regarding conservation and environmental issues.

Unique: Celebrate the 90th year of our founding!! Also, we have revised and revamped our by-laws to better suit the operation of our club today.

Comments: We continue to participate in GCV flower shows and many daffodil shows. Some of our members are active in GCV, GCA and the American Horticulture Society. Some of our members have world class gardens and are actively visiting other gardens in the US and beyond. Some provide slide presentations about these gardens to other clubs. Some members are heavily involved in historic preservation and in conservation, of which they are making a meaningful impact.

2007

Fundraising Project: The Middleburg Horticultural Symposium chaired by Elaine Burden, was held on Saturday, March 3 in the auditorium of The Hill School. Featured speakers were Dan Hinkley, Ken Druse, Gordon Hayward and Robin Parer. The symposium was sold out and the vendors successfully sold books, plants, garden accessories and botanical prints.

Best Programs: At the request of many new members, our program year has been heavy on flower arranging. Our best program was Margaret Kincheloe on flower arranging. She was prepared with colorful baskets of flowers, and, with amusing commentary, she demonstrated how to condition, set up the mechanics, begin the arrangement and finish it as a helpful guide to arrangements for members to enter in flower shows or to use in our home settings.

Ongoing Projects: The four-arch stone Historic Goose Creek Bridge; we are caretakers of the Bridge and owners of the property under and near it. Under the chairmanship of Ann MacLeod, in previous years we held fundraisers and sought government and private grants to repair the bridge and to establish a road and viewing area, with information signs, for people and cars. It is used by up to 10,000 people a year for use in historic tours, picnics, as a rest stop, weddings, to monitor Goose Creek and Civil War reenactments. We also as a group, dig invasive weeds and collect litter in this area. We are adding a new element this year: a Monarch Butterfly Way Station.

Legislative Involvement: Our Conservation Committee Chairmen are fabulous and diligent about keeping us all informed on current issues. Our members are heavily and privately involved in organizations that: protect open space; fight billboards; protect the landscape from unsightly power lines; preserve historic sites and educate the public, especially school children, of the history of the area; and preserve clean air and water.

Unique: Our club is now in the planning phase of creating a Monarch Butterfly Way Station. We will plant Monarch friendly plants along the borders of our field by the Goose Creek Bridge and provide brochures at the bridge informing the public how they can also participate in this vital effort to provide feed for the Monarchs along their migratory route, replacing feeding locations that have been dramatically lost lately due to the onslaught of development.

2008

Fundraising Project: During "even" years we focus our fundraising efforts on the GCV Historic Garden Week tour. This year we have five fabulous homes and gardens open.

Best Programs: We can only narrow our favorites to two. Anne Donnell Smith inspired us with her "Conversation about Daffodils." We had more members buy the GCV daffodil collection than ever before after her enlightening talk! Sally Bolton spoke on "Organic Farming," giving several ways to encourage good bugs, breathe new life into bad soil and stay green.

Ongoing Project: Since 1976 we have maintained the historic four arch stone bridge at Goose Creek, built between 1801 and 1803 during Thomas Jefferson's presidency. A historic landmark, the bridge is one of the last four arch stone bridges in Virginia. We also send a student to Nature Camp for two weeks.

Legislative Involvement: Our two Conservation Chairmen have kept members informed on local, state and national issues of interest and importance, especially in the effort to preserve our historic viewsheds from the threat of proposed powerline towers.

Unique: We are developing a Monarch Butterfly Way Station next to our Historic Goose Creek Bridge. Monthly artistic arrangements concentrated on the elements and principles of design.

Comments: It has been a wonderful year, and I have enjoyed the privilege of working with such a talented and inspirational group of ladies.

2009

Best Programs: George Thompson & Kathy Marmet, Founders of the American Chestnut Society, the restoration of the American chestnut tree; Kay Shiflett's propagation workshop; Adele Chatfield-Taylor, President of the American Academy in Rome.

Fundraising Activities: Middleburg Garden Symposium

Ongoing Project: Restoration and replanting with native plants for the meadow of the Goose Creek Bridge

2011

Fauquier Loudoun Garden Club, with President Missy Janes, continues its stewardship of the historic Goose Creek Bridge and surrounding area. The club has undertaken repairs, pruning, weeding, planting, mowing and labeling. Members have created a new walking loop through the meadow of active pollinators along the creek and back to the overlook. Speakers Doug Tallamy and Jeff Wolinsky have inspired members to learn about native plantings and meadow restoration. An excellent newsletter and website keep everyone involved and connected.

2012

Best Programs: Since FLGC was responsible for the 2011 GCA Zone VII Annual Meeting, that meeting and the flower show that was included generated the most involvement and enthusiasm.

Fundraising Activities: We only do a fundraiser every 2 years, on the year we are not the lead club for HGW. So, no fundraiser in 2011-2012.

Ongoing Activity: Taking care of our four arch stone bridge over the Goose Creek has been ongoing since 1974; We have sponsored 1 or 2 students for Nature Camp for many years.

Recommended Programs and Speakers: Joe Coleman, President, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy spoke on birds at our conservation site, but he has other offerings; Patowmack Gardens owner on Organic Vegetable Farming.

Comments: Communication has been the key to a productive, cohesive club. The club created an extraordinary newsletter which not only keeps members up to date on all activities, but also serves to educate and inspire.

2013

Recommented Programs and Speakers: Annie Vanderwarker, "Fearless Flower Arranging" (she has a website); making 'Hypertufa Pots' led by our own Program Chair, Aline Day; A 'Mock Flower Show' using photos of actual entries in shows, preceded by 'what judges look for', then which our members judged and followed by hearing the actual winners and why they were chosen.

Fundraising Activities: Our only fundraiser is our biannual Horticultural Symposium, open to the public and always well subscribed. We have 4 outstanding speakers, every other year, and the Symposium includes morning coffee, a box lunch, and a fine selection of garden related vendors.

2015 - 2016

The Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club hosted the 73rd Annual Lily Show, “Lions and tigers and bears oh my,” in Middleburg on June 17-18, 2015, at Foxcroft School, co-chaired by Lucy Rhame and Elaine Burden.

For the first time, the lily horticulture and artistic divisions shared the space with the first judged GCV general horticulture show, “Growing Green,” and an artistic design class that that did not include lilies. Photos

Fauquier and Louden Garden Club again hosted the GCV Lily Show, "Lions and tigers and bears oh my," at Foxcroft School in Middleburg on June 15-16, 2016. The show was co-chaired by Lucy Rhame and Elaine Burden and reported 65 horticulture exhibitors with 330 stems and 67 artistic arrangements. Photos

View 2016 Lily Show Schedule and Award Recipients

Recommended Programs and Speakers: Holly Heider Chapple, Floral Designer (has website); Larry Weaner, Landscape Architect esp. Meadows (see his website); GCV restoration projects; Matilda & John Bradshaw, their winning secrets; Peyton Wells, Botanical Arts workshop; Jennie DuPont, The Garden Conservancy; Elizabeth Norman, French Garden History.

Fundraising Activities: Every two years we have had our extremely successful Garden Symposium for the last twenty plus years. The very best speakers from around the world have been with us at various times. All the greats with well-known names are who we invite. They sell books and this last time we had a marvelous boutique with fabulous items for sale. This is our main source of funds which we carefully spend or save as the years go by.

Recommended Programs: Over the years we have tried to cover all subjects: tour the numerous gardens -- Virginia State Arboretum, Longwood and the Brandywine Valley, several around Richmond, Washington, DC.; Winchester Farms is another tour destination especially Farm to Forks participants; lily ponds water garden flower arranging is popular with about one third, horticluture is the favorite of most.

Community Outreach: Over the years we have taken on several public gardens, Middleburg Library for one. Our members are involved in all of the local outreach projects through several other garden clubs and preservation groups. We donate generously to all of these. We participate in Nature Camp Scholarships, GCA projects, Middleburg Beautification and Preservation Association, Upperville Garden Club Roadside Planting and Traffic Calming Project, Middleburg Garden Club Post Office Front Border Planting Project.

2018

For HGW, the club was blessed with two days of beautiful weather for the tour, resulting in record-breaking attendance -- in the 2,200 range. Chairman Gail Clark did a magnificent job, as did an army of volunteers from FLGC and from other local garden clubs. All the home owners expressed their pleasure as well. The club held a very successful Patrons Party in connection with HGW, with proceeds to go to their local philanthropic projects. It is hoped it will set a precedent for future events inspired by HGW.

In February, they were honored to have GCV President Nina Mustard speak on the history of the club. Her remarks provided a superb introduction to new members and educated some of the older hands about club activities over the century of FLGC’s existence. The annual meeting was in March, with a change in officers beginning two-year terms on April 1.

The first meeting of the new club year was held at the Virginia State Arboretum at Blandy Farm. This provided an opportunity to showcase the GCV’s restoration work along Dogwood Lane at Blandy, as well as recognizing their club’s long association with Blandy and the Virginia Native Plant Society. Sally Anderson led a guided walk along the Native Plant Trail. In June, they will hold a club flower show focusing on horticulture. This will be preceded by a workshop to educate new and provisional members on choosing and preparing horticultural exhibits. In July, the club plans to visit another GCV restoration site, Green Springs Garden in Alexandria.

The club established a Grants and Projects Committee this spring, with the joint objectives of determining how much they should spend on philanthropic support for the community and on researching requests for grants and proposals. Among the club’s recent activities are: sponsoring a Horticultural Intern at the State Arboretum at Blandy, a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College with a major in Environmental Studies; funding the establishment of a vegetable garden at a local elementary school with a significant population of under-privileged children; contributing funds for planting trees in the healing garden of Boulder Crest; beginning work on an Interpretive Plant Trail adjacent to Mt. Zion Church and along a part of the few remaining portions of the Old Carolina Road, once the main north-south route for native tribes and early settlers. The club was honored to sponsor Boulder Crest, as the recipient of the most recent GCV Common Wealth Award.

2019

At the request of the family of deceased member, Linda Newton, the club held a sale of gardening items and books from her estate and raised enough to fully fund two Nature Camp scholarships in 2019 and 2020. The club has identified scholarship recipients for 2019 and are thrilled to be now able to send two candidates to Nature Camp each year. The club's 2019 Horticulture Symposium will be held February 23 at the Hill school. The club’s Executive Committee approved a second-year grant to support the school garden at the Claude Moore Elementary School in Rectortown. The grant will enable the school to purchase needed tools, soil amendments and a small storage shed. At their annual Christmas luncheon, members brought gifts to be distributed at local senior citizens’ homes, an effort still organized by their “nonagenarian member,” Ann McLeod.

The club held its biennial Horticulture Symposium at the end of February, featuring four outstanding speakers and a range of vendors. This is our primary fundraiser, and it was a great success due to the chairman, Elaine Burden and her hardworking committee. At the annual meeting in March, three members received awards: Harriett Condon for her 25-year anniversary as a club member; Jean Perin for her work in conservation, visiting gardens and Historic Garden Week; and June Hambrick for her contributions in artistic arranging. With Historic Garden Week soon to be, the house captains are working on plans for the house they will be responsible for during Leesburg Garden Club’s HGW tour. Members are already planning for the 2020 HGW tour, which will include Oak Spring, the former home and garden of Bunny Mellon. The April meeting is a tour of the Abrams Creek Wetlands in Winchester, followed by a meeting and lunch at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. The is also a finalist for the Conservation Award. The club seconded Winchester-Clarke Garden Club's nomination of the Abrams Creek Wetlands for the GCA Founders Fund Award which explains why they planned the tour. The club's June flower show will focus on artistic arrangements. The club retained a CPA to help organize various accounts in a software format that will be consistent for all users and easily accessible by the treasurer and finance chairman. The process will address cyber security issues as well.

FLGC Presidents 1996-2022

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The Franklin Garden club held its first meeting in 1945 and was invited to join the Garden Club of Virginia in 1955. The club expanded its membership when it invited members of the the well established Garden Gate Garden Club of Franklin to join in May 1967.

The club celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1995 at its end-of-year meeting by taking in 17 junior members to learn, work and grow together before becoming active members of the chartered original club. These new, young members quickly assumed leadership roles in the Franklin Garden Club and enthusiastically participated in Historic Garden Week, GCV flower shows, conservation forums and numerous other state meetings and events.

Community Involvement

Members of the Franklin Garden Club come primarily from three communities -- the city of Franklin, Courtland and Southampton County -- connected by ten miles of Route 58. This stretch of highway has been an ongoing club project for many years with plantings of crepe myrtles, dogwoods, flowering pears and bulbs. When noting that harsh conditions had taken a toll on plantings, the club planted additional trees in 1996.

The club has also created public plantings at local libraries, the YMCA, hospitals, schools and parks. In the early days of the club, members planned and installed the Memorial Park between Clay Street and Meadow Lane in Franklin and planted dogwoods throughout the city. The club’s work over the years was instrumental in Franklin being designated a Tree City USA. Other ongoing projects have included sponsoring a local child to attend Nature Camp in the summer for many years.

During the 1980s, the Franklin Garden Club assisted the Southampton County Historical Society with planning, funding and planting the memorial garden at its headquarters, the Rochelle Prince House in Courtland. The Franklin Garden Club has continued to support the former Garden Club of Virginia restoration by creating outdoor holiday decorations, maintaining the front gate plantings and funding SCHS requests for specific needs. A group of loyal club members also gathers to perform periodic yard clean-ups.

In 2005, the Franklin Garden Club and Rawls Museum Arts co-sponsored a day with Dr. Mary Sweeny Ellett from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts who presented “Gardens Since Eden.”

Conservation, beautification and education have always been high priorities for the Franklin Garden Club. It purchased ecology and environmental video materials in the 1990s for the Franklin Library, encouraging use by local schools and citizens. In 1995, the club sponsored representatives from the Wildlife Center of Virginia (then located in Weyers Cave) to visit all schools in the city and county. When the River Keepers presented a program to FGC members in 2005, the club voted to become a dues-paying member of that organizaation.

In 2013, the club began a partnership with the Historic Southside Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalists to participate each April in the Clean Rivers Project. Master Naturalists continue to present programs for club meetings upon request. The club received a substantial grant from the Master Naturalists and River Keepers to be combined with club funds for a conservation project. Members chose to fund a 1.5 mile trail around the upper line of Blackwater Park in Franklin -- the Franklin Garden Club Trail -- and continues to find ways to support educational projects in the park.

The club continues to support the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Virginia Marine Science Museum in Virginia Beach and Nature Camp in Vesuvius for many years.

The Franklin Garden Club has sponsored special guests in the  community for educational presentations:

• William D. Rieley, Landscape Architect for GCV, presented a fascinating story about Popular Forest, Thomas Jefferson’s country home near Lynchburg. With remarkable audiovisuals, Mr. Rieley took club members on a journey from Paris to Virginia in the early 1800s, making the connections between the style of the home and the choices of the landscape materials and their placements.
• Franklin native Brooks Rainey Pearson, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center in North Carolina, spoke about legal issues of interest to both North Carolina and Virginia, especially those regarding solar farms and other methods of energy capture regarding the environment.
• Peyton Wells from the Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton spoke about the emerging problem of uranium mining in the mountains in Virginia.

When Hurricane Floyd came through Franklin in September of 1999 and destroyed the downtown business district, the club planned a pocket garden park called Chamber Walk on the site where a destroyed building had been removed. The club applied for the 2000 Garden Club of Virginia Commmon Wealth Award and was awarded $5000. Through the efforts of the club, the City of Franklin and Franklin Garden Center, the pocket garden park was installed and dedicated on May 28, 2003, with Garden Club of Virginia representatives and civic leaders present for the unveiling of the memorial plaque.

FGC members often travel around Virginia to support fellow GCV member club fundraisers and actively support GCV flower shows, conservation forums and horticulture field days. Destinations have included the Kent-Valentine House, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Bacon’s Castle and the Virginia Museum of Culture and History. An unusual field trip took club members to the HRSD Nansemond Regional Treatment Center to learn about SWIFT -- Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow, to explain the process of converting raw sewage into drinkable water.

Fundraising

As the new millennium began, the club focused on hosting the Garden Club of Virginia Rose Show in 2008 and 2009. Preparation began early to organize logistics and finances. The club received generous donations and in-kind assistance from local businesses and foundations to fund the shows, but additional funding depended on member fundraising projects. These projects were spread out over at least five years and included auctions, bus trips, plant sales and topiary sales. Members also began creating flower arrangements special occasions -- cocktail parties, community events and weddings. This business adventure achieved goals far beyond fundraising by providing not only experience in flower arranging and event planning, but also by strengthening friendships among members.

More recent fundraising events have included an extremely popular candlelight Christmas tour which included six beautifully decorated homes, Christmas greenery and amaryllis bulb sales, custom home decorations, fashion shows, silent auctions, luncheons and plant sales. The club has offered classes in creating wreaths and swags, hosted a demonstration by a local expert on holiday flower arrangements and a demonstration by a White House Christmas decorator who created holiday ornaments to decorate White House Christmas trees.

Historic Garden Week

When the Franklin Garden Club first began participating in Historic Garden Week, the club hosted a tour every other year. In addition, club members served each year as hostesses at James River Plantations and Bacon’s Castle. After careful consideration, the club began an HGW partnership in 2015 with the Nansemond River Garden Club and the Elizabeth River Garden Club. Tour leadership now rotates among the three clubs, with one of the clubs taking the lead every three years while the other two clubs provide support. The lead club secures the homes, creates the brochure and other printed materials for the tour and provides the headquarters and venues for all events of the day. The other two clubs provide floral decorations and hostesses for one third of the homes on the tour. This arrangement has proved to be very satisfactory for all the clubs involved, particularly in the procurement of homes and facilities.

Garden Club of Virginia

The Franklin Garden Club members are active participants in GCV flower shows and have been awarded numerous ribbons for artistic design and horticulture, including two “Best in Show” artistic designs. Nancy Brewbaker received the Garden Club of Virginia Horticulture Award of Merit in 2006.

The 2008 Rose Show, “Restoration and Roses,” was held October 1-2, chaired and beautifully orchestrated by Jane Beale and Mary Nelson Thompson. The show was held at the Paul D. Camp Community College Workforce Center with plenty of space for displays, workrooms, hospitality areas and access to computers and phones. The  show boasted spectacular blooms, as 130 exhibitors entered 398 stems in the horticulture division and 82 arrangements in the artistic division.

2008 Photos

2008 Schedule and Report of Award Recipients

The 2009 show was held September 30 – October 1, again chaired by Jane Beale and Mary Nelson Thompson at the Workforc Center. The show featured 114 exhibitors, 353 stems in the horticulture division and 82 arrangements in the artistic division.

2009 Photos

2009 Schedule and Report of Award Recipients

After closing the books on two rose shows, the Franklin Garden Club began plans to host the Garden Club of Virginia 2026 Board of Governors.

Each year the club gives a memorial contribution to the Garden Club of Virginia in honor of the member who has participated the most in the activities of the club during the prior year. The award was named for one of the club's oldest and most active members, Evelyn Beale. Members record their activity points for attending meetings, participation in state flower shows, holding office, etc.

GCV Centennial 2020 and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 posed a challenge for FGC, just as for others. Members could not meet in person and used email to transact business. Historic Garden Week was cancelled. While many of the GCV 2020 Centennial celebrations were postponed, member clubs contributed items to a GCV time capsule, located at the Kent-Valentine House. The Franklin Garden Club's contribution was a history of the club's gavel and block, carved from an ancient camellia destroyed by a devastating ice storm in the 1990s.

FGC Presidents 1996-2020

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Gabriella Garden Club was invited to join the Garden Club of Virginia in 1938. As described in Follow the Green Arrow I, “On the scene comes the garden club with the delightful name... Gabriella!"

Therapeutic Horticulture

According to Follow the Green Arrow II, Gabriella Garden Club “finally” opened the Danville Memorial Hospital roof garden in 1990 and celebrated with a "christening party" in honor of the 100-year-old hospital auxiliary -- the Ladies Benevolent Society. The club received the 1994 GCV Common Wealth Award in support of the project that focused the club’s attention on therapeutic horticulture. Monthly teams of club members watered and refreshed plants and flowers twice weekly for years as the beautiful garden provided respite for patients, family and staff. Due to the hospital's need for expansion, the garden was closed in 2001.

The club continued focusing on therapeutic horticulture with a project across the street from the hospital when members landscaped and maintained the grounds in front of the Foundation House -- a home that provided temporary housing for patients' families.

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Garden Club of Virginia, Gabriella planted a green ash tree on the front lawn of the Danville Science Center.

In 1999, Gabriella became involved with the Department of Environmental Quality’s "Project WET" (Water Education Today). Two Gabriella members, trained and certified by DEQ, conducted workshops to explain the purpose of the program and to design and assemble Project WET kits. The club then presented the assembled kits to area schools for third- and fourth-grade Standards of Learning. Third-grade teachers also received a box filled with items to teach conservation principles.

After years of planning, Gabriella hosted the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia at the Stratford Inn Conference Center, chaired by Sharon Scott and Ina Ingram. Upon arrival, attendees were each presented with a gift bag that included a small boxwood -- rooted, loving nurtured and potted by Gabriella club members.

Prior to the meeting, Sharon hosted “a magnificent Board luncheon served under the elegant arms of the voluptuous crab apple tree” in her backyard, followed by the Board meeting in her home.

The Dutch treat dinner was held at the Danville Community Market with “Gabriels” tending bar. In her tribute, Mariette Gwathmey asked, “Are there really that many ferns in the entire world??!!"

Attendees were offered a choice of three afternoon activities: a tour of Carol Strange’s garden, filled with the scent of old roses; a stroll along the River Walk; or a tour of Millionaire’s Row that included the Langhorne House, home of the Gibson Girl and her sister Lady Astor.

The awards banquet was held at the Danville Golf Club, transformed into Victorian splendor, complete with brocade table toppers, hats, hat pins, pin cushions, flower hat boxes and moss-covered hats, all different. Gabriella herself sat on the mantel, decked out in parsley, lime green pearls and white lilies.

With little recovery time following the 2002 Annual Meeting, Gabriella embarked on a project in 2003, donating $20,000 to the Danville Science Center to help restore the 1948 Norfolk and Western caboose, located on the historic train tracks near the center. The caboose is used as an outdoor classroom and a meeting location for the community. The funds also helped restore the veranda with plantings the club maintains.

In 2006, Gabriella adopted a green space, Danville Interchange Garden (DIG) 9. The City of Danville maintains the site that Gabriella continues to fund with proceeds from its annual wreath and garland sale. Gabriella celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2008 by planting 14 dogwood trees at the site, followed by a reception.

The club began the "Blooming Idiots" in 2011. Members are invited to meet the day before each business meeting and create arrangements, to be displayed at the business meeting. Participants bring material from their gardens or use what is available from other members. Novice and seasoned arrangers participate to learn about all aspects of floral design, but also to enjoy friendships and laughter.

Gabriella Garden Club president (2011-2013) Martha Ray introduced "Gabriella Gamers" to encourage members to go beyond “club expectations.” She challenged members to perform one task from each of the following headings: gardening, arranging, meetings and recycling. Points were given for each category a member completed, and the winner was announced at the end of the year. The competition was fierce and energized the membership.

In 2020, Gabriella began discussing an exciting project -- HOME Pocket Park. The space is located in a rapidly growing area of Danville's downtown district. It currently houses the HOME sign which was part of a larger sign for Dan River Fabrics, one of the largest textile mills in the South. The mill closed as textile industries essentially began disappearing, leaving high unemployment and dilapidated buildings. For more than a decade, Danville has been rebuilding, adopting the moniker, "The Comeback City." In addition to this sign's historical significance, it has become a symbol of Danville, frequently photographed and used for marketing materials. The land, however, is undersutilized.

Gabriella envisions an interactive and multifunctional space of natural beauty within its urban location. A plan has been developed using a combination of hard- and softscape materials, with perennials providing color throughout the year. It will also include places to gather for outdoor dining, individual reflection and community events. Working closely with the City of Danville Parks and Recreation Department, the club plans to be involved in all aspects of this project, including installation. The club pledged an initial $10,000 and has received a $2,500 grant from the Danville Kiwanis Foundation. Once the project is completed, the City of Danville will provide general maintenance and the Gabriella membership will provide seasonal maintenance, such as weeding, clipping and planter refreshing throughout the year.

According to club members, "the Gabs" have been a hands-on, talented, hardworking group of extraordinary ladies since 1933, serving as GCV officers, Board members and committee chairmen through the years. Ribbons have been won and accolades received. The club has held horticulture, preservation and conservation meetings each year; recycled; and raised funds for community projects.

GGC Presidents 1995-2023

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Directors at Large and Presidents' Reports 2004-2019

2004

Fundraising Project: Members of our “Ways and Means” Committee committed to create a holiday centerpiece or a boxwood wreath. Everyone In the club was responsible for selling a booklet with five tickets. At the November meeting tickets were drawn. Members delivered the wreath or floral center piece to the Lucky five in time to be enjoyed during the December Holiday season.

Best Programs: Rosemary Wallinger: Three Generations of Gardening at Millcreek; Elaine Jirouch of Ridgeway: Backyard Beauties and Other UFOs.

Ongoing Activity: Maintaining the garden at Martinsville Middle School that the club initiated.

Unique Activity: In May, we hired a bus and traveled across the state to have our luncheon meeting at the Kent Valentine House. Afterwards we toured Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

2005-2006

2005 Lily Show Photos

2006 Lily Show Photos

Fundraising Project: "Fa-la-la" Christmas raffle with chance to win a fresh boxwood wreath for the front door or holiday table centerpiece. Nets about $1500.

Best Program: "What's New in the Environment - Virginia and Martinsville" A fascinating look at our natural resources and how those resources could spur eco-tourism; Jocelin Conners as the GCV Conservation Chairman, reminding all our members that we each can make a difference!!

Ongoing Project: In transition. We've just turned over a lovely garden to the local school system. Our community stands at a crossroads of exciting new developments as we will be home to the Virginia Museum of Natural History, We are waiting to see how we can best spend our time and efforts at civic beautification and enrichment.

Unique: Preparing for and hosting the 2005 and 2006 GCV Lily Shows!

Fundraising Project: We have our annual drawing of the Deck the Halls raffle in November. The prizes are a boxwood wreath for the front door or a holiday table centerpiece. We usually raise $1500.00.

Best Program: Marsha Merrell, Conservation Chairman GCV. She gave our members a better understanding of the legislative process and the impact we can have.

Ongoing Project: We have an ad hoc committee currently researching future projects.

Legislative Involvement: Our Conservation Chairman has kept us well informed on the state conservation issues and encouraged us to contact our representatives to voice our views.

Unique: In honor of the Jamestown 400 Anniversary our club and the Martinsville Garden Club will jointly plant a red, white and blue garden at one of the entrance signs of Martinsville.

2008

Fundraising Project: Fa-la-la Raffle. Sell tickets and draw 5 names. Winners receive decorated wreath for front door. Also sold wreaths and Christmas garland.

Best Program: Joe Lamp'l, PBS Garden Hot, Master Gardener and Author.

Ongoing Project: Ad Hoc committee has been researching future projects

Legislative Involvement: Trying to coordinate with city and county civic beautification and litter control project.

2009

Fundraising Activity: Fa-la-la-la holiday raffle, winners receive Christmas wreaths

Best Programs and Speakers: Greening the community with speaker Lois Christensen of Martinsville's Gateway Streetscape; Liz Whitehead from the Chatham Garden Club presenting Tricks of the Trade; Sex in the Garden with our own Barbara Holland; Cabell West spoke at our joint meeting.

Recommended Programs: Liz Whitehead from the Chatham Garden Club presenting Tricks of the Trade.

Ongoing Projects: Working hard on getting a civic beautification project. We have an ad hoc committee made up of members from the two Martinsville clubs but progress is slow.

2011

The Garden Study Club of Martinsville began an exciting year of programs with a Flower Arranging 101 workshop by Lucy Wilson, member of the Martinsville Garden Club. We look forward with much enthusiasm to watching the unfolding of the Landscape Project for the Historic Henry County Courthouse awarded by the GCV Restoration Committee at the Annual Meeting in May. The Program Committee has arranged for a joint meeting in February with the Martinsville Garden Club and community leaders featuring speaker, Will Rieley to enlighten us on the value of the award and the road to completion. We will also have a joint meeting with the Martinsville Garden Club in January featuring speaker, Pat Stone, gardening performer / entertainer and coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul.

Many of our committee chairmen and members are very active in attending the workshops, forums and other events sponsored by the GCV. They find them most enjoyable, well organized and enlightening. An exciting part of each month is the participation by members in our Teams and Exhibits assignments for artistic arranging and horticulture. This year the most appropriate theme “Celebrating the Historic Courthouse Landscape” promises some very challenging arrangements such as the parallel, inspired by the stately courthouse columns and the pave style, inspired by the brick walkways. We also look forward to another successful wreath and garlands fundraiser. HGW is off and running for a fantastic tour, “A Stroll In Historic Uptown.”

2012

Best Programs and Speakers: Some of the most popular and informative programs were Arranging 101: Seated Dinner Party Table Arrangement presented by Lucy Wilson, who showed us the basics for arranging and gave lists of tools needed; Will Rieley speaking about the GCV restoration project at the Historic Henry County Courthouse; Herb Gardening, an excellent program presented by Kris Landrum, owner of The Herbitage; and especially our excellent member written and produced play encouraging Conservation: "The Green Queen." In the skit, the Green Goddess helps the over-consumer learn practical ideas for recycling and information about water and energy conservation. She also points out many dangers of household chemicals and substitutes using green cleaning products. This was a fun and most informative skit adapted from "Does It Come In Green: A Mini-Tale of the Over-Consumer" by Stony Brook Garden Club of Princeton, NJ.

Fundraising Activities: Annual Holiday Wreaths and Garlands sale to raise funds for civic beautification

Ongoing Activities: We are participating both with funding and planting in creation of a demonstration garden at a local middle school, and members continue to participate actively in state events and by serving on the GCV Board and Committees.

We look forward with much enthusiasm to watching the unfolding of the landscape restoration project for the Historic Henry County Courthouse awarded by the GCV Restoration Committee at the Annual Meeting in May, 2011.

In January each year a committee delivers more than 60 potted plants to area nursing facilities. We make monetary donations to the area Rose Society and other worthy beautification projects. Individual members participate in our parks cleanup and the Smith River Waterway cleanup. We celebrate our annual Spring Social with spouses and invited guests as we welcome new members and strengthen our friendships.

Recommended Speakers: Kris Landrum, owner of The Herbitage.

Unique Activity: The Helen Coddington Stanley Novice Trophy was established in October 2011, to be awarded annually to a club member of 5 years or less in recognition of outstanding participation in both artistic and horticulture exhibits. This will encourage greater participation among new members. At the regular club meeting each month, Helen Stanley demonstrates and explains the schedule for the upcoming month's artistic exhibit as a mini-arranging school workshop. Pictures of the upcoming assignment are featured on our club's well-maintained website.

We have continued to have excellent participation in Artistic entries each month including 12 entries in April. Members are on teams that compete for prizes awarded every two years for participation in horticulture and artistic entries each month with creative assignments for artistic that focus on a particular theme. The theme was "Celebrating the Historic Courthouse Landscape", focused on our excitement over the GCV landscape award in May 2011.

2013

Recommended Programs and Speakers: " Extraordinary Orchids" A local retired physician, Dr. Don Richman is an avid gardener and horticulturist, with exotic collections of orchids, roses and peonies. He brought several of his unique species of orchids and talked about how to raise healthy productive plants. He offered "house calls" to advise on solving specific orchid " issues" and gave resources for collection care and purchase. Dr. Richman is a well-known, well respected and philanthropic member of our community. He is highly regarded and humble, all attributes that made his presentation more interesting to our club members.

"Protection and Promotion of our Natural Resources" presented by Brian Williams, Program Manager for Dan River Basin Association. Brian, an avid outdoorsman, has been instrumental in promoting and protecting the great natural resources in our community, most specifically the Smith River. His compelling slide show depicted the river over several years spotlighting great changes.

Fundraising Activities: Wreath and Garland Sales. Our club has, for the past several years, purchased boxwood, spruce and pine wreaths and garlands at wholesale prices from a evergreen farm in the mountains of North Carolina. The greens are sold at prices, still below retail, but with a nice profit for our club. Orders are taken in advance and the greens are available the first week of December. The profit for the club is ~ $1,500. per year.

2017

Recommended Programs and Speakers: One of our favorite programs was presented by our member who was in charge of photography for our tour during Historic Garden Week. She did a slide presentation of the flower arrangements on display during the tour. Everyone enjoyed it because most of us never got to see all the arrangements because we were too busy getting ready for the tour.

Club Activities: Along with the Martinsville Garden Club, we are continuing to build a pollinator garden at our local sports complex. We are preparing for the GCV Annual Meeting to be hosted by the Garden Study Club, May 15-17, 2018

Fundraising Activities: We hold a wreath and garland sale every November, selling fresh greenery from the mountains of North Carolina.

Community Outreach: The Paw Path Pollinator Gardens will be a wonderful educational resource for the entire community.

The Paw Path Pollinator Garden, located at the Smith River Sports Complex, is a joint venture with The Martinsville Garden Club and work is continuing.  An application for the GCV’s Common Wealth Award has been submitted.

The members continue to plan for the Annual Meeting in May 2018.

2018

Following a luncheon for Board members hosted by Debbie Lewis at her beautiful home, President Nina Mustard called the Board of Directors meeting to order on Tuesday, May 15 at NCI.

Attendees were transported to Sandy River Equestrian Center on Tuesday evening for cocktails, riding demonstrations and Dutch treat dinner.

On Wednesday morning, while attendees were offered a tour of Martinsville Speedway, the Board of Directors reconvened.

Board members and attendees gathered for lunch on Wednesday at Hamlet Vineyards.

Stuart Webster, outgoing president of the Garden Study Club welcomed everyone to Martinsville. 2018 Annual Meeting Chairman Donna Lawhon added her welcome and relayed greetings from the mayor of Martinsville, Chris Teague.

Attendees enjoyed cocktails and the awards banquet at Chatmoss Country Club. The Massie Medal, the GCV’s highest honor, was awarded to Glenna Moyers Graves, a 43-year member of the Spotswood Garden Club. The de Lacy Gray Medal for Conservation was awarded to Mary Bruce Glaize, for her work as founder and leader of the Little Nature Camp of the Little Garden Club, which helps children learn the importance of nature, an appreciation of its delicate balance and what each individual can do to sustain that equilibrium.

The Annual Meeting resumed at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday morning with a call to order by the President.

Chairman Donna Lawhon introduced her “Pit Crew” and thanked the Garden Study Club for a job well done in hosting this Annual Meeting.

2019

The Garden Study Club and the Martinsville Garden Club hosted our GCV President, Jean Gilpin. Her presentation focused on the relevance of the GCV mission over the past century. We were also entertained, and informed about Historic Garden Week by GCV HGW co-chair, Tricia Garner. The luncheon meeting with our special guests was a highlight for our members!

GSC had a beautiful, fun and inspiring fundraising luncheon at Chatmoss Country Club with speaker Dee Dee Dalrymple inspiring us all to beautiful entertaining. Dee Dee donated part of the proceeds from the sale of her book Effortless Entertaining. Janice Cain set up a booth from her shop, Janice Cain Stationery, and she also donated a portion of her sales to GSC. Donna Lawhon and Debbie Lewis spearheaded the event. Beautiful flower arrangements from members of our club provided a lovely setting for the luncheon.

GSC continues to sell note cards from a painting donated by Gail Smith, a GSC sustaining member.

Mary Jac Meadows, gave a fantastic program on GCV restoration. The slides and informative presentation gave the club membership a detailed and impressive visual about GCV’s restoration sites, and the program provided a great opportunity to understand how our HGW proceeds are utilized.

Susan Timmons from the Hillside Garden Club inspired us with her presentation, “Our Country Cottage Garden.” She encouraged the club members to continue to create and recreate our own gardens whether rural or urban.

Garden Study Club continues to work together with the Martinsville Garden Club on maintenance of the Paw Path Pollinator Gardens at the Smith River Sports Complex. A local hiking, riding, walking trail that is being built will pass by the exit garden at the Paw Path, giving additional exposure to the garden. We are working with MGC to prepare educational materials about pollinators to be used in the schools.

Several members of the GSC attended Daffodil Day and we are proud of our member, Susan Hodges, for bringing home the Best InterClub Collection Award to the Garden Study Club!

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In the Beginning ...

The Garden Club of Gloucester was founded in 1928 by a group of ladies on the porch of Goshen, an historic home on the Ware River.

Its first major project in the late twenties and early thirties was to raise funds to build a wall and provide plantings around the historic court circle in the center of town in keeping with the historic colonial buildings. Until that time, buggies and early cars had pulled up right to the front of the courthouse and other buildings and the area was dusty and without any organized landscaping. The GCG partnered with the County and, with the advice of experts from Williamsburg (before it was Colonial Williamsburg), the county and GCG engaged men from the Civil Works Administration, an early FDR jobs creation agency, to build the wall. Today most people driving by would think that the wall is actually colonial. The club continues its traditions of plantings around the county, educational programs, and programs for Main Street beautification. Indeed, in honor of our 90th anniversary in 2018, the GCG donated funds for a fountain to go into a new pocket park on Main Street on the periphery of the Courthouse Circle.

Even though GCG did not formally join GCV until 1945, another major early activity was to be part of the first GCV Historic Garden Week tour in 1929. In Gloucester, the houses stayed open for a week that year and exhausted everyone -- members and spouses alike. In subsequent years, the tours were cut back to two days and then finally to one. Except during WWII when the GCV stopped the tour temporarily, the spring of 2013 after Hurricane Isabel when the local tour was canceled, and the 2020 COVID-19 cancellation, GCG has been part of HGW since the beginning. Its waterfront homes in Gloucester and Mathews remain among the most popular on the statewide tour.

More Recently ...

During the period of the nineties and into the 21st century in addition to its longstanding Daffodil Show and HGW, the club continued the following programs every year: Support of a local middle school student to attend Nature Camp; Christmas greens and wreath decorations for Sanders Assisted Living, the historic buildings on the Courthouse Circle, and the historic Botetourt building; planting and maintaining three large flower boxes at the corner of Main Street and Route 14; clean-up projects in coordination with the county; plantings at various places around the county ranging from the animal shelter to plantings along Routes 14 and 17, among others; an annual picnic as a fundraiser for the club; and an annual awards program. The club’s annual awards include one for service to GCV.

Every year our meetings have popular speakers who focus on practical talks about gardening, horticulture, environmental issues, flower arranging, and advice for entering GCV and local flower shows. GCV has been a source of information via other clubs for many dynamic speakers. The club also tries to feature our own members with special expertise either at meetings or in our popular Horticulture Column in our newsletter, The Bloomin’ News.

Community Activities

Gloucester Daffodil Show and Festival

Based in Gloucester County, known as the “Daffodil Capital of America,” the GCG has always had a focus on daffodils. In the early days of the club in the 1920s and 1930s, various flower shows took place that ultimately grew into the Gloucester Daffodil Show which was founded by the club in 1952 and accredited by the American Daffodil Society (ADS). While meeting the standards of the ADS, in later years the club also added some new activities such as a People’s Choice Award and club docents for the public to tour the show and explain the mysteries of competitive daffodil shows. Putting on the show involved all members in an elaborate and collegial range of activities -- and also all spouses for set-up of risers and take-down. Equipment for the show was kept for many years in a member’s barn. The show attracted exhibitors from far and wide.

Meanwhile the annual two-day Daffodil Festival of the County started in 1986 and evolved to attract thousands. Over time, it became clear that the horticultural Daffodil Show needed to be part of the festival. The GCG membership made the tough decision to stop being the sole sponsor and operator of the Daffodil Show. The last show under the sole sponsorship of the GCG took place in 2014. Then a group of citizens, including GCG members, held discussions with the county, and in 2015 sponsorship of the show was undertaken by Gloucester County as part of the larger Daffodil Festival. Members of the GCG, along with members of other garden clubs and the Master Gardeners, serve on the ongoing committee for the new show, and it is working beautifully under the leadership of the county. The show continues to be accredited by the ADS. The substantial facilities involved are now handled by the county facilities staff as part of the festival. Thousands of visitors to the festival are learning more about daffodil cultivation, and the show still attracts many exhibitors from Virginia and around the region.

At that time the GCG also expanded its activity with the Daffodil Festival by launching two new programs in partnership with the nonprofit Arts on Main located on Main Street: (1) Art and Flowers Show, where arrangers are inspired by works of local artists and interpret them in arrangements; the art and arrangements are displayed together for the two days of the festival, and (2) Children’s Flower Arranging Workshop, where children create their own arrangements featuring daffodils picked from GCG member gardens and with coaching from members. This past year that program attracted 65 children.

Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Teaching Marsh

Holiday Decorating

The annual Christmas decorating project of buildings on Main Street was later enhanced when the club took on the task of decorating all the new lampposts on Main Street with lighted garlands from top to bottom in cooperation with the Sheriff’s office and the assistance of the local prisoners. This was later taken over by the county as there seemed to be concern about the ladies climbing up ladders along Main Street. Launching the Christmas season is always festive with the decoration of the Sanders Assisted Living public areas and with wreaths made for all the residents’ doors, and of the historic buildings on the Courthouse Circle and the historic Botetourt building across from the circle, once a hotel and now the Gloucester County Museum. The county fire marshall finally insisted that the club stop using natural greens in the Assisted Living facility, but it was able to continue natural greens on the exterior of the county buildings.

Planters at Intersection in Downtown Gloucester

The beautiful plantings in the three very large planters at the intersection of Main Street and Route 14 were one of our most highly visible projects for years as everyone coming through Gloucester or commuting from Mathews or Gloucester across the York River would see the flowers and flowering trees. Teams of club members planted and watered throughout the year. During these years the club collaborated with Brent and Becky’s Bulbs which provided the bulbs, with the Women’s Club which provided the hoses, then later with the car wash on the corner which provided giant hoses. The original project was initiated in association with the Chamber of Commerce over thirty years ago by James Morgan whose family owned the local drugstore and soda fountain. The Boy Scouts also helped with repairs when cars hit the boxes. This program ended in 2020 when a car damaged the remaining boxes and at the same time VDOT announced plans to redesign the intersection which would no longer accommodate the planters.

Nature Camp and Educational Funds

For many years the funds to support a Nature Camp camper were raised through Club plant sales. Then in 2000, the club was fortunate enough to benefit from a bequest from Jane Williams, a longtime member. These funds were set aside to support educational projects including the campers. Over the years, it has become clear that the Nature Camp experience has been transformative for many kids and has also had an impact on their life decisions including career choices in the environmental field. The first camper was Brent Heath who later became a counsellor, and of course the rest of his horticultural story is history! In recent years, the club has cooperated with Gloucester and Mathews counties middle school science teachers to identify children.

To assure that our educational programs such as the funding of the nature camper continue into the future, in 2022 the club established an endowment with the Gloucester Community Foundation to support educational and community activities, and we hope to grow this resource with member donations and bequests.

GCV Events in Gloucester

In addition to HGW, for the third time in its history, the GCV Daffodil Show came to Gloucester for two years in 2012 and 2013. The show took place at Ware Academy, and the GCG had all hands-on deck to support the show and work with the GCV Daffodil Committee. The club hosted many exhibitors from out of town and suspended its own show for two years while putting on the GCV show. In preparation for hosting the GCV Show, the GCG planted over 2000 daffodils the previous fall in front of Ware Academy to welcome visitors and exhibitors the following spring. View photos.

In 2017 Gloucester hosted the annual GCV Horticultural Field Day featuring Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, the gardens at Five Gables, Auburn, Belle Terre and Dunham Massie, and the quail habitat and pond at Elmington. The day was a spectacular display of Gloucester’s garden resources. View photos.

Local Beautification

Among the planting installations and beautification projects in these years was the landscaping of the new building for the local animal shelter, the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society. This project received recognition from the GCV as one of the finalists for the Common Wealth Award in 2010.

In 2016 the club raised funds through a raffle to purchase and donate two large metal daffodil sculptures by artist Jeff Fetty at either end of Main Street. The prize for the raffle was a year’s worth of monthly flower arrangements for the winner’s home provided by garden club members. The sculptures are now landmarks for residents and tourists alike announcing our daffodil heritage to all who drive by. They also complement the work of the Main Street Preservation Trust, a trust that supports business development and beautification of Main Street, and the Main Street Association of local businesses. The GCV featured the work of Gloucester’s Main Street economic development and beautification efforts in the 2020 virtual Conservation Forum on “Urban Landscapes.”

Following in its tradition of beautifying the Courthouse Circle and Main Street, in 2018 in honor of its 90th Anniversary, GCG contributed a fountain for people and animals at a new “pocket park” across the street from the Courthouse Circle. See below for more on the 90th Anniversary and GCV Centennial activity.

As we went into 2021-22 we collaborated with Brent and Becky’s Bulbs and the local Daffodil Club on extensive daffodil plantings along Route 17 -- a river of blooms to welcome visitors to the Daffodil Festival and beautify life for all local citizens. The most recent plant and garden project is to partner with the County Parks and Recreation Department on cleaning up the garden beds and doing new plantings in Woodville Park, a county park off of Route 17. Plans are underway for 2023 to expand the swath of daffodil plantings on Route 14.

GCG 90th Anniversary and GCV Centennial

In support of the GCV Centennial partnership with Virginia State Parks, the GCG partnered in 2017 with Belle Isle State Park on an educational summer program at the then future site of the Middle Peninsula State Park on the York River near Rosewell. The project received a grant from the GCV Centennial grants program. (Ultimately this state park was expanded to include the Timberneck historic site as well as the property next to Rosewell and was named Machicomoco State Park.) The 2017 summer program included a series of activities: Slimy Science; Tree Talks Hike; Aww Shucks, Oysters!; Ways of a Waterman Hike; Archeology in a Box; and the Power of Powhatan Hike, all attended by a mix of children and adults. Club members, along with members of the Williamsburg Garden Club, toured the new Machicomoco State Park landscape and facilities in 2021.

The GCV Centennial exhibit at the Virginia Center for History and Culture in Richmond featured the aforementioned teaching marsh project at VIMS, developed with support of the GCG and other donors.

In 2018 in honor of its 90th Anniversary, GCG contributed a fountain for people and animals at a new “pocket park” across the street from the Courthouse Circle. The club also donated two trees in the park in honor of the 2020 GCV Centennial. GCG celebrated its 90th birthday with an elegant luncheon at White Hall, home of Marianne and Charlie Banks. The event committee went over the top on spectacular arrangements and table décor. Brent Heath was the speaker. The club made a special effort to get older members to attend and had over 80 people in attendance, including the Carol Steele, County Director of Parks and Recreation, who accepted GCG’s check for the fountain for the pocket park. Brent shared many memories of working with the garden club and commended the members on almost a century of community activities. The big hit of the day was a 300-image video history of club members and activities that was shown during the luncheon. Continuing the 90th anniversary celebration, the following spring the club had a walk-about tour of the gardens at Goshen, home of Adrianne Joseph and the location of the founding of the club. The gardens had been devastated by a tornado a few years before and were being restored and rethought by and Adrianne and Rick Daggy, formerly a lead gardener at Colonial Williamsburg. These restored gardens will be featured in an upcoming HGW.

The Upside of COVID-19

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, club members were challenged to keep active on projects and communication. Board and membership meetings were initially conducted by email or conference call until members learned to Zoom for a year and then switched to hybrid meetings. The most creative and rewarding new initiative to come out of this was the launch of “Club Connections” where members provide photos of their plants and flowers, share information, or ask questions of each other about horticultural issues. The photos have been spectacular and brought shared beauty into our lives during a trying time. This program is so popular, informative, and enriching that the club is continuing it for the future. It is coordinated by our data manager. All communications go through her to the whole club.

GCV Journal Contributions

Over the last several years, GCG members have published six articles in the GCV Journal on subjects as varied as mahonia, the children’s arranging program, a humorous piece on an arrangement disaster for a GCV show, and articles about GCV Conservation and Environmental Studies Fellows.

Other Noteworthy Events

In 2010 the GCG joined Virginia’s First Lady Maureen McDonald in support of the Louisiana First Lady Supriya Jindal’s campaign to provide school supplies for children of families affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Members filled 75 backpacks which were then delivered to the Governor’s Mansion in Louisiana by a truck from Pride of Virginia in Callao. An important initiative in 2022 in terms of the management of the club was the application and receipt of non-profit status by Google which provided free use of its Google Workspace platform. Through this, the club set up secure access for all members and created shared drives to manage archives, records, and information sharing more efficiently on Google Drive. In addition, the club switched to Google Sites to host a revamped newsletter, archived versions of which are stored on the shared drives.

In 2022, in recognition of the club's longstanding relationship with Mathews gardeners, many of whom were members of the club, and of the fact that Mathews homes are frequently opened during HGW, and with the blessing of GCV, the club changed its working name to the Garden Club of Gloucester and Mathews. Its official IRS legal name is still the Garden Club of Gloucester.

Looking to the Future

Club members are always on the lookout for new civic outreach projects and look forward to many more in the coming decade as GCG approaches its 100th birthday in 2028.

GCG Presidents 1995-2024

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The Hampton Roads Garden Club was organized in April of 1932 by Miss Elizabeth Ivy who had a lovely garden which she was eager to share with the public. She had always been keenly interested in the Garden Club of Virginia's Restoration Projects. During one early Historic Garden Week she opened her garden to the public and collected a small fee, planning to contribute it to the Garden Club of Virginia. When she was told GCV could accept money only from member clubs, she put her mind to becoming "one of them." She gathered her likeminded gardeners, organized a garden club in 1932, and on May 12, 1937, the Hampton Roads Garden Club became a member of the Garden Club of Virginia.

Miss Ivy's determination and “can do” spirit lives on within the Hampton Roads Garden Club today. Members are known as creative, enthusiastic ladies who cherish their gardens and cheerfully undertake any task put before them. Whether it be flower arranging, landscaping, conservation or event planning, members are happy to help each other and approach each task with solidarity of purpose.

Community Projects

From 1996-2000, members of this community-minded club decorated the chapel at the VA Hospital in Hampton at Christmastime; in 1997, donated to the historic landscape plan for St. John’s Church Cemetery Hampton; in 1998, donated thousands of daffodil bulbs and Scotch Broom to VDOT to be planted in the median on Interstate 64; and in 2002, planted trees at fire stations in Newport News, Hampton and York County to honor victims of 9/11.

Peninsula Fine Arts Center

Enjoying a long-standing relationship with the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, HRGC donated to the restoration and beautification of the Memorial Garden (1996-2014); restored and beautified the Margaret Alexander Garden (2008-2014); created and submitted Common Wealth Award applications in 2010 and 2011 for the renovation of the Memorial Garden showcasing rotating sculptures created in collaboration with Eastern Virginia Medical School for the new Healing Arts Project; and donated new granite seating walls at the entryway and entry garden (dedicated 2011).

Mariners' Museum and Park

From 2014-2019, HRGC created and made possible the complete restoration and beautification of “Monument Hill” at the entrance to the Mariners’ Museum at Museum Drive, and from 2015-2021, donated to the landscaping and beautification of the museum’s south courtyard, adding a sprinkler system, outdoor lighting enabling evening events and up lighting for a special tree.

Virginia Living Museum

The club donated to the Children’s Learning Garden at the Virginia Living Museum in 1998; and in 2007, donated an “education box,” the EnviroScape Wetlands Model, to the museum to help educate children on the function and value of inland and coastal wetlands.

Other Community Projects

HRGC provided funds in 2002, and again in 2018-2019, to improve landscaping at the Hampton History Museum. In 2003, the club donated to Christopher Newport University for the creation of an on-campus garden to honor Alice Marshall Wertheimer, HRGC conservation chairman for sixteen years. The garden was dedicated in 2005. In 2016-2017, the club provided for enhancements to the Ft. Monroe entrance with landscaping improvements and a rose garden.

Conservation Projects

In February 2021, club members participated in the Great American Bird Watch, and in 2022, successfully partnered with the Huntington Garden Club to initiate and encourage action by the City Council of Newport News to submit an application to become the 11th Bee City in Virginia. HRGC maintains membership in various Conservation Organizations, such as Scenic Virginia, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; plays an active in the Peninsula Council of Garden Clubs; and sponsors one or two campers each year to Nature Camp in Vesuvius.

Fundraisers

An important fund-raising activity for many years has been the annual poinsettia and holiday greens sale. Not to be overlooked are the fund-raising bus trips:

• Bus trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show 1996-2016
• Bus trip to the DC National Cathedral Flower Mart and Mt. Vernon 2017-2018
• Spring bus trip to Charleston, South Carolina 2019

The club has a knack for attention-grabbing themes when hosting fund raisers. In-club fund raisers for the 2016 Rose Show included: "Blooming Night of Fun Auction" in 2010; "Ladies Night Out Auction" in 2011; "The Art of Picnicking" in 2014; and a silent auction in 2015. Others were "HGW with Flowers after Hours" in 2015-2022; "Sip and Shop" in 2018; "Contactless Sip and Shop" in 2020; "Blooming Zoom Auction" in 2020-2021; and a Zoom wine tasting party in 2021. Amazon Smile and Brent and Becky’s Blooming Bucks are ongoing.

Another creative club initiative that began in 2021 is “You’ve Been Bloomed,” where large wooden painted flowers are placed in the yard of an honoree.

Noteworthy Programs

A membership meeting was held October 5, 1999, at the Kent-Valentine House in Richmond. Historic Garden Week Executive Director Suzanne Munson welcomed us and led a tour. Bessie Carter, then GCV President, presented, “Why do we have garden clubs?” and offered her views on the history of landscape and the use of flowers. She was very approachable and much beloved. She was subsequently awarded both the de Lacy Gray Conservation Medal and the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement. The Bessie Bocock Carter Award was established by the GCV in 2009. It is given annually to fund conservation or environmental protection within the Commonwealth of Virginia.

2012 offered two outstanding programs: a bus trip to Kaplan Orchid Conservatory at Old Dominion University and a meeting to create flower arrangements to complement selected artwork. A visit to the Brock Center in Virginia Beach, headquarters for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in 2017 was especially informative. Club members always enjoy flower arranging tutorials. And in honor of Hampton Roads Garden Club’s 90th birthday in 2021-2022, past club presidents shared recollections of their presidencies.

GCV Recognition and Events

The Garden Club of Virginia presented Horticulture Award of Merit to Jody Petersen in 1996 and to Tyra Freed in 2015. Sally Harris became a GCV accredited Flower Shows Judge in 1998.

The Hampton Roads Garden Club hosted the 60th and 61st GCV Annual Rose Shows -- “Audrey Hepburn: A Retrospective,” in 1996, and “Bouquets to Broadway: A Tribute to Rogers and Hammerstein,” in 1997.

The club hosted the 87th GCV Annual Meeting on May 8-10, 2007, at the City Center Marriott in Newport News. GCV Recording Secretary and Huntington Garden Club member Ann Gordon Evans recalled a 2005 conversation with Joanne Prillaman, then president of the Hampton Roads Garden Club, about plans for HRGC to host the upcoming 2007 Annual Meeting. The conversation went something like this:

Joanne: "We're going to hold the 2007 Annual Meeting at the Marriott Hotel in City Center."

Ann Gordon: "There is no Marriott in City Center."

Joanne: "The Wednesday evening banquet will be held at the David Student Union at CNU."

Ann Gordon: "There is no David Student Union at CNU."

Ann Gordon admitted thinking that planning the Annual Meeting had gotten the best of Joanne, adding, "I thought she was hallucinating."

Joanne proved to be clear of mind, and with co-chairmen Anne Harrison Harris and Sally Harris at the helm, the 87th GCV Annual Meeting was indeed held at the Marriott in City Center, and the banquet at the David Student Union at CNU. Six HRGC members hosted lunchons in their homes for attendees, and much to everyone's amazement, the club managed to arrange a hard hat group tour of the CVN 77 George H. W. Bush Aircraft Carrier, then under construction at the Newport News Shipbuilding. Featured speaker was Bly Straube, then Senior Curator for the Jamestown Rediscovery Project.

GCV Restoration and Grants

For several years, Hampton Roads Garden Club member Pi Lake had encouraged the GCV Restoration Committee to award funds to restore the property of Historic Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News. Lee Hall was the home of Richard Decatur Lee, built three years prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. It served as headquarters of Confederate Generals Magruder and Johnston, but by May 1862, Union troops occupied the lower Peninsula and Lee Hall itself, after a skirmish on the property. Upon their return, the Lees found that their property had been seized by the Freedmen’s Bureau. It was restored to Lee after he received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson in 1865. However, without slaves as a labor force or his mill, which had been destroyed by Union troops, Lee was unable to turn a profit and was forced to sell. The city of Newport News purchased the property of fifteen acres in 1996, and the original house and brick kitchen are open for tours. Earthworks found on the property were constructed during the Civil War skirmish.

The Hampton Roads, Huntington and Williamsburg garden clubs began collaborating in 2016 to obtain funding for landscaping at York River State Park through the Garden Club of Virginia's Centennial project.  As a result, the park received a grants for landscaping in 2018, landscape refurbishment in 2019, and installation of a pollinator meadow in 2021.

Numerous Hampton Roads Garden Club members have served on GCV committees from 1996-2022: Midge Eason, HGW District Chairman, 1997-2003; Anne Harrison Harris, Chairman of Board of Governors and Annual Meetings, 2008-2010 and District 3 Director at Large, 2018-2020; Sidney Jordan, District 3 Director at Large, 2016-2018 and Chairman of the Board of Governors and Annual Meetings, 2018-2020; Allison Clock, Conservation and Beautification Chairman, 2020-2022 and Horticulture Chairmen, 2022-2024.

HRGC in the News

The Hampton Roads Garden Club's strong community connections have been reflected time and time again in local news outlets: The Daily Press has photographed the club's daffodil and scotch broom plantings on Interstate 64 and printer articles featuring Alice Wertheimer and Alice's Garden; member Judy Hall arranging for HGW; member Allison Clock, premier arranger and artist; member Gay Huffman; and numerous HGW tour articles.

The GCV Journal has featured Alice's Garden, the "Monument Hill" restoration at the Mariner's Museum, the bus trip to the DC National Cathedral Flower Mart and Mt. Vernon; and the work done at York River State Park. The Hampton Roads Garden Club’s arrangement for the 2012 Board of Governors meeting in Suffolk was featured in the Suffolk News Herald. And the club was featured in the 2013 and 2017 GCV Year in Review. The club's HGW tour is frequently featured on the Hampton Roads Show.

HRGC Presidents 1996-2022

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The Junior Garden Club of Norfolk was founded on September 23, 1955. The club was invited to join the Garden Club of Virginia in 1992 and was renamed Harborfront Garden Club. Members celebrate the club’s founding each year at its annual May meeting wearing their finest gloves, hats and pearls.

Community Involvement

From the beginning, Harborfront Garden Club generously contributed funds to community projects -- Harbor Park Stadium to plant trees flanking the southwest entrance; the Flower Guild of the Chrysler Museum of Art; Cape Henry Audubon Society for a wildflower garden in Weyanoke Bird and Wildflower Sanctuary; the Yellow Fever Epidemic Memorial Fund for special plantings; the Joy Fund to provide holiday gifts and assistance during the holidays for families in need; and the Day Care and Child Development Center for field trips for nature and science programs.

Continuing that tradition today, the club has:

• provided funds to support a large-scale wetlands restoration project at the Hermitage Museum & Gardens and has sponsored a lecture series at the museum
• provided funds and landscaping assistance to renovate and terrace the courtyard garden at d’Art Center and continues to provide annual summer plantings and garden maintenance
• provided funds for landscaping at the Colonial Avenue Boys & Girls Club, created garden activities for inner-city children and continues annual support for garden maintenance
• provided funds for a butterfly garden at the Virginia Zoo; supported a new rain garden, turtle pond restoration, bridge restoration and bog plantings
• funded lighting for the Moses Myers House garden restoration project
• contributed to the education center, the Children’s Garden, the Reflection Garden, the Lantern Asia exhibit and hosted Kathleen Gagan from Peony's Envy at Norfolk Botanical Garden
• contributed to the Elizabeth River Project
• joined Norfolk’s Adopt-A-Street program, cleaning up Jamestown Crescent and North Colley Avenue.
• participated in TREX Recycling Program with Norfolk City Public Schools

Harborfront Garden Club received the 2010 Garden Club of Virginia Common Wealth Award for its butterfly and sensory garden project at St. Mary’s Home. An excerpt from the club's award application follows:

"St. Mary’s Home in Norfolk has a garden designed to enrich the lives of children residing in this unique facility -- Virginia’s only pediatric long-term residential care facility exclusively for children, newborn to 21, with severe mental and physical disabilities. This state-of-the-art facility for 92 residents, one of a few nationwide designed exclusively for providing care in a homelike residential environment, opened in 2005.

"Two large courtyards with floor-to-ceiling windows enable over 6,000 residents, family, visitors and staff to interact with nature or enjoy gardens from inside. In 2008, Harborfront Garden Club began working with staff and Girl Scout Troop 5067 on a new butterfly and sensory garden in the courtyard near the main entrance. We planted plants from our own gardens, donated plants and $500 in plants we won in a national website contest. We funded the installation of a fishpond -- especially popular with the children. Now more plants are needed, as well as irrigation, paved walkways to accommodate the wheelchair-bound children and low-voltage lighting to view the garden at night.

"The physical and emotional demands on the children, families and dedicated staff are significant. Full access to the garden will allow children to experience nature’s wonders while providing respite for all who visit, work and reside at this outstanding facility serving all of Virginia."

Jill Gray Memorial Garden at Union Mission

Harborfront Garden Club began work on the Jill Gray Memorial Garden at Union Mission in 2017 and broke ground for the project in 2018. Three years later, the club applied for (and received) the 2021 GCV Common Wealth Award. An excerpt from that application follows:

“Women and families are the fastest growing homeless demographic in the nation. The Union Mission’s Women and Children’s Shelter of Hampton Roads provides a beacon of hope for these women and their children, offering food, clothing, shelter, education, rehabilitation, and job and life-skills training. The shelter, housed in a renovated office building in an industrial park that is part of the Elizabeth River Watershed, wanted an outdoor sanctuary to provide spiritual and emotional renewal, particularly for single women who feel, and historically have been ignored.

“In partnership with the Union Mission, Harborfront Garden Club created a garden with paved seating areas, native plants and trees, flowers for adorning the dining area and herbs for use in the kitchen. Club members have donated gardening tools, books and plants from their own gardens. This space helps create a sense of community and normalcy for residents, providing therapy, physical activity and tranquility.

“Funds provided by the Common Wealth Award will provide the resources to install an irrigation system, ensuring that Jill’s Garden will offer, for years to come, a place of beauty and peace for all who reside, work and visit this outstanding facility serving homeless women and their children in Hampton Roads.”

2000 Garden Club of Virginia Annual Meeting

2010 and 2011 Garden Club of Virginia Rose Shows

Fundraisers for community projects and GCV events have included progressive dinners, Christmas auctions, speaker events and the publication and sale of a cookbook, Gardeners in the Kitchen. Prior to COVID-19, club members ran the food concessions at the Unique Boutique where a portion of the proceeds were donated to Lee’s Friends (helping people live with cancer).

Members learned to hold Zoom meetings in 2020 during the pandemic and included the occasional Zoom happy hour. By year's end, meetings were held outside in members' gardens and at Plum Point Park.

HGC Presidents 1995-2021

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hillsidegardenclub.org

Today no one remembers who participated in those early gatherings, but the club’s first formal minutes, recorded in July of 1935, reflect a membership of twenty-five.

 Christened the Junior Garden Club at that first meeting, the club soon recognized the complications such a name would present as members aged.  Before the club adjourned its second formal meeting in the city of seven hills, it had become Hillside Garden Club.

The decision to make the Old City Cemetery a primary project in 1993 led Susan Mullin to donate trees from her tree nursery as part of the grounds rehabilitation there. The cemetery continues to be a place for fresh ideas, new programs and gardens that provide opportunities to volunteer both as administrators, docents and gardeners while educating the public enhancing the beauty of our community.

The signature event in 1995 was a special program held at Westminster Canterbury honoring the charter members of the club. Six of the original twenty-five enjoyed the day.

The club continued its commitment to the Old City Cemetery by allocation printing funds for new brochures, planting more trees and giving a much needed outdoor water fountain.  Virginia Earley Holt gave the initial funds to establish the Earley Memorial Shrub Garden. A Common Wealth Award in 1996 of $5000 facilitated building a gatehouse and expanded entry for the cemetery and attracted other in-kind contributions toward the $25000 value of the project. Further support came when Virginia Holt donated the Stapleton Train Station building from her country property to the cemetery. “Pete” Lupton gave the funds to restore the historic station to its World War I era in honor of her daughter-in-law, Hillside member Leland Lupton. The club celebrated a special day for its opening in which members dressed in period costume and planted a white oak tree near the station in honor of their founding members.

Both Sallie Terrell, a charter member, and the Aviary at Miller Park turned one hundred in 2001. In celebration of the latter Melanie Christian led the way with a massive restoration of the Aviary that is widely enjoyed by civic groups for a variety of gatherings.

In recent years, the club has continued to embrace a variety of projects. In 2006, it voted to support Lynchburg Grows, a non-profit organization founded in 2003, with a $10,000 donation from funds raised through volunteer participation at the Steeplechase held at Oakridge in Nelson County. Those funds helped Lynchburg Grows secure the property and move forward with its development as an organic food supplier. The Awareness Garden, located at the Langhorne Road entrance to the Blackwater Creek Nature Trail, was dedicated 2003 to those whose lives have been touched by cancer. Hillside contributed both funds and planning expertise for its grounds. In 2007 the club published a book of flower arranging and garden tips, entitled A Year in Flowers; Growing, Arranging, Journaling, with proceeds earmarked in support of the club’s mission.

In 2008, Hillside again became actively involved in restoration efforts for the Anne Spencer Garden, and in 2009, the club was once again the recipient of the Common Wealth Award for the garden. The $10,000 award was used primarily for restoration of the fishpond and installation of audio information stations. In 2010, Hillside donated $19,000 from its treasury and endowment funds for further restoration needs in the garden. Those funds, along with contributions from club members and friends of the garden, made possible the restoration of the grape arbor and wisteria pergola, which was completed in 2011.

In 2010 and 2011, Hillside successfully hosted the annual Garden Club of Virginia Daffodil Show.

The GCV Horticulture Award of Merit was awarded to members Susan Wright in 2012 for her work in the Anne Spencer Garden, Kris Lloyd in 2014 for her garden project at Bedford Hills Elementary School, Janet Hickman in 2016 for her work both in daffodil horticulture and in helping to maintain the Anne Spencer Garden, and most recently Kaye Moomaw for her contributions to the Old City Cemetery and the broader local and state community.

Hillside won its 4th GCV Common Wealth Award in 2016 for its initiative to create a tree garden for the restored Academy Center of Fine Arts building. In April 2017, the Hillside Garden Club Memorial Garden was completed and dedicated at the Old City Cemetery positioned between the Chapel, and the newly constructed Comfort House. Hillside Garden Club and individual members contributed $25,000 toward the completion of the Memorial Garden.

In 2020, Hillside, in cooperation with Lynchburg Garden Club, began their pollinator garden initiative by establishing the Blue Ridge Conservation Coalition to promote public gardens of native plants that encourage the propagation of all pollinators. Hillside and the Lynchburg Garden Club received the 2022 Common Wealth Award for their efforts.

Hillside hosted the GCV Board of Governors meeting in October, 2021. With downtown Lynchburg under construction, the club brought in local and regional vendors to display and sell their crafts and foods. After expenses, Hillside netted over $30,000 for this effort. The money has been reinvested in our community: $9500 to Camp Kum-ba-Yah for an outdoor education yurt; $2000 to establish a community garden on Pierce Street; $2800 for plantings at the new entrance of Poplar Forest; and $9000 to create and expand pollinator gardens near Lotus Pond at Old City Cemetery.

Eight-plus decades and counting! This quick summary of Hillside’s history cannot really do justice to the substantial contributions made by the club at the local and state level. Nor can it adequately describe the rich and enduring friendships that characterize the relationships among its members past and present, along with their shared sense of stewardship.

HGC Presidents 1995-2020

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huntingcreekgardenclub.org

The Hunting Greek Garden Club has engaged its members year after year with interesting and educational programs, workshops, field trips and themed artistic design schedules.

Programs have included: gardening (critter control, herbs, pruning, landscaping, companion planting); flower arranging (table arrangements, holiday decorations, current trends, living arrangements); conservation (use of chemicals, urban sprawl and land conservation, natural resources, invasives and eco-savvy gardens, bees); GCV restoration projects; orchids; coral reefs and photography. Well-known authors, legislators and field experts have provided a wealth of knowledge to members.

Members have traveled to the United Sstates National Arboretum, Ladew Topiary Gardens in Maryland, the Kent-Valentine House, Mason Neck State Park, Gunston Hall, Whilton Farm near Charlottesville, Smithsonian Garden Greenhouse Facility, and Mount Sharon and Grellen Farm in Orange.

Artistic design themes have enticed novice and experienced arrangers to participate in monthly displays -- famous women, children’s books, food and flowers, National Parks and Mother Goose.

The club celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2012 with a beautifully produced publication, "Celebrating 70 Years."

Community Involvement

The club has provided funds for a restoration project in Ewald Park, located in the heart of Alexandria; planted trees at the public library on Queen Street and the campus of St Stephen’s and St. Agnes School; sponsored students to Nature Camp in Vesuvius; provided funds for plant material to be installed at the fourteen entrance portals to Alexandria; purchased plantings for the restoration of the Underwood walled garden at Woodlawn Plantation; provided funds for a garden restoration at Woodlawn’s Pope-Leighey House using native plants; and contributed to Potomac River Keeper's 2019 Water Quality Monitoring Program,

The club has provided grants to the Alexandria City High School (formerly T.C. Williams) Scholarship Fund, Community Lodgings to purchase herbs and vegetable plants for their raised gardens, and Virginia State Parks to fund improvements at Mason Neck State Park, matched by grants from the Garden Club of Alexandria and the Garden Club of Fairfax.

Christmas Greens Workshop

The HCGC's annual fundraiser, the Christmas Greens Workshop, was first held in 1954 and has seen numerous changes and improvements over the years. At various times, the sale has featured kissing balls, boxwood topiaries, greens arrangements, wreaths, amaryllis bulbs, paperwhite bulbs, magnolia wreaths and tree seedlings, orchids and table trees. A successful boutique has been added to the sale, as well as a chance to win door, mantel and table arrangements for Christmas.

Crenshaw-Bloomer Daffodil Show

Garden Club of Virginia

HCGC members participate annually in state-level Garden Club of Virginia events -- Conservation Forum, Legislative Day, Horticulture Field Day, flower shows and symposia. Club members regularly contribute articles to the Journal, serve as artistic and horticulture judges, and have served as GCV officers, board members, committee chairmen and committee members for many years, as well as making generous donations to the Kent-Valentine House. Flower show awards attest to the talent of club members. The club has been vocal in its support for billboard control, saving wetlands and conserving open space during Legislative Day.

GCV Rose Show 2004-2005

2004 Rose Show Photos

2005 Rose Show Photos

The club hosted the 2018 Board of Governors, “The Potomac: Our History, Our Future,” on Monday, October 15 - Wednesday, October 17, 2018, at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town, co-chaired by Vicky Alexander and Laura Francis. View photos

Attendees were invited to the lovely home of Ashley and George Wilson for cocktails on Monday night and were led by a bagpiper in a short to the Old Dominion Boat Club for a Dutch treat dinner.

Tuesday morning tours

Cocktails and Awards Banquet

Garden Club of Virginia Awards

Virginia Guild, former President (1990-1992) of the Garden Club of Virginia, was awarded the 1997 Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement, the oldest and most prestigious award given by the Garden Club of Virginia.

The GCV Horticulture Award of Merit was presented to Penny Bryant and Ann Schmidtlein in 1999, Sara Ann Lindsey in 2000, Lucy Rhame in 2009 and Karen Abramson in 2020.

2020

What began as a typical year turned out to be anything but by mid-March with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many activities were canceled or postponed, including Historic Garden Week, festivities for the centennial year of the Garden Club of Virginia and the club's May field trip to the United States National Arboretum.

HCGC Presidents 1995-2021

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The Huntington Garden Club, named for the Huntington Heights neighborhood in Newport News in which its members then lived, was founded in 1935. The club became a member of the Garden Club of Virginia in 1956, mentored by the Hampton Roads Garden Club. The club’s membership today consists of three classes -- active (limited to 50 members), associate (limited to 30 members) and emeritus -- and membership has expanded to include those living on the lower Virginia Peninsula.

Club programs and workshops have included presentations by well-known flower arrangers and gardeners. A favorite for 2017-2019 was “Lunch and Learn,” when guest speakers conducted optional workshops following the business meetings, with lunch included. Talented HGC members Pam Barber, Rebecca Fass, Becky Fitchett, Hazel Mason, Susan McCreary, Carla Rice, BoBo Smith, Debbie Spencer and Katie Spencer have shared their knowledge with educational programs. GCV members Dottie Ballard, Allison Clock, Karan Mulkey, Linda Pinkham, Lee Snyder, Peyton Wells, Janice Whitehead and Susan Wight have conducted very popular hands-on workshops.

Community

In partnership with the Hampton Roads Garden Club, the clubs engaged a landscape architect in 2002 to create a master landscape plan for the historic cemetery of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Hampton. Each club donated funding for the project. The church, established in 1610, is the oldest Anglican church in North America. The resulting crepe myrtle allee was the centerpiece of the cemetery.

With its close, long-standing relationship with the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, the club was awarded the Garden Club of Virginia’s 2005 Common Wealth Award for the Virginia Garden, an outdoor living exhibit of Virginia’s botanical history from 1607 to the present. The garden was created in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. With expansion of the museum, the club contributed funds for improvements to the "Backyard Habitat" with new plantings, improved signage, outdoor benches and fencing. For the young visitors to the VLM, the club funded the popular 10-foot “Crawl Through A Log.”

In 2010, the club established the Holt Native Plant Conservatory at the museum to honor the memory of HGC member and community leader, Mary Sherwood Holt.

When GCV member clubs were invited to select a memento for the GCV’s centennial time capsule. HGC's active and associate members gathered in the outdoor courtyard of the museum for their group photo to be submitted for the time capsule.

In 2008, the club contributed funds to assist the Riverside Health System Foundation with the founding of the Abernathy Gardens at Causey’s Mill Park in Newport News. The project was a labor of love by club member, Susan Abernathy McCreary, and was dedicated in memory of her parents, community leaders Estelle Abernathy, a charter member of the Huntington Garden Club, and her husband, George. The gift funded the construction of one of the garden’s centerpieces, a meditative labyrinth designed to inspire visitors and patients from the adjacent Riverside Regional Medical Center.

The Hampton Roads and Huntington Garden Clubs partnered with the City of Newport News in 2000 to apply for restoration work to be done by the Garden Club of Virginia at Lee Hall Mansion, an Italianate plantation house and home to Richard Decatur Lee, his wife and children. The Lee family lived in the house for three years until the War Between the States erupted. Heavily in debt after the war, Lee sold the property in 1870, and the City of Newport News purchased Lee Hall in 1996. The restoration proposal was accepted by the Garden Club of Virginia, and shade trees and wooden fencing became a welcome addition to the grounds. The mansion is open to the public.

From 2017-2019 the club’s dedication to the community was evident with generous funding support for the Garden Club of Virginia, Nature Camp Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Hampton Clean City Commission, Newport News Green Foundation, York Learning Garden & Arboretum, gardens at the Newport News Public Library, Hampton History Museum, Master Gardeners (Newport News, York-Poquoson and Hampton), Peninsula Council of Garden Clubs and Scenic Virginia.

Plans for the Garden Club of Virginia’s centennial celebration in 2020 were well underway by 2014. A centennial gift of $500,000 was made by the GCV to Virginia State Parks to enhance the 39 parks throughout the state. This gift was used to protect native plants and trees, to provide educational programming, and to offer an opportunity for visitors to enjoy the benefits of the outdoors. The Hampton Roads, Huntington and Williamsburg garden clubs joined forces to apply for grants for York River State Park, located in James City County on the south bank of the York River. Two grants were awarded to the park for plantings and stonework, and club meetings and work sessions have been held at the park since the work was completed.

The Hampton Roads and Huntington Garden Clubs celebrated the GCV centennial by hosting a cocktail buffet, “Centennial Celebration Under the Lights” at the Mariner’s Museum and Park in Newport News in October 2019. Over 155 club members and guests enjoyed a lovely outdoor evening at the museum.

In another partnership with the Hampton Roads Garden Club, the City of Newport News was designated as a “Bee City” in 2021, spearheaded by Rebecca Fass (Huntington) and Dale Banning (Hampton Roads), with assistance from the Lynchburg Garden Club’s Heidi James. The city increased the planting of native pollinating plants and decreased the use of pesticides and herbicides.

Fundraising

Proceeds from its successful sale of holiday wreaths and roping each fall allow the club to continue its community beautification projects. Each active member sells a minimum of six wreaths annually.

Another fundraising event has been “The Blooming Night of Fun,” when each club member contributes an auction item and a food item. Spouses and guests are invited for the evening of fun and fellowship.

Garden Club of Virginia

HGC members enthusiastically participate in state level events -- Horticulture Field Day, Conservation Forum, Legislative Day, flower shows, symposia and many GCV workshops held at the Kent-Valentine House.

Members have made vital contributions through their dedicated service as GCV officers, board members, committee chairmen and committee members. Ann Gordon Evans has dedicated much of her time in GCV leadership positions: Common Wealth Award Committee member 1998-2000; Common Wealth Award Committee Chairman 2000-2002, Board of Directors, Director-at-Large 2002-2004, Journal Editorial Board 2004-2007, Recording Secretary 2006-2008, Second Vice President 2008-2010, First Vice President 2010-2012, President 2012-2014 and Parliamentarian 2016-2018. Ann Gordon received the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement in 2023.

Additional members have served GCV in a variety of positions: Pam Barber, Horticulture Committee 2012-2014; Becky Fitchett, Development Committee 2023-2026; Lynn Hutchens, Common Wealth Award Committee 2012-2014 and 2016-2018, Journal Editorial Board, 2014-2020; Katie Mann, Conservation and Beautification Committee 2018-2021; Carla Rice, Artistic Design Committee 2022-2024; Tricia Russell, Historic Garden Week Committee 2017-2019; and Katie Spencer, Board of Directors, Director-at-Large, District III 2022-2024.

The GCV Horticulture Award of Merit was presented to Mary Sherwood Holt in 2004. At the GCV’s 2002 Lily Show, Janie Hargette received the tri-color ribbon for the best arrangement in the show. Laura Brown was elected to serve as president 2023-2025 of the Peninsula Council of Garden Clubs, an umbrella organization for peninsula clubs, established in 1954. The club's horticulture chairmen prepare the horticulture displays for all GCV Board of Governors meetings.

2005 Annual Meeting

The club hosted the GCV 2005 Annual Meeting, chaired by Rose Garrett and Katie Spencer. Members were assessed $30 annually from 1999-2005 to cover expenses for the meeting.

2016-2017 Daffodil Shows

 The club hosted GCV Daffodil Shows at the Hampton Convention Center in 2016 and 2017, co-chaired by Rebecca Fass and BoBo Smith, Expenses were $20,000 in 2016 and $17,000 in 2017.

2017 Daffodil Show Photos

Historic Garden Week

Huntington and Hampton Roads garden clubs worked together each year to host a tour during Historic Garden Week in Virginia. The clubs alternate leadership years, chairing committees. The 2016 tour was held at Fort Monroe, the former Army Post at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton and was featured on the cover of the 2016 HGW Guidebook. Approximately 2000 visitors enjoyed visiting the tour with all proceeds sent to the Garden Club of Virginia. Over the years, the tours have expanded to include the "Marketplace” where vendors sell their specialty items to visitors and “Flowers After Hours,” a wine and cheese reception at the tour's close.

COVID-19 Pandemic

By March 2020, the nation was “shut down” by COVID-19. The GCV’s 2020 Historic Garden Week was canceled, as were all activities of the GCV‘s 2020 centennial that were to be held in May 2020. All activities of the Huntington Garden Club were canceled.

The club presidents were forced to create ways to continue communication with members. From March 2020 until April 2021, all monthly club meetings were held by Zoom or in outdoor settings. One of the positive outgrowths of COVID-19 for the Huntington Garden Club was the creation of a new monthly newsletter, “The Garden Gab,” with editor Katie Spencer.

Normalcy returned during the 2021-2022 club year. The gatherings of active and associate members for the monthly meetings, the annual Christmas luncheon and the annual May picnic were welcomed enthusiastically. Bylaw changes were accepted by club members in 2021 and included a raise in dues to $125 for actives and associates, with $65 assessed by the Garden Club of Virginia, and $60 assessed by the club.

The club has continued a commitment to its purpose, “the advancement of gardening, civic beautification and conservation and the preservation and restoration of historic gardens.”

HGC Presidents 1996-2024

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Coming soon.

January 2019 DAL Report

October was the celebratory launch of the James River Garden Club cookbook, A Taste of Virginia: Through the Garden Gate and has sold over 2,000 copies. Proceeds will benefit charitable projects and affiliated organizations, which include Anna Julia Cooper School and Capitol Trees. November was a joint meeting with Tuckahoe Garden Club at the KVH. December brought the successful “Greens and More!” workshop and sale, which included pre-sold gift packages of the new cookbook with a JRGC apron and local ingredients.

JRGC Presidents 1994-2022

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leesburggardenclub.org

1996-2015

For decades, Leesburg has participated in the GCV Daffodil, Lily and Rose Shows; the Upperville Daffodil Show; and the Middleburg Greens Show, winning multiple horticulture and artistic design ribbons -- including best-in-show. The club has also received awards at the Philadelphia Flower Show and the North American Lily Society International Lily Show.

The club has contributed gardening books, antique volumes, funds and volunteer hours to the Oatlands Garden Library; as well as funds and volunteer hours to the Marshall Center.

GCV Horticulture Field Day was held in Loudoun County in 1998 where gardens south of Leesburg -- Little Oatlands and Oatlands among others – were featured. A catered luncheon was served on the grounds of Oatlands and the glorious weather brought record attendance.

Leesburg area gardens were again featured during 2008 Horticulture Field Day View photos

Leesburg Garden Club was asked by the county in 1997 to review landscaping plans for the new county administration building. In 2002, the club was asked by the town to review landscaping plans for the new courthouse, after which Leesburg member Betsey Brown was asked to serve on the courthouse Grounds and Facilities Task Force and its Arts Advisory Panel. The club was also asked to study the landscaping plans for the Market Street Post Office and the Catoctin Circle Loudoun Rescue Squad.

In 1997, Leesburg members Maureen Mercker and June Hambrick began efforts to convince the town to hang large floral baskets from the streetlight poles in the four-block intersection of Market Street and King, the center of town. After multiple meetings with the mayor, the zoning coordinator and Dominion Virginia Power, and a few donations from Leesburg Garden Club, their efforts were successful and the baskets were hung. The town continues to plant, water and maintain the baskets each year.

The Leesburg Garden Club became a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 1999 and has continued its civic work in order to maintain that status.

The club hosted the GCV Daffodil Show in 2002 (“Water, Water, Everywhere”) and 2003 (“Give My Regards to Broadway”) at Carradoc Hall, chaired by Emma Kelly.

The club nominated William H. Harrison, recipient of the 2005 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Meritorious Achievement in Conservation. Mr. Harrison led the establishment of the Loudoun County Heritage Farm Museum.

The club hosted the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia at Belmont Country Club, chaired by Jill Beach and Kate Williams. Attendees boarded trolleys Tuesday evening from Lansdowne Resort for a Dutch treat dinner at Murray Hill, the lovely home of Peggy and John Rust. The glorious evening on the Potomac was highlighted by delicious Italian cuisine, Italian opera, along with a memorable thunderstorm. Wednesday morning tours included a visit to Oatlands Plantation and its spectacular gardens or a self-guided walking tour of the historic town. Lunch followed at Belmont Country Club’s Lee Mansion where Directors at Large met with presidents from their districts. The awards banquet was held Wednesday night in the Grand Ballroom at Belmont Country Club. View photos

When COVID-19 prevented the 2020 statewide meeting of the Board of Governors, Leesburg member Suzi Worsham hosted the District V BOG meeting at her historic home, “Riverside, on the Potomac.”

Leesburg Garden Club was awarded the 1982 GCV Common Wealth Award for landscaping at Douglass Community Center and Park. Since that time, the club has remained involved with the project, and has added hundreds of daffodil bulbs, completed a large flagstone patio and installed a plaque at the south end of the park.

2015 – 2022

The club continues its decades long tradition of gathering in December to create wreaths, swags and other decorative greens to hang on Leesburg’s unique swinging courthouse yard gates and the doors of Thomas Balch Library. Members also donate greens and work individually to make wreaths for the downtown post office, the G.C. Marshall International Center and the county courthouse.

In celebration of its centennial in 2015, Leesburg Garden Club embarked on an ambitious project to create Leesburg's "Native Tree Walk." The club planted 32 Virginia native trees at Ida Lee Park on the path adjacent to Old Waterford Road, west of Rust Library. Each tree is labeled with an ID placard that provides interactive descriptive information and benefits. The club received the Environmental Award  from the Town of Leesburg in 2016 for the project.

The club had held two day-long symposia: “A Day with Holly Heider Chapple” in 2016 and “Fall Into Entertaining” with Jane Godshalk in 2018. The symposia not only provided educational opportunities to the public about floral design and the floral market, but also raised $42,000 for the club’s community grants program. The club awarded Oatlands an $11,000 grant in 2018 to fund an irrigation system in the five-acre formal garden, with Oatlands contributing $15,000 toward the $26,000 project.

In April of 2019 the club held a Sunday Brunch fund-raiser at historic Selma Mansion and raised over $7,000 for its Loudoun County Childrens Education Fund.

The club continues its long tradition of providing annual scholarships for students to attend Nature Camp and a $1,000 scholarship for a graduating high school senior who plans to study in horticultural or environmental fields. Recent recipients of community grants include the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy in June of 2020 and Lucketts Elementary School and Tuscarora High School in 2021.

With the 2020 arrival of COVID-19, club members immediately transitioned to Zoom meetings, hosting virtual speakers and sharing professional videos of local and internationally recognized gardens, among others.

In honor of the Garden Club of Virginia’s Centennial, the club planted daffodils at Oatlands Historic House and Gardens, Leesburg Elementary School and the George C. Marshall International Center, each with an engraved stone marker commemorating GCV’s 100th Anniversary. The club designed exhibits for two display cases at Thomas Balch Library that told the history of the Leesburg Garden Club and its long affiliation with the Garden Club of Virginia. See photos

Leesburg Garden Club and Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club have alternated Historic Garden Week tour years for decades, with Leesburg hosting in odd years. When 2020 HGW tours were canceled and Fauquier and Loudoun was unable to host its tour in April, Leesburg members agreed to move their regularly scheduled 2021 tour to 2022, allowing Fauquer and Loudoun to take advantage of Bunny Mellon’s Oak Spring gardens in 2021.

Leesburg Garden Club members have served in numerous GCV state-level capacities: committee members, committee chairmen and Board members; handbook editors and generous donors. Recent Horticulture Award of Merit recipients include Eeda Dennis, 1998; Kassie Kingsley, 2003; and Ellie Daley, 2006. Members have served on the Loudoun County Preservation & Conservation Committee and have contributed to the efforts of the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance Rewrite Committee to preserve the 1940’s signature legislation that prohibits billboards in Loudoun. The legislation was initiated by Vinton Pickens, a club member, as the first chairman of the then new Planning Commission.

The Leesburg Garden Club has decades of historical materials professionally archived and stored in temperature-controlled rooms in the Thomas Balch Library.

Historical Sketch, Sources and Notes

LGC Presidents 1996-2024

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littlegardenclubofwinchester.com

The Little Garden Club of Winchester has been immersed in the culture of Winchester and the surrounding communities since its founding in 1934, becoming a  member of the Garden Club of Virginia in 1954. Club members have long focused on community beautification, stewardship of the environment and providing educational opportunities for others to follow their lead.

Community

Club member Mary Bruce Glaize, along with Peggy McKee and Martha Wolfe, had a vision – to establish a place for children to learn about the natural environment. Without hesitation, Mary Bruce’s husband, Phil Glaize, offered the use of his barn at Old Home Orchard in Frederick County which was surrounded by streams, a pond, fields, woodlands and farmland. The Little Nature Camp of the Little Garden Club became a reality in 1993, and the camp ran for 27 years before closing in 2000.

These intrepid ladies did not stop there, insisting that Winchester should have a children’s science museum. Their persistence paid off and, on April 20, 1996, the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum opened to the public.

Nancy Larrick Crosby Native Plant Trail

"Completed in 1998 thanks to a generous donation from Nancy Larrick Crosby, a founding member of the Little Garden Club of Winchester, the native plant trail was built to showcase the beauty and diversity of Virginia’s native plants and features hundreds of wildflowers, grasses and trees. The trail also serves to educate visitors about our native plants – from their importance in our local ecosystems to identification tips and the benefits they offer humans; interpretive signage and seasonal interactive exhibits appear throughout the trail to help visitors find a deeper connection to the flora and landscapes of Virginia.” https://blandy.virginia.edu/content/nancy-larrick-crosby-native-plant-trail

In 1999, the club worked with the GCV Conservation Committee to create an "Environmental Learning Box," designed to teach children in Grades 3-5 about water and its role in the environment.

The club began a renovation of the Stewart Bell, Jr. Memorial Garden at Abram's Delight -- to reestablish the landscape to reflect the historic architecture of the Abram's Delight house; to enhance the visitor’s experience; and to provide an opportunity for families to contribute to the beautification of publicly owned historic site. Club members continue to assist with the garden's maintenance.

The Little Garden Club and Blue Ridge Hospice hosted Winchester Showhouse and Gardens in 2013 to raise funds for the inpatient care facility and for the beautification of area parks and gardens. The event was held at the Headley House of Long Green in Frederick County.

In 2018, the club generously funded the Wildflower Garden at the entrance of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

The club also funded a Musical Rooftop Garden at the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum. The garden provides a unique musical experience in a natural garden, making the instruments accessible to people of all ages with special needs. The museum educational team has developed programming to encourage collaboration, an understanding of sound and a creative connection to the natural gardens.

The club was awarded the 2020 Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award for its Weir Garden project at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. The garden includes large stone weirs for storm water management, a naturally managed wildlife habitat, an accessible trail and provides education for visitors.

The club established a Butterfly Garden at Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary School in 2023.

The Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors 2001

The eighty-second meeting of the GCV Board of Governors was hosted by the Little Garden Club of Winchester on October 9-11, 2001, at the Holiday Inn, chaired by Carolyn Griffin and Regina Headley.

On Wednesday morning, Little Garden Club President Martha Parthemos welcomed attendees and called upon Dolly Glaize to present the club history. Dolly confided that when murmurs of an invitation to join the Garden Club of Virginia membership were heard in the early 1950s, members panicked and decided the club’s name was not dignified enough for such an honor. After reviewing 17 suggestions for a new name, the club decided upon Glen Burnie, home of Winchester’s founder. Wait a minute! Within thirty days, members voted to change the name back to the Little Garden Club, and so it stood when asked to join GCV in 1954. Dolly then spoke of the club’s many civic projects through the years and the lasting impact of their work in the Winchester community.

Following the business meeting, attendees were hosted for lunch by Ann Glaize and Susan Holland in their homes, followed by a guided tour of 18th-century Glen Burnie House and Gardens. Cocktails and dinner that night were served in Old Town Winchester at Shenandoah University’s Bowman Building, once a bustling bank. Flautists from the university serenaded attendees as they walked into the hall, transformed by candelabra filled with dahlias and roses.

Thursday morning's speaker was David Carr, a UVA professor of environmental sciences and the director of Blandy Experimental Farm, who provided attendees with a fascinating lecture on invasive and native plants.

Sally Guy Brown paid tribute to the Little Garden Club of Winchester, closing with, “But there is something wrong, it seems to me. The amazing garden club could not little be!”

LGC hosted 2014 and 2015 GCV Daffodil Shows

2014 Daffodil Show Photos

2015 Daffodil Show Photos

Talented members have consistently won ribbons at GCV flower Shows, including a 2008 Lily Show artistic InterClub blue, a 2009 Daffodil Show artistic InterClub yellow and a 2010 Rose Show artistic blue for a pave arrangement.

Club members participated in the 2011 dedication of the GCV restoration of John Handley High School landscape.

GCV Awards

In 1996, Carolyn Griffin received the GCV Horticulture Award of Merit for her dedication to the horticultural pursuit of daffodils, which she grows, shows and judges on a statewide level.

LGC Presidents 1995-2023

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lynchburggardenclub.org

From its beginnings, the Lynchburg Garden Club has existed to enhance the quality of life in the community with beautification projects, conservation efforts and promoting those qualities of graciousness that are part of a cultured community.

One of the club's earliest and long-standing community projects began in 1936, when the historic Miller-Claytor House was moved to its present location in Lynchburg's Riverside Park. The club elected to take on the development of a garden at the house and asked renowned Richmond landscape architect Charles F. Gillette to design the plan. The garden was planted in 1940 and cared for by LGC members. In recognition of its ongoing care of the Miller-Claytor Garden, the Lynchburg Garden Club received the 1947 Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement. Some 10 years later the garden was restored to its original 18th-century design.

In 2003, the club enhanced the Riverside Park entrance with planting and signage; from 2004-2010, partnered with the City of Lynchburg to research Riverside Park history and create a master plan; from 2006-2010, created a gazebo garden, dedicated in 2010, that guides visitors down a series of steps to the park’s gazebo; from 2010-2011, provided additional landscaping at the park’s gazebo; from 2011-2012, added a stone patio to the side of the Miller-Claytor House with lovely plantings designed by Laura Sackett; and. in 2012, received $11,500 Common Wealth Award funding for its project to restore the Gillette garden and to install safety railings near the patio.

The club continues to maintain its extensive Riverside Park gardens in partnership with the City of Lynchburg.

Community projects in the early 1990s included the installation of two small gardens near Point of Honor, a historic property given by the City of Lynchburg to the Lynchburg Historical Foundation in 1968 for restoration and, in 1971, a bequest was left to the foundation to establish a local history museum. In 1976-1978, the Lynchburg Museum System was created, the house was restored and the house was opened as a public museum. The Garden Club of Virginia restored the landscape with a stone circular drive and grove-like tree plantings appropriate to the period, as well as a demonstration apple orchard and visitor center terrace and plantings. Updates to the property's landscape continue to be provided by GCV with support from LGC members.

Roadside Biodiversity Garden

In 2019, the club partnered with Hillside Garden Club to create Blue Ridge Conservation, a joint committee led by Joy Hilliard and Judy Frantz, that is focused on conservation, education and native planting. In partnership with the City of Lynchburg, the Lynchburg Expressway Appearance Fund (LEAF), Crowther Landscape Architecture and Irvington Spring Farm, Blue Ridge Conservation planned and planted a three-acre pollinator bed along the US 501 Bypass in Lynchburg. The project received the 2021 Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award in 2021.

From 2008 to 2012, club members joined efforts, led by Heidi James, to remove the derelict Treasure Island bridge from the James River. Once the main access from the city to the 28-acre island owned by Liberty University, the steel and wooden structure was washed out by a flood in 1985, destroying the viewshed and creating a navigational hazard. Club members were vocal in sharing their concerns with city residents, creating a groundswell of support. Lynchburg city councilmen joined the efforts and met with Liberty University officials to share concerns in 2012. As a result, Liberty took action immediately to remove the bridge -- a project that involved cutting the steel into manageable sections, using a crane to load the steel onto a barge, navigating the barge around the island to university property on the Amherst County side of the river, unloading the barge by crane and hauling the steel away. Heidi James was later awarded the de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation for her leadership in efforts to remove the bridge.

In 2011, the club partnered with Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest and Hillside Garden Club to host German-British historian and writer Andrea Wulf. Her presentation included a discussion of her books: Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation; and The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession. The successful event attracted hundreds of attendees.

Club members successfully took a stand against the demolition of Villa Maria, a 1911 historic home that has since been beautifully restored by private owners.

In preparation for the club’s 2022 centennial celebration, the club partnered with the City of Lynchburg in 2019 to install native perennial plantings at a new city gateway sign on Route 29 North; sustaining members raised funds to plant 25 sugar maples on Peakland Place to replace those lost in a tornado; and Blue Ridge Conservation began efforts to attain Bee City USA status for the City of Lynchburg.

Garden Club of Virginia

Three members of the Lynchburg Garden Club have served as President of the Garden Club of Virginia over the years: Anne Glass, 1942-1944; Pat Leggett, 1994-1996 and Mina Wood, 2000-2002.

LGC has been well-represented on the GCV Board of Directors and as Committee Chairmen.

Mina Wood: Recording Secretary, 1996-1998; 1st Vice President, 1998-2000; President, 2000-2002; Personnel Committee Chairman, 2002-2004; Restoration Committee Chairman 2004-2006; Symposium Committee Chairman, 2006-2008. Jocelyn Connors: Conservation Committee Chairman 2004-2006; Massie Medal Committee Chairman 2006-2008. Kay Van Allen: Horticulture Committee Chairman 2006-2008. Betsy Worthington: Speaker Series Committee Chairman 2006-2008; Recording Secretary 2008-2010; Common Wealth Award Committee Chairman 2010-2012; Corresponding Secretary 2012-2014; Treasurer 2014-2018; Restoration Committee Chairman 2020-2022. Heidi James: Historian 2010-2012; Conservation Awards Committee Chairman 2018-2020; Horticulture Committee Chairman 2020-2022. Catherine Madden: Director at Large 2011-2013; Horticulture Committee Chairman 2016-2018; 2nd Vice President 2018-2020; Daffodil Day Chairman 2020-2022

The Lynchburg Garden Club hosted the Garden Club of Virginia Lily Show in 2003 and 2004 at Randolph-Macon Woman's College.

2003 Lily Show Schedule

2004 Lily Show Schedule

2004 Lily Show Photos

The Garden Club of Virginia held Horticulture Field Day in Lynchburg in 2005 and again in 2018.

2005 Horticulture Field Day Photos

2018 Horticulture Field Day Photos

In celebration of the Garden Club of Virginia's centennial project at Virginia State Parks, LGC partnered with Hillside Garden Club to support a project at Holliday Lake State Park in 2018.

Historic Garden Week

The LGC hosts its annual Historic Garden Week tour in partnership with Hillside Garden Club, averaging over 1,000 visitors each year. LGC programs throughout the year focus on the tour and include what to plant, how to gather plant material and floral arranging. Members’ gardens provide about 95% of the floral and foliage material used in HGW arrangements.

Every club member participates. Friendships are formed and much accumulated knowledge and long-developed skills are shared. Seasoned members shepherd new members in the hope they will soon be able to do the coveted dining room table arrangement.

Garden Club of Virginia Awards

The 1995 Dugdale Award for Meritorious Achievement in Conservation was presented to LGC’s nominee, T. Ashby Watts, for his leadership role in landscaping the Lynchburg Expressway.

The 2012 Common Wealth Award to Lynchburg Garden Club for its project at the Miller-Claytor House Garden, a historic home and garden located in Riverside Park. The award was used to restore the gardens Charles Gillette designed in 1936 and to install safety railings near the patio.

The 2017 de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation was awarded to Heidi James for her work to remove a derelict iron bridge from the James River.

The Anne Duvall Miller Massie Perpetual Trophy is named in honor of an LGC member and is awarded annually at Daffodil Day for the best entry of five different pre-1940 daffodils.

Most recent Horticulture Award of Merit recipients are Foxie Morgan in 2003, and Kay Van Allen in 2004.

LGC Presidents 1995-2021

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Coming soon.

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gardenclubofthemiddlepeninsula.com

The information that follows is primarily from a history prepared by Grace Phelps Rhinesmith and Marty Taylor with addenda by Laura Anne Brooks.

In the Beginning

In 1993-94, Judy Boyd and Cora Sue Spruill envisioned creating a local garden club. They opened membership to four counties -- Essex, King William, King and Queen and Middlesex – an area 70 miles long and 30 miles wide with a total population of approximately 40,000 residents. They invited six more women to assist them in founding the club -- two founders from each of the four counties.

GCV President Helen Murphy, a member of The Garden Club of the Northern Neck, provided needed guidance with the help of Sara Ann Lindsey, a member of The Hunting Creek Garden Club of Alexandria and a resident of Essex County.

Forty-one active and eleven associate members were invited to become charter members of The Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula and, at a meeting on June 16, 1996, at St. Paul’s Church in Essex County, they met and elected officers. Using their many and varied talents, they successfully developed a model for the future: educational meetings with exhibits of horticulture specimens and artistic arrangements; community engagement; house tours; conservation, preservation and beautification projects; and legislative action. The club was off to a great start! GCMP was committed to GCV and its events -- Historic Garden Week, restoration projects, educational programs, flower shows, symposia, and horticulture field day.

Bette Albert created a needlepoint square with the club’s logo designed by Ann Chenoweth -- one of 47 squares created by member clubs in the Kent-Valentine House.

Eager to participate and learn, the club set the stage in 1998-1999 for what was to follow in the next 25 years.

• Created arrangements for the Antiques and Art Show at St. Margaret’s School
• Decorated a member’s horse and carriage for the Maymont Victorian Carriage Day and received ribbons for “Best in Show” and “Best Floral Design.”
• Entered an InterClub arrangement in the GCV Rose Show and received an honorable mention. (A member won an individual blue ribbon in both the Rose and Daffodil Shows.)
• Provided funds to restore a window at historic St. John’s Church in King William County
• Awarded scholarships to Nature Camp
• Hosted a conservation forum at Middlesex High School in Saluda, open to the public. Well-known national, state, and local speakers promoted awareness of conservation issues facing citizens in the Middle Peninsula, the Northern Neck, and surrounding areas, and encouraged "backyard" conservation for individuals.
• Raised funds selling Christmas wreaths and tickets to a demonstration by the altar guild of the Washington National Cathedral.
• Provided programs at club meetings to enrich members’ understanding of exhibiting (tablescapes and Ikebana designs), and the environment (Ecology of the Rappahannock River, Fear of Cutting Trees)
• Debuted the annual yearbook that included club organization and leadership, member contact information, the annual calendar including major GCV events, and the bylaws.

Historic Garden Week

GCMP Historic Garden Week house tours have been memorable and have won raves from visitors. The first HGW tour hosted by GCMP, in 1999, was located in Essex County and featured five historic homes and a Colonial church. Advised to expect 2000 visitors, more than 3000 showed up. The tour generated a record-breaking revenue of $54,000 -- more than any previous single tour. That afternoon, when one of the husbands deposited $34,000 cash in the local bank, it was considered “a suspicious transaction.” Betty Evans never forgot making lemonade for the unexpected crowds on that very hot day, using barrels and a garden hose. Tickets ran out and scraps of paper were used. The sheriff’s department will not forget the tour either, as they tried to control traffic and sent a puzzled driver heading for Virginia Beach down a long dirt driveway to one of the tour houses.

That first tour set the bar high, but each subsequent tour has had its own special characteristics and successes. The club has honored the spouses who have assisted with HGW: Ned von Walter was the club's first artist for the local HGW brochure; all house tours have had spouses as traffic facilitators and pasture parking attendants; and Byran Childress dressed the part to park the “horses” at historic Chelsea Plantation.

Out of those early beginnings ....

GCMP has met at churches, at museums, in gardens, in private homes, and on the rivers. Members have learned botanical names, conditioning and exhibiting horticulture specimens, and artistic designs. Participation in GCV events is intricately woven into the club's calendar. Members have learned how to influence proposed legislative actions that may impact their community. They contribute articles to newspapers, magazines, and journals. Learning opportunities are provided during meetings by notable speakers and by GCMP members, covering informative topics such as artistic arranging, designing gardens, container gardening, building habitats, and preparing garden soils; as well as how to exhibit horticulture specimens and artistic arrangements, create artistic designs, and effectively use the mechanics of artistic arranging.

Making a Difference

GCMP partners with The Garden Club of the Northern Neck to host an annual conservation forum each fall on a rotating host club basis. Forums are open to the public at no charge and call attention to current environmental and conservation topics and issues. Distinguished speakers have addressed topics such as: The Chesapeake Bay, Federal and Local Perspective, Preserving our Marshes; Planned Growth for Better Communities; Rural Landscape Preservation; Pesticides: Your Health and Food; and Solar Farms Pros and Cons.

GCMP was instrumental in Historic Byway designation for Highway 17 in Essex County and Highway 14 in King and Queen County.

The club has funded scholarships to Nature Camp (natural history and environmental science education for students and teachers); Ruby Lee Norris Teachers on the Bay (Chesapeake Bay Foundation marine ecology classes); and an academic scholarship for students pursuing a course of study in college consistent with the club's mission statement. Local teachers sponsored by the club to Nature Camp have returned bubbling with enthusiasm. Likewise, student campers have surprised even themselves with their delight in such studies as limnology, herpetology, and ornithology, regaling club members with their experiences.

The club maintains membership in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, Scenic Virginia, the Mattaponi-Pamunkey Rivers Association, Friends of the Rappahannock, Virginia Conservation Network, Essex County Conservation Alliance, and Friends of Dragon Run. The club follows GCV legislative positions each year and sends members to participate in Legislative Day, at times including local teachers and students as guests. Taking high school students as guests to Legislative Day has proven to be particularly rewarding, as they are always engaged and thrilled to be part of these important processes. The club has provided financial support to local community projects: landscaping the Essex County Library, the King and Queen Courthouse Tavern Museum, the Middlesex County Museum, and the West Point Historical Society Museum; tree planting at each of the club's four county courthouses; plantings at Lewis Puller Park in Middlesex; erecting street signs in the historic district of Tappahannock; building the launch site for the Mount Landing Creek Interpretive Water Trail at the Hutchinson site in Essex County, and restoration of King William County’s historic wall, clerk’s office and jail at the King William Court House complex; the community conservation forum; the canoe launch on Mount Landing Creek, Rappahannock Wildlife Refuge; gardens at King and Queen County Central High School, King and Queen Elementary School, Essex Middle School, and Essex High School; and St. Claire Walker Middle School “Hands On Conservation Project.”

GCMP presents plaques each year to recognize neighborhoods, businesses, civic organizations, institutions, and individual actions in conservation, preservation, and beautification of the community. Plaques have been presented for the preservation of historic buildings, leadership in environmental education, creation of local museums, leadership of environmental organizations, and creation of wildlife and marine habitat.

Raising Funds

Successful fundraisers have added monies to the club's treasury for outreach projects: a Gay Mont Afternoon, sale of Christmas wreaths, notecards created by members, umbrellas, and pocket calendars of HGW flower photos.

Most notable fundraisers were the two very successful, “Designing Women: Inside, Outside, and In My Lady’s Chamber” events featuring nationally and internationally recognized speakers, workshops, vendors, and a luncheon-fashion show. Visitors came from over a hundred miles away. The profitable first “Designing Women” concluded as Hurricane Isabel’s rain bands approached, flooding the venue. Members still tell stories about water to their calves, floating furniture, and shrinking clothes. More recent fundraisers have included a silent auction, sales of oyster shell Christmas ornaments, and decorations made by members at the Urbanna Oyster Festival, as well as sales of booth space at the club's 2019 HGW tour marketplace.

To celebrate its 25-year anniversary, the club published the cookbook, Food and Flowers: Favorites of the Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula, with favorite recipes from members and photographs of floral arrangements at HGW tours. The committee spent hours at a local diner, the Central Garage Restaurant (named  after its location), with locals often chiming in with opinions ranging from the type of book cover to the recipes. The forward notes, “GCMP has balanced hard work and civic giving with hearty laughter and wonderful camaraderie….has nourished both the community and each other.” Years later, it still reaps sales on the GCV website.

Garden Club of Virginia

In 2006-2007, GCMP hosted the GCV 68th and 69th Rose Shows, “River Reflections,” co-chaired  by Anne Bland and Lexi Byers at Christ Church School in Middlesex.

2006 Rose Show Schedule and Awards

2006 Rose Show Photos

2007 Rose Show Schedule and Awards

2007 Rose Show Photos

In 2017, GCMP hosted the GCV 75th annual Lily Show, “Let’s Celebrate with Lilies,” co-chaired by Betty Anne (Boo) Garrett and Biddie Shelor at Essex High School in Tappahannock -- the final GCV flower show that required member club hosting and participation. Public attendance was one of the highest of the shows.

2017 Lily Show Photos

With The Garden Club of the Northern Neck and The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club, GCMP shares hosting responsibility for a tri-club meeting every other year that includes a visit from the president of the Garden Club of Virginia.

Club teams and individual members have won numerous ribbons at GCV Flower Show horticulture and artistic exhibits. Laura Anne Brooks has continued her tradition of bringing home ribbons and silver, including several best-in-show in horticulture and tri-color in artistic. The club has exhibited multiple times in Fine Arts & Flowers at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and attended the event programs and luncheon. A group of members attended the GCV Centennial "Back to Nature" and Conservation Forum at Natural Bridge.

Members have served in GCV leadership positions: Director at Large, Conservation Committee, Journal Editorial Board, Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award Committee, Rose Committee, Lily Committee, and Conservation Awards Committee, and as the GCV Daffodil Day Chairman. Members have written articles for the Journal, and Gwynn Litchfield’s watercolor "Gardner’s Choice" appeared on the Journal cover in 2013, and her Oriental lily in 2017, in honor of the Lily Show hosted by GCMP.

Club Member Recognition

Every two years at its biennial meeting, GCMP presents awards to members. The Horticulture Award is for the most points received for exhibiting horticulture specimens at meetings, and the President’s Award is for the most points received for exhibiting artistic arrangements at membership meetings. In 2016, two perpetual awards were given to the club, each in memory of a past member. They are awarded at the biennial meeting: one for outstanding leadership and service honors Grace Warren Rowell Phelps Rhinesmith, and one for exemplification of the spirit and mission of GCMP honors Ruth Ellen Edwards Hurley.

Celebrating Friendships

Members have established firm bonds of friendship with ladies of similar interests whom they might not have met otherwise, particularly due to the large geographical area covered by the club. GCMP is a working club, but members like to play as well -- Christmas parties, HGW after-tour parties, river parties, “pop-up” parties, and garden parties. Members have taken club trips to the Philadelphia Flower Show; to private gardens in Wilmington, Delaware: and to the WAFA World Flower Show in Boston. Club meetings have included day trips to the winery and vineyards at Barboursville, historic Montpelier, Mount Vernon, Virginia State Arboretum, Old Blandford Church, Lee Park and more.

The club has celebrated its anniversaries; most recently its 2019 Silver Anniversary, held at historic “Windsor Shades,” the home of Lynn Fischer on the Pamunkey River. Two primary founders, Judy Boyd and Cora Sue Spruill, who took the first seeds of a garden club and nourished them to maturity, entertained members. Attendees enjoyed a scrolling slideshow and a lunch under the shade trees by the river. Adele Smith distributed a compilation of member anecdotes titled “25 Years of Good Times: Ladies Laugh at Themselves.”

2020

In 2020, with the advent of COVID-19, GCMP went virtual. President Anne Glubiak dubbed a new committee, the Coronial Committee (a takeoff on the Colonial and historic nature of the club's four counties and the Coronavirus), which organized a quick pivot and made sure the wheels of the club kept turning. In addition to ZOOM meetings, the website and newsletter became our communication tools through articles and photos. A biennial awards year, recipients received their awards in Laura Anne Brooks’ beautiful gardens, complete with a tour through the woods, but no audience. Board members divvied up the membership roster and called all members, generating much appreciated conversations. It was also the time in which the board transitioned to a new board. It so happened that the outgoing president, Anne Glubiak, and incoming president, Bette Albert, lived across from each other, each at the end of a half-mile long drive. They set up their chairs at the end of their drives and “passed the gavel.”

GCMP looks forward to continuing activities that will promote the welfare of its rivers and this garden spot its members call home.

GCMP Presidents 1996-2024

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In Progress

millmountaingc.org/

Our members continue to renew this vow and to support restoring, improving, and protecting the environment.

Walking Down Our Garden Path

The history of Mill Mountain Garden Club (MMGC) over the past 25 years can most successfully be shared by Walking Down Our Garden Path. We invite you to join us!

MMGC’s Wildflower Garden (WFG), which sits atop Mill Mountain, is at the heart of the club’s history. Since the first weed was pulled in 1972, MMGC members have spent thousands of hours cultivating, nurturing, and expanding the garden and our club. In 1978, the WFG received the Garden Club of America’s Founders Fund Award and in 1988, the Garden Club of Virginia’s Common Wealth Award. In many ways, the strength and purpose of the WFG and MMGC are intertwined with trails, paths, and deep roots.

The entrance to the WFG is the Discovery Trail. This trail branches out into paths and lanes that introduce guests to many areas of interest. The Discovery Trail is a “universal access” pathway which allows individuals with mobility challenges to navigate the beauty of the garden. The Discovery Trail, the restored cascading pond, the expanded native plant and pollinator collections, and educational features are a result of generous grants and donations made to The Restoration Campaign for the WFG in 2020.

An informative “Welcome” sign greets guests at the trail head. This sign is one of four educational signs placed throughout the garden that were funded by the Garden Club of Virginia’s 2020 Common Wealth Award.

Just off the WFG’s entrance, you can see a grove of five hybridized, blight-resistant American Chestnut trees. In 2010, MMGC, in partnership with the American Chestnut Foundation and the City of Roanoke, participated in the Garden Club of America’s Centennial Tree Project. Nuts gathered from these trees have been harvested, sprouted, and planted by the city arborist in other city parks. Our hope is that this once magnificent tree which was destroyed by blight, will one day return to the WFG, the mountains of Virginia, and beyond.

Horticulture is at the heart of the WFG and an integral part of MMGC. Members’ gardens attest to the knowledge and expertise gained from our involvement in GCV and MMGC Horticulture Shows and Workshops. GCV bulb collections have graced our gardens for decades. In 2010, MMGC published a book entitled “Just in Time -- To Plant, Grow and Sow" which is filled with helpful advice for local gardeners.

If you follow the lower garden path, you will encounter a breathtaking Pollinator Garden. Coneflower, Goldenrod, Coleus, and other pollinators attract bees, birds, and butterflies to the garden. Speaking of bees, MMGC’s Conservation Committee was instrumental in Roanoke City obtaining a Bee City designation.

No glass or bottle caps are underfoot as we Walk Down Our Garden Path. MMGC has embraced recycling with a passion and has participated in community recycling of electronics, collected plastics for TREX products, and supported the Roanoke City effort to become the first local government in Virginia to tax disposable plastic bags. The Conservation Committee educates our members through a book club, movie screenings, and monthly tips on the importance of conservation.

The Outdoor Classroom is just up the path on one of the highest points in the garden – a lovely setting for weddings, concerts, graduations, and family reunions, as well as the site of occasional MMGC meetings. The Outdoor Classroom and the Cascading Pond are favorite spots for all to enjoy the beauty of our mountain vistas.

Over the past 25 years, MMGC’s community advocacy and engagement efforts have highlighted our commitment to partnering on projects. Support for Roanoke Valley educational institutions, including North Cross School’s Butterfly Garden and Virginia Western Community College’s Arboretum have created strong ties. Through a generous gift from MMGC past president Elisabeth Carter’s Charitable Lead Trust, MMGC established the Elisabeth “Liz” Reed Carter Educational Annual Scholarship in 2020 to benefit students pursuing degrees or certificates in horticulture, environmental studies, plant science, or forestry. This pathway to education has been enhanced by community forums and programs. In 2006, MMGC’s Conservation Committee presented a panel discussion on Clean Smokestack legislation; in 2008 we hosted a community forum on threats of development on Mill Mountain. Each year, MMGC members take the path to Richmond for GCV’s Legislative Day. We are honored to be part of a respected voice to advocate for important environmental issues in Virginia.

Our relationship with our sister club, Roanoke Valley Garden Club (RVGC), allows us to make a greater impact upon the community. In 2005 our two clubs joined forces to landscape Habitat for Humanity Houses. In step with the Roanoke Council of Garden Clubs, we traveled the path to the Salem Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center and supported the only therapeutic garden in a VA Hospital in the country. In addition, we requested a grant from GCV for the Smith Mountain Lake Parks to purchase supplies for educational programs in their wet lab. We love partnering with RVGC for Historic Garden Week (HGW) each year. There is strength in numbers!

It is difficult to count the awards and ribbons MMGC members have won since 1995 in GCV Lily, Daffodil, and Rose Shows; Fine Arts and Flowers (VMFA); Art Go Bloom (Taubman Museum); and the Miss Virginia Pageant. The Photography Class has become popular with all members.

A branch of the garden path leads us to the excitement of hosting flower and horticulture shows and major meetings. GCV’s Board of Governors Meeting in 2006 and GCA Zone VII Meeting and Flower Show in 2018 were educational and delightful experiences.

2006 GCV Board of Governors

BOG Photos

The eighty-seventh Board of Governors meeting was hosted by the Mill Mountain Garden Club at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center on October 17-19, 2006. The meeting was chaired by Jane Coulter and Patti Palmer.

President Sally Guy Brown called the meeting to order Wednesday morning and asked Mill Mountain Garden Club president Kay Kelly to introduce Roanoke mayor, Nelson Harris. Kay then provided a preview of events and introduced club historians Jane Butler and Jill Pendleton who recited a poem paying tribute to the 79-year-old club.

Following business, attendees traveled to Hollins University where lunch was served prior to the presentation of the Beale Memorial Garden. The afternoon offered a visit to Mill Mountain Garden Club’s award-winning Wildflower Garden. The awards banquet followed that evening at the Hotel Roanoke.

Thursday morning's business meeting closed with a choice of three seminars -- Development conducted by Ann Sanders and Catherine Whitham, Restoration conducted by Mary Lou Seilheimer and Online conducted by Nina Mustard.

GCV Awards

Our path through the WFG is filled with members who have received awards from GCV over the past 25 years: Horticulture Awards of Merit -- 1995, Betty Boxley; 1998, Frances Kincanon; 1999, Carolyn Noland; 2012, Jane Cheadle; 2016, Virginia Vinyard; The deLacy Gray Medal -- 1998, Lucy Ellett. We are proud of these talented ladies!

A new trail to “Get Outside” (adventures and trips) was blazed in 2015. Hiking nearby mountains, kayaking the Roanoke River, paddle-boarding in Smith Mountain Lake, bicycling from Alexandria to Mount Vernon, and birding in the WFG are but a few of our many outside activities that provide the opportunity to enjoy one another and the beauty of our natural world.

The past 25 years have been filled with technology pathways. We have developed from a club of “phone trees” to a tech savvy club. We are connected by email, text, electronic newsletters, educational websites, Instagram and Facebook platforms, Zoom meetings, iPhone technology, and Google Drive. Technology has opened a variety of new garden paths that have allowed MMGC to save money, save time, archive our history, share our documents, communicate with each other and market our projects to the community.

Much has changed from 1995-2020 but one thing remains the same: MMGC continues to be an inspiration to her members and to cultivate community through educational programs, projects, activities and civic engagement as we walk the path towards the future.

MMGC history was written by The Mill Mountain Garden Club Archive Committee.

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1996-2000

The Nansemond River Garden Club marked 1996 with two important milestones -- the club’s 68th birthday, and the 60th anniversary of the club’s membership in the Garden Club of Virginia. As was true when the club was founded, dedicated members have continued their enthusiasm for participation in local and state-level activities.

Fundraisers have included bus trips to Charleston and Savannah, sales and raffles. The club has funded projects to beautify the Suffolk Museum and to help fund the Gay Birdsong Memorial Flower Fund, NRGC’s Ecology Camp and the Wildlife Project.

The members have actively supported the GCV anti-billboard legislation through a letter-writing campaign.

Nansemond River hosted the 62nd Annual Rose Show in 1998. The members worked their magic transforming the Nansemond Suffolk Academy’s cafeteria into a glorious sight for all who attended. The need to fill a category resulted in co-chairman, Nita Bagnell, winning Best in Show for her tablescape. Four hundred seventy-four stems added to the spectacle of a successful show. The members extended their heartfelt thanks to the Elizabeth River, Franklin and Brunswick clubs for their assistance. Preparations for the 63rd Rose Show in 1999 became upended when the devastating rains, caused by Hurricane Floyd, inundated southeast Virginia, causing, for the first time in GCV history, the cancellation of a Rose Show.

2000-2010

Continuing the club members’ interest and attendance at Conservation Forums, it was announced at the March 2000 meeting that NRGC was the only club who completed the environmental boxes for the science teachers’ project. The new decade brought new fundraising ideas: sales of metal flower containers, wrought iron lanterns, the Step into Spring luncheon and blossom boas. The club continued with projects to preserve and protect the environment, to provide educational programs, to support GCV preservation projects and to foster projects within the community.

Georgie Morgan, director of the Nansemond River Garden Club Ecology Camp, was awarded the 2000 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Meritorious Achievement in Conservation.

In 2001 the club began researching projects that would continue the club’s on-going focus to preserve and beautify the city. In 2002 a commitment of $10,000 began a partnership with the city to establish a garden in the 1802 Cedar Hill Cemetery. Having acquired a tax-exempt status, the club hired an architectural historian, began the layout of the garden and applied for the GCV Common Wealth Award. Through the club’s work, the cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.

'The Heritage Garden is part of the larger Cedar Hill Project, the rejuvenation and beautification of Cedar Hill Cemetery, the only greenspace in our historic district. This project is how our garden club chose to be a part of Suffolk's major downtown revitalization effort. To date we have invested $10,000 of our treasury in hiring an architectural historian, landscaping the main entrance of the cemetery, replacing cedar trees felled by Hurricane Isabel, and creating a scatter garden for human ashes. Interest in the old cemetery has been raised by our activities there and by our sending speakers with a PowerPoint program to local groups.

'The Heritage Garden with its berried/fragrant plants, accessible to the physically and sight impaired, faces the river and hotel/convention center, providing an ideal location to highlight the history of Suffolk during Colonial and Civil War periods. It has been named a Legacy Project for America's 400th Anniversary, and its implementation is a city-wide effort with many contributions and grants being given to NRGC.

"With the receipt of the prestigious Common Wealth Award, the addition of historic signage (including Braille) and fragrant plants would complete the garden."

~NRGC application text reproduced in June 2006 Journal by Melba Trenary

2002 brought particularly exciting news. Mary Hart Darden was elected President of the Garden Club of Virginia (2002-2004), the third club member to be so recognized. In 2012 Mary Hart received the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement. On the club’s current membership roll are those who have been members for over sixty years. NRGC members have served as GCV officers, committee chairmen, committee members and participated in long-range and strategic planning.

In 2008 a club mentorship program began. It has proven successful and beneficial to new members and has been a positive reaffirmation for the mentors of the club’s programs and projects.

Nansemond River Garden Club president Pat House accepted the GCV Commonwealth Award for the Heritage Garden at Cedar Hill Cemetery in 2006 at the 87th Board of Governors Meeting. The 2007 dedication of the Heritage Garden, the newly formed scatter garden and the restored historic fountain was attended by the GCV President, Sally Guy Brown. Others attending for this Jamestown Legacy 2007 Project were the City’s mayor and dignitaries, project donors and club members as host. The club provided for perpetual funding for the garden and continues the upkeep to provide an inviting garden in the only green space in downtown Suffolk.

The Horticulture Award of Merit, the ninth for NRGC, was awarded to Mary Lawrence Harrell. The club’s nomination for the Dugdale Award for Conservation was presented to the Thomas J. Lipton, Inc. Tea, Inc. for promoting a reduce, reuse and recycle approach, resulting in the company achieving a 100 percent recycle goal in 2009. The company also received the 2010 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award.

2010-2022

The new decade began with the club’s winning the Quad Blue for the best InterClub artistic award at the 72nd Rose Show.

Preparations that were underway for the 2012 Board of Governors meeting in downtown Suffolk, went into high gear. The Heritage Garden was fluffed to perfection and final assignments were coordinated with the GCV and the club’s co-chairmen. A new logo featuring cattails, designed by a member’s son, debuted at BOG. Rains threatened on the evening of the BOG cocktail party, held at Cricket Hill on the Nansemond River, the home of Dwight and Jane Schaubach. The skies cleared just as attendees arrived and the lovely party ended with the host driving GCV President, Ann Gordon Evans, to Cedar Point Country Club in his 1929 Duesenberg. The following day gave attendees an opportunity to see the historic sights and visit the Heritage Garden in downtown Suffolk.

Club business and educational programs continued as usual and club members learned about the newly formed Nansemond River Preservation Alliance (NRPA). The club became a supporter of this grassroots organization of businesses, organizations and individuals to educate the public about the importance of the health of our waterways. NRPA was the 2019 recipient of the Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for its dedication to preserving the waterways and educating the future generations through hands-on classroom programs.

Visit the following sites for more information.

Nansemond River Preserfvation Alliance

Suffolk River Heritage 

Partnering with the city, the club hired the firm of John Milner Associates to present a preservation plan for Cedar Hill Cemetery. The plan resulted in the firm’s winning a prestigious award from the Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The club also hired Andrews Lefevre Corporation. of New York to cast a stately bronze map, in Braille and print, giving detailed information of the Heritage Garden and Cedar Hill Cemetery. Suffolk Tourism Bureau’s tours now begins at the map located in our award-winning garden.

A joint partnership with the Elizabeth River Garden Club, then the addition of the Franklin Garden Club to Historic Garden Week, has been a rewarding opportunity to work closely with sister clubs. Sharing the leadership responsibilities, while rotating the tours among the three cities, has given guests and  members an enhanced appreciation for the diverse region.

Adding to the list of award winners, Susan Garrett, won the Nobel Prize for the best horticulture exhibit at the 2018 Symposium. In 2019 she was awarded the GCV Horticulture Award of Merit.

2018 marked NRGC’s 90th anniversary. To celebrate, the club sponsored a speaker/luncheon event, complete with outstanding vendors, and thus began a series of highly successful fundraisers. October 2022 marked the fourth such event. With these funds, the club has: given funds to the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance for hands-on water-monitoring devices for elementary students and a riparian restoration project on the Nansemond River; gifted a bench and gardening tools to the new Salvation Army facility in downtown Suffolk; continued funding the club’s Ecology Camp (renamed the Ellen G. Godwin Ecology Camp); funded the first phase of a three-part ecological garden at King’s Fork High School; and continued providing necessary upkeep and improvements to the Heritage Garden at Cedar Hill Cemetery. The club has set aside funding for an additional beatification project within the city.

In 2020 the club added photography to its list of special committee. Members have enthusiastically embraced and participated in GCV and in-house photography shows.

The Nansemond River Garden Club moves forward with a resilient attitude that sustains the club's humor and its ongoing dedication, commitment and financial support to the principles of the club and the Garden Club of Virginia.

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thegardenclubofnorfolk.org

1990-2000

The Garden Club of Norfolk gifted the entrance arbor at the Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) in support of its Holiday of Lights show. During this time, the club also provided a planter for the Rotunda at NBG's Rose Hall and refurbished the Colonial Garden.

The club also helped fund the Yellow Fever Memorial Park in West Ghent that honors those lost in the epidemic of 1855. Nearly 10% of the city's population is believed to have perished with the fever. The park remains an open green space with seasonal plantings covering a burial mound where many bodies had to be quickly interred to prevent spread of the disease.

Hunter Savage was awarded the Garden Club of Virginia's distinguished Massie Medal in 1994 for outstanding work in gardening and in service to GCV with dedication and distinction. Hunter served as the president of the Garden Club of Virginia from 1976-1978 and held numerous other posts and committee appointments over many years of work at state and local levels.

The Garden Club of Norfolk gifted money to the Kent Valentine House Restoration in 1995; continued to offer financial and volunteer support of the Weyanoke Preserve; hosted the GCV Annual Meeting in May of 1995; funded plantings in two large public areas at the entrance of the new MacArthur Center Mall; and donated $15,000 to the NBG's Virginia Native Plant Garden, 1997-2000.

Annual Greenery Sale: A 30 Year Tradition

In 1990, Sugar Bacon and Huffy Furr created an annual fundraiser that continues to draw members and friends together every year for the sale of holiday greenery fresh from the Carolina mountains. Today the event is known as "Greens Galore and So Much More!"

Members who have co-chaired this committee include: Sugar Bacon, Huffy Furr and Tish Counselman; Annie Moore and Anne Whittemore; Mary Lyall Ramsey and Joan Parker; Betty Anne Patrick and Ann Martin; Puddy Crisler and Pat Stecker; Jane Cole and Penny West; Pam Combs and Kerri Stokes; Sandy Bond and Pam Reed; Sandy Bond and Puddy Crisler; Kathy Finney and Caroline Furr; Cathy Burnette and Mary Beth Rickman; Jamie Old and Jane Cole; and Katherine Knaus and Jane Cole.

2000-2010

Notable Community projects: provided funds to purchase and plant 12 mature Italian Cypress trees at the entrance of the Harrison Opera House;  along with the Elizabeth River and Virginia Beach Garden Clubs, secured the GCV Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for the Elizabeth River Project and its work in restoration of an important local waterway; contributed $20,000 toward the Children's World of Wonders Garden at the Norfolk Botanical Garden; provided funding for the purchase and planting of a Katsura tree at Norfolk Fire Station #1 to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001 tragedy; gifted $5,000 to the WPA Memorial Garden in honor of the African American women who worked to clear land in 1938 for the beginning of the Azalea Garden, the forerunner of today’s Norfolk Botanical Garden.

The Garden Club of Norfolk received the 2001 GCV Common Wealth Award -- $6,000 to fund on-going efforts at Norfolk Botanical Garden's Virginia Native Plant Garden; and in 2003, the club received the GCA Founders' Fund Award -- $25,000 to continue funding the garden.

In 2007, GCN took the lead in designing and hosting a Global Warming Forum with Harborfront Garden Club and the City of Norfolk. Several hundred citizens took part in the event, and it stands today as one of the first such informational sessions to address the impact of climate change and rising waters in our city and community. Jane Cole and Gillian Cady were instrumental in the effort. The Norfolk Environmental Commission recognized GCN for Excellence in Communication and Environmental Stewardship. GCN was also recognized by the Virginia Sierra Club for its efforts.

2010-2020

2010 saw the launch of a website for the Garden Club of Norfolk. GCN was the first local club to create its own site and soon began to rely on this means of communication among its membership, the community and with other GCV and GCA clubs across the state and nation.

In 2010 the club gave $25,000 to the Virginia Zoo for construction of a copper roof gazebo constructed in the existing rose garden. A dedication ceremony featured the planting of a pink radiance rose and the unveiling of a bronze plaque to recognize and thank the club for its support. The gazebo has become a favorite spot for family photos and a pretty venue for small wedding ceremonies.

Historic Garden Week

In 2011, the Norfolk Home and Garden Tour generated a record $30,000 plus in revenues to support the Garden Club of Virginia’s efforts in restoration of historic gardens. GCN has participated in every Historic Garden Week since its beginning in the late 192o’s. Today the statewide tour is recognized as “America’s largest open house!”

For 30 years, the Norfolk Tour has been a joint project for the Garden Club of Norfolk and its former junior club, Harborfront Garden Club. This partnership has generated well over $500,000 to support restoration projects since the early 8o’s. Leadership rotates annually with Harborfront leading in the even years and GCN in the odd years. The Norfolk Tour has become well known throughout the state and beyond for its spectacular and unique floral designs. Past GNC tour chairmen include Betsy Burnette, Gilly Cady, Judy Carraway, Pam Combs, Rachel Cottrell, Jeanie Daniel, Huffy Furr, Robin Ingram, Connie Kellam, Ann Martin, Pam Reed, and Melanie Wills.

Creating a Rain Garden

GCN partnered on several projects in 2011 including construction of an educational Rain Garden at the Hermitage Museum and Gardens with funds awarded to GCN by the Garden Club of Virginia’s prestigious Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award. The Rain Garden was completed that fall and featured on the Norfolk Home and Garden Tour in April 2012.

A Club Logo and Apron

The club unveiled its first logo in 2011. Local artist, Terre Ittner, was commissioned to help design the stylized rose while drawing inspiration from the club's flower. Stationery, note cards and more soon followed. A club apron with an embroidered logo was created and it became a tradition for new members to receive their personalized apron at induction. Members proudly don their pretty aprons at all club events.

The Garden Club of Norfolk contributed $2,500 to the Garden Club of America 2013 Centennial Central Park Fund for the reconstruction and replanting of the park's East 59th Street entrance. Mayor Michael Bloomberg designated June 3 as Garden Club of America Day with over 800 delegates from 200 clubs gathering to honor GCA in its hometown of New York City.

Associates' Tea Launches GCN's Centennial

Celebrating A Century of Service at The Hermitage Museum

The Garden Club of Norfolk celebrated its 100th anniversary in February of 2015,  and proudly hosted the 95th Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia in May. On the snowy morning of February 24, 2015, members, and their guests, along with local dignitaries, gathered at the Hermitage Museum. and Gardens to mark 100 years to the day of the founding of the Garden Club of Norfolk.

GCN hosted the 95th Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia

In May 2015, the Garden Club of Norfolk hosted GCV's Annual Meeting. Pam Reed and Pam Combs served as the meeting's co-chairs. In recognition of GCN's Centennial year, the meeting's theme was “Seeds of Service" in celebration of the many gifts of time and talent sowed throughout the community and region during GCN's 100 years.

In honor of GCN's Centennial, a piece of art glass was created at an Annual Meeting special event held at the Chrysler Museum of Art's Glass Studio. The stunning piece was designed and created by studio artists featuring a delicate Dogwood branch in recognition of GCN's key role in the 1918 selection of the Dogwood as the floral emblem. of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The beautiful handblown green glass ginger jar was gifted by GCN to GCV for prominent and permanent display at the Kent Valentine House in Richmond.

A Centennial Leadership Fund

In 2015, The Garden Club of Norfolk created a Centennial Leadership Fund anticipated to grow and support GCN's ambitious mission into the next century. Over $20,000 was raised through the generosity of past presidents, current and past members, and their families. The intent for the fund has been realized as it continues to grow and so helps to ensure the club's work continues for a second century.

Lifestyle Lecture Series

In October 2016, the Ways and Means Committee tested a new project by inviting flower arranger, chef, entertainer and hostess, Danielle Rollins, to introduce her book, Soiree: Entertaining with Style, at a lecture and luncheon event. It was a great success and so began the series.

The Olmsted Initiative

In the fall of 2022, the Garden Club of Norfolk adopted a parcel of land along the Elizabeth River Trail where it is building the Olmsted Tribute Garden. This 6,750 square foot parcel originally featured soil that was devoid of nutrients and was hyper-compacted, as it is a former industrial construction site. This long and narrow tract (225’ x 30’) sits perpendicular to the walking/jogging/biking path and it now brings beauty and awareness of the importance of native vegetation. The project site, roughly two-thirds the length of a football field, features 32 keystone trees, 124 shrubs and 2,200 perennials, chosen specifically to educate the community on the value of native plants for carbon capture, seaside ecosystem resilience, and pollinator support within our city. As of June 2023, the club has completed phases 1 and 2 with volunteers and donations from community partners, including Norfolk Master Gardeners, VT Extension, Bartlett Trees, the US Navy  and the City of Norfolk.

GCN Presidents 1995-2024

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The mission and purpose of the Garden Club of the Northern Neck shall be the restoration of historic gardens, the conservation of natural resources, the beautification of the area served by the club and the promotion of horticulture. The mission is implemented locally throughout the Northern Neck and extends statewide through membership in the Garden Club of Virginia. The club's diverse, energetic and accomplished membership is unique in its focus on community outreach.

The Garden Club of the Northern Neck was organized in 1966 by two members from each of four counties -- Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland. GCNN was mentored by the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club until 1969 when it was invited to join the Garden Club of Virginia. GCNN later mentored the Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula until that club’s admission into the Garden Club of Virginia in 1999. The three clubs maintain a close relationship, holding a tri-club luncheon each year to celebrate their heritage and to host the President of the Garden Club of Virginia.

Charter member Mrs. Treadwell Davison, and founding member, Mrs. J. Garland Pollard, Jr., designed the club logo of sailing ships to commemorate Captain John Smith’s expedition to Jamestown and his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and “Ye Northern Neck.” A shield represents the four counties from which membership is drawn. The anchor and seagulls represent Northumberland; the cross and fish represent Lancaster County; the cornucopia, a symbol of plenty, represents Richmond County; and the three stars from the Washington family coat of arms and the squirrel from the Lee family coat of arms represent Westmoreland.

The club’s community outreach projects welcome visitors to the Northern Neck and include two GCV restoration properties and two Virginia State parks.

Historic Christ Church in Lancaster

"With the restoration of the church nearing completion in the mid-1960s, the leadership of the Foundation for Historic Christ Church turned to the Garden Club of Virginia for assistance in providing an appropriate landscape that would complement this historic structure. The club's plan, formulated by landscape architect Ralph E. Griswold, was restrained and predicated on a desire to provide unobstructed views of the church itself. Members of the foundation and the club also desired to pay homage to "King" Carter's beneficence in one way by recreating the "row of goodly cedars" that, according to local lore, had run between the church and Carter's nearby mansion on the Corotoman River.

'The resulting design placed the obligatory parking area as far from the church as property boundaries would allow, obscured from sight by a combination of holly trees, willow oaks and magnolias. Nearer the building, day lilies provided important ground cover to areas not cleared for the expansive lawn. The club also helped with the cemetery section that falls outside of the walls surrounding the church. The cemetery lies just to the south of the brick walkway through the cedars that brings visitors to the stately entrance of a most handsome and historically important edifice."

virginiahistory.org/research/collections/garden-club-virginia-historic-restorations-project/churches/christ-church-lancaster

Stratford Hall in Westmoreland

"Stratford passed out the hands of the Lee family in 1822, and through a succession of owners gradually fell into disrepair. A group that came to be known as the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation purchased the property in January 1929 and began the re-establishment of the property as a working plantation. In June of that year, the group approached the Garden Club of Virginia about restoring the Stratford gardens. The club enthusiastically accepted the challenge, raising funds for the project through individual gifts and the proceeds of its Historic Garden Week tours of 1930 to 1932.

"The garden club first engaged Arthur Shurtleff (who later changed his name to Shurcliff), a Boston landscape architect working on the Colonial Williamsburg restoration, to undertake initial archaeological investigations. In his December 1929 report to the Stratford Committee, he declared "there is no ancient place in Virginia which would be more interesting to restore or more fruitful of results." Subsequent survey work was conducted by Herbert A. Claiborne of Richmond and by Harvard School of Landscape Architecture associate Morley J. Williams, who in 1932 was hired to draw plans for the restoration. The basic restoration work was complete by 1936, although additional restoration managed by Alden Hopkins, a later landscape architect at Colonial Williamsburg, occurred during the mid-1950s."

https://virginiahistory.org/research/collections/garden-club-virginia-historic-restorations-project/plantations/stratford-hall

Belle Isle State Park

"The Garden Club of Virginia centennial grants have allowed Belle Isle State Park to achieve so much. We revived our open air hay wagon, created new pollinator habitat throughout the park, opened an educational visitor center exhibit focusing on the history and culture of the Northern Neck of Virginia, and completely rehabilitated the gardens and grounds of the historic Belle Isle Manor House. These projects have also provided us the opportunity to connect with our community in new ways - with volunteers logging more than 1,300 hours to support these efforts. Thank you for making all of this possible.”

Katie Shepard, Park Manager

Westmoreland State Park

"The Garden Club of Virginia drastically increased the capability and quality of environmental education programming at Westmoreland State Park through Centennial Grant Funds donated to renovate the Discovery Center, which re-opened in May 2019. Interpretive program attendance doubled in 2019, reaching 20,760 people, many of whom attended programs on field trips utilizing the Discovery Center. Westmoreland State Park would like to thank the Garden Club in their involvement in building naturalists, history enthusiasts, and conservationists through quality educational programming at Westmoreland State Park, as well as for the Garden Club of Virginia’s continuing involvement with Virginia State Parks."

Michael Such, Chief Ranger Visitor Services Westmoreland State Park

Fundraising, Grants and Scholarships

Fundraising, key to implementing the club’s mission, provides funds for outreach and has included: a luncheon at Indian Creek Country Club with a flower arranging demonstration by a floral designer who earned her craft in London’s posh West End; a presentation by a landscape architect with refreshments at Good Luck Cellars’ event venue; and raffle opportunities for selected homes to be decorated for the holidays, one in each of the four counties. Each May, the club holds a sale of donated gardening books, magazines and plants from members' gardens. Sale locations alternate among the four counties.

GCNN club member Mary Lloyd Lay established an endowment fund for the club in 2009 with proceeds from her book, Heaven in Zone 7, emphasizing the importance of having a strong financial basis to meet club obligations. Members have generously contributed to the fund since its founding, and interest earned provided support when the club hosted the 2019 GCV Board of Governors.

Local outreach projects include beautification awards for civic, commercial, professional establishments and/or individuals who have made a significant effort to improve the appearance of their surroundings, which must be visible to the public. Awards of recognition are given in each of the four counties and presented in the spring. Award recipients have included historic Holley Graded School in Lottsburg, Warsaw Elementary School, Totuskey Tricentennial Park, Reedville Fisherman’s Museum and Vine Wine Bar in Irvington.

The GCNN and the Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula host an annual conservation forum each fall on a rotating host club basis. Forums are free to the public and seek to educate the community on topics of interest in a fragile ecosystem. Distinguished speakers have addressed topics such as: The Chesapeake Bay, Federal and Local Perspective, Preserving our Marshes; Planned Growth for Better Communities; Rural Landscape Preservation; Pesticides: Your Health and Food; and Solar Farms Pros and Cons.

The club established a committee in 1999 to administer grants for partner organization with projects that fulfill GCNN’s mission. The committee handles publicity, selection of grantees and follow up projects. In 2023, grants totaled over $3,000. The club has also offered Share the Wealth grants when funding was available, and scholarships to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s week-long Teachers on the Bay program.

In 2022, GCNN established an emeritus membership category for those who have exceeded 40 years of membership. Also in 2022, the club established a mentor program to support incoming members during their first years, providing a firm and informed foundation for their membership in GCNN and GCV.

Monthly club meetings promote education in areas related to conservation, preservation, restoration to members and, frequently, to the community. Programs feature gifted and talented speakers who have offered a wide range topics -- hydroponic farming, crescent line arrangements, farming and farm markets, photography tips, landscape planning, traditional and ikebana flower arranging, flower arranging toolboxes, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, herb ideas and organic fertilizers.

In addition to monthly club programs, members have enjoyed recent field trips to Grelen Nursery in Orange, Tuckahoe Plantation in Goochland County and the Lowline in Richmond.

In 2016, the club began its first digital newsletter -- Hot Garden Flashes.  Initiated by then president Carter Filer and member Maureen Capelli, the format has expanded since that time and now includes a greeting from the president, a listing of upcoming programs and speakers, and articles written by the chairmen of horticulture, conservation, photography and flower committees. Colorful photographs document club activities.

The Garden Club of the Northern Neck produces a comprehensive yearbook annually. What began as a small, pocket-sized notebook during the club's early years is now exclusively digital and includes member photographs with contact information, listings of monthly programs and job assignments, club bylaws, club history and GCV information. The program theme for the year is depicted in a cover photograph.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, club meetings were suspended from March to September. Historic Garden Week was canceled and the club began holding Zoom meetings. When restrictions lifted in the fall of 2021, members resumed meetings at the Hague Winery , Historic Christ Church, various parish halls, Stratford Hall, Sabin Hall and George Washington’s birthplace.

Garden Club of Virginia

GCNN enthusiastically supports GCV projects and activities. Members participate in annual GCV flower shows, having received numerous ribbons for individual and InterClub horticulture and artistic entries. A record 13 members traveled to Norfolk in 2021 for GCV Horticultural Field Day in Norfolk.

The club hosted the 2008 and 2009 GCV Daffodil Shows at White Stone Church of the Nazarene, chaiared by Candy Carden and Suzanne LaPrade.

View 2008 Daffodil Show Photos

View 2009 Daffodil Show Photos

Founding GCNN member Helen Murphy served as GCV President from 1992-1994, and was active for many years. Members continue to serve on GCV committees.

Historic Garden Week tours feature historic properties throughout the four counties and attract visitors nationwide.

2019 Board of Governors

GCNN hosted the 2019 Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors at Historic Stratford Hall on October 15-17. The al freso Dutch treat dinner was held Tuesday night at Ingleside Winery. Attendees were invited to tour Westmoreland State Park on Wednesday and, following the business meeting, the awards banquet was held beneath the tented grounds of Stratford Hall.

2019 BOG Photos

GCNN Presidents 1996-2024

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The Petersburg Garden Club began its involvement with Lee Memorial Park (now Petersburg Legends Historical Park and Nature Sanctuary) in the 1930s when one of its members, Mary Donald Claiborne Holden, was asked to supervise a work relief program funded by the WPA to create jobs for women building a wildflower and bird sanctuary within the park. Unemployed women cleared ravines, built paths and planted honeysuckle roots to control erosion. They labeled plants with both common and botanical names; transplanted more than 365,000 plants, shrubs and trees into the preserve; and constructed bridges and benches in the park. Local artist Bessie Niemeyer Marshall was commissioned in 1937 to paint the Lee Memorial Park flora. Her 238 watercolors and 325 corresponding dried plant specimens were placed in scrapbooks by the club and stored at the Petersburg Public Library, waiting to be rediscovered 50 years later. Visit https://forgottengarden.willcoxwatershed.org/

1995-2010

In celebration of its 70th anniversary in 1995, the club offered a limited edition of 500 portfolio sets, each featuring four watercolor prints of wildflowers from the collection. Proceeds from sales of the prints were applied to the ongoing preservation of the collection and restoration of the memorial park, and additional funds were generated from sales of botanical print note cards. The herbarium committee led club efforts to publish With Paintbrush and Shovel:Preserving Virginia's Wildflowers. Now in its second printing, the fine art book tells the story of Lee Memorial Park; the Wildflower and Bird Sanctuary and the women who created it; and the watercolors and herbarium collection.  The club received the 1998 Common Wealth Award from the Garden Club of Virginia for its dedication to this project and its commitment to see the park of more than 300 acres reopened to the public. With credit to the hard work of the Petersburg Garden Club, Petersburg Legends Historical Park and Nature Sanctuary is now recognized on the Virginia and the National Registers of Historic Places and, in 2000, the club received the Preservation Alliance of Virginia’s Preservation Award, as well as the Heritage Award from the Historic Petersburg Foundation at its annual meeting.

In 2000, Bettie Guthrie became the first Garden Club of Virginia-accredited artistic design judge in the club.

Guided by PGC president Bettie Guthrie, the club entered into a formal agreement with the City of Petersburg, signing a memorandum of understanding on July 18, 2001, to create the Lee Memorial Park Committee. The public-private partnership made significant strides for the preservation and conservation of Lee Memorial Park. When the committee was granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2007, it was renamed the Willcox Watershed Conservancy with four members from the club serving on the board.

In February 2005, the Petersburg Garden Club, the Dunn Trust of the Burlington Garden Club and the City of Petersburg partnered to restore the Taft Lawn at Centre Hill Mansion.

The club hosted the 2009 Lily Show, "Petersburg: A City Under Siege," and the 2010 Lily Show, "All Aboard," at Petersburg's historic Union Train Station, chaired by Elizabeth Johnson and Suzanne Wright.

In May 2009, the herbarium and watercolor collection was moved to the Special Collections Virginia Room at Richard Bland College Library.

Eight members of the club visited the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville to see "Rediscovering the Forgotten Garden," a collaborative exhibit between the Willcox Watershed Conservancy and the Petersburg Garden Club.

Historic Garden Week tours and work with the Willcox Watershed Conservancy have elevated the Petersburg Garden Club's stature in the community as recognized leaders in conservation, preservation, horticulture, education and beautification.

2010-2020

Under the leadership of PGC president Joan Pollard, the club was recognized as one of the top ten clubs participating in the GCV Annual Fund drive.

The herbarium committee continued to generate interest in the collection with visits to organizations throughout the state. The 2012-2014 Garden Club of Virginia Directory & Handbook and the “Flora of Virginia” exhibit at the Library of Virginia each featured Marshall's artwork. The club received the 2017 Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award, an $8,000 grant to be used to develop demonstration gardens, an herbivore enclosure and to create a plant rescue program with guidelines to provide opportunities for local residents and students to participate in the restoration of this sensitive area within Lee Memorial Park, for use in the conservation and rehabilitation of the 25-acre Wildflower and Bird Sanctuary in historic Lee Memorial Park. The club also received a Cameron Foundation grant for $40,500 with the herbarium committee matching with $40,000 for the rehabilitation of the Wildflower and Bird Sanctuary at Lee Memorial Park. A Rotary grant for $19,910 was received for the kiosk and interpretive signage for the meadow habitat.

Member achievements were recognized. Kay Wray was honored in 2013 with the Horticulture Award of Merit, acknowledged particularly for her superb container gardening; and Jayne Feminella received the Elizabeth Bradley Stull award for best arrangement by a novice at the 2012 GCV Rose Show.

Ongoing community projects included landscape maintenance at Centre Hill, and the Petersburg Preservation Task Force continued to keep Centre Hill open and available for Petersburg's Historic Garden Week tour. The Cameron Foundation provided a grant to Centre Hill Mansion for window restorations and replacements. Members of the Garden Club of Virginia Restoration Committee visited Centre Hill Mansion to consider the extent of necessary repairs. The club's annual “Splashes of Spring” raised funds for projects at Centre Hill, and members continued to help Willcox Watershed Conservancy at Lee Memorial Park by participating in cleanup days and other projects.

The club was runner-up for the 2017 GCV Common Wealth Award and received $6,000 for the Lee Park Wildflower and Bird Sanctuary. And PGC president Mary Nelson Thompson announced receipt of a new annual grant from the Thomas Dunn Estate, intended for use in beautifying Petersburg area public lands.

The Bessie Niemeyer Marshall watercolor art prints are currently stored at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Education Center.

The club joined with the City of Petersburg in a consultation capacity to design the landscaping for the two entrances to City Hall Petersburg and was considering other areas to help beautify the city.

In honor of the Garden Club of Virginia Centennial, the club hosted a cocktail reception on Sunday, May 19, 2019, at the Petersburg Country Club. It was announced that two recipients of Dunn Estate grants had completed their projects: (1) an Eagle Scout project to improve the area surrounding the Doughboy Statue on Sycamore Street; and (2) new tree plantings by Bartlett Tree Service at Historic Blandford Cemetery.

No meetings were held after March 2020, due to COVID-19, and the club's annual fundraiser, "Splashes of Spring," and the club’s Christmas luncheon were canceled.

Petersburg Garden Club Presidents 1996-2022

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pagardenclub.org

The Princess Anne Garden Club, founded on February 6, 1932, by the Hill sisters, was admitted to the Garden Club of Virginia in 1938. Since its founding, the club has provided generous support for community and statewide projects, and has been instrumental in chartering and supporting like-minded organizations that benefit the community and the commonwealth: Council of Garden Clubs of Virginia Beach; Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center; Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach Historical Society; Virginia Beach Beautification Commission; Lynnhaven River NOW; Scenic Virginia; Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum; lifetime member of Friends of First Landing State Park; and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Community Project Funding

In 2013, the club gifted $5,000 to historic Hill House in Olde Towne Portsmouth, the family home of the Hill sisters, in honor of Elizabeth Hill, founding president who held that position for 22 years (1932-1954).

Elizabeth Gregory Hill (1871-1957), Evelyn Collins Hill (1877-1965) and their siblings grew up living in Portsmouth’s historic Hill House and Sea Breeze Farm in Virginia Beach. Elizabeth taught elocution at girls and boys schools in Norfolk, founded the Princess Anne Garden Club, and was Horticulture Editor for the New York Herald Tribune. Her sister Evelyn was elected into membership with the Royal Horticultural Society of London and received numerous awards at international flower shows sponsored by the New York Horticultural Society.

In 1956, Elizabeth, Evelyn and a third sister, Frances, gifted Hill House and its contents to the Portsmouth Historical Association.

The de Witt Cottage, built in 1895, was purchased by the de Witt family in 1909 as a summer cottage. It remained in the de Witt family until the mid-1980s when the last remaining sisters decided to sell. The sisters wanted their childhood beachfront home to be preserved and were adamant that the cottage be maintained. In 1988, the City of Virginia Beach took ownership of the property, agreeing that the cottage be maintained in perpetuity, never to be demolished, and the land never to be developed.  In 2000, the club funded the installation of an irrigation system for the garden at the cottage and turned the maintenance over to the City of Virginia Beach. The cottage has been featured during Historic Garden Week and currently houses the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum. In 2020, the club contributed $1,000 for the addition of native plants.

The club has contributed generously to Norfolk Botanical Garden: $5,000 in 1996 to support a native plant garden; $10,000 in 2003 for the “World of Wonders Children’s Adventure Garden” and $10,000 in 2005 for the garden’s potting shed; $10,000 in 2013 for construction of the Reflection Garden in honor of the club’s 75th anniversary; and in 2018, pledged $20,000 over five years for construction of a new conservatory.

In 2009, the club pledged $5,000 to the Hope House Foundation for raised garden beds and a patio at the Lakewood Apartments, a Hope House residential facility. The pledge and countless member volunteer hours evolved into a community project of $22,000.

The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center has been the recipient of generous club donations: $10,000 in 1995 towards an addition at the aquarium; $10,000 in 2002 for the “Ocean in Motion” children's education project; $15,000 in 2018 for the “Upland River Room Exhibit;” and a five-year $50,000 pledge in 2018 for the “Bubbles not Balloons” project -- generously matched by club member Ann Host.

First Landing State Park (formerly Seashore State Park) has been a years-long recipient of the club's generosity:

• $50,000 in 2011 for exhibits for the new Trail Center at First Landing State Park. These exhibits help educate visitors and residents about current environmental issues, about preserving our natural resources, and promote “green living.”
• $14,000 in 2012 for Exhibit #6, the Native Plant Landscape for the Trail Center
•  Raised $243,000 in community donations, 2012-2013, for exhibits at the Trail Center which were installed in 2013.
• Received 2013 GCV Common Wealth Award funding of $5,500 for the park's Bay Lab project and funded an additional $9,953.60 for a total contribution of $15,453.60 for the construction of the Bay Lab.
• $1,000 in 2015 for a Touch Tank exhibit
• $1,500 in 2016 for a PAGC memorial bench
• $8,000 in 2019 for a Track Trail

PAGC also donates a percentage of club fundraisers to the Friends of First Landing, a 501(c)(3) organization that uses its funds entirely in park. The PAGC funds are designated for the repair, replacement and installation of new exhibits at the Trail Center and the Bay Center. The total to date is $56,605.92.

"The park is where English colonists first landed in 1607. Native American canoes, Colonial settlers, 20th-century schooners and modern cargo ships have navigated the park's waterways. Its cypress swamps were a source of freshwater for merchant mariners, pirates and military ships during the War of 1812. Legend has it that Blackbeard hid in the Narrows area of the park, and interior waterways were used by Union and Confederate patrols during the Civil War. Built in part by an all African-American Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933-1940, the park is a National Natural Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places."

~ dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/first-landing?rewrite_uri=state_parks/fir

From 2015 - 2019, the club contributed $75,000 to the Brock Environmental Center for the installation of the greywater garden -- an underground filtration system that recycles waste water from the sinks and showers, treating it through constructed wetlands by a process called biofiltration. Greywater is channeled through a wetland constructed of native plants where natural processes clean it and return it to the underground aquifers.

Conservation, Beautification and Educational Support

• $100 in 2002 for a horticultural scholarship for the Council of Garden Clubs and $400 to send a 5th grade teacher to a conservation workshop, “8 Days on the Water," sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• $75 in 2003 for a red maple to be planted in Beach Garden Park in memory of the victims of 9/11.
• $1,000 in 2004 for a “Children’s Sculpture Garden” at the Virginia Beach Courthouse
• $2,500 in 2005 toward “Mary’s Garden” at the Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, a Virginia Beach Garden Club project; $2,500 for the Colonial Educational Center and the establishment of an herb garden at the Lynnhaven House; and $210 to plant three trees at local schools in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Virginia Beach Beautification Commission
• $2,500 in 2007 for a Volunteer Recognition Garden at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center
• $500 in 2008 for the Wildflower & Pollinator Habitat Project of the Virginia Department of Transportation and $210 for three trees to be planted by the Virginia Beach Beautification Committee
• $40 in 2009 for a scholarship to Master Gardeners
• $250 in 2010 to False Cape State Park and $70 for “Sixty Trees for Sixty Years,” Council of Garden Clubs Project
• $100 in 2011 for Cox High School Outdoor Garden Room Project, PTSA Landscape Committee and $100 for JCOC Garden, Project of Adi Focke Girl Scout Silver Award Project
• $200 in 2015 to Mary’s Garden for the 10th anniversary and $100 to the Virginia Beach Beautification Commission “50 Trees for 50 Years”
• $100 in 2016 for a new plaque for a statue in Mary’s Garden
• $7,200 in 2018 for six tower gardens given to three schools in Virginia Beach. Each tower includes a light system, 27 cells for individual plants and a water reservoir that waters the plants with nutrient-rich water. Students are involved with planting and harvesting the crops, and meaningful lessons can be incorporated in classroom activities
• $500 in 2019 for Mary’s Garden for new plantings and fountain repair
• $5,000 in 2019 to repair historic mirror in Kent-Valentine House and $1000 for operating funds in support of the Garden Club of Virginia’s centennial celebration
• $1,000 in 2020 to Wildlife Response for a Raptor Recovery Flight Cage and $200 for flower plants for the City of Virginia Beach Building 2 Memorial

The club has funded $11,565 since 2005 in scholarships for Nature Camp.

Click Here for PAGC Awards

Garden Club of Virginia

The club enthusiastically participates in Garden Club of Virginia activities and events. PAGC hosted the GCV Daffodil Show in 2004 and 2005 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Virginia Beach.

GCV Awards

The club received the 2013 Common Wealth Award funding for First Landing State Park's Bay Lab project. Club member Nancy (Dickerson) Knewstep received the 2013 de Lacy Gray Conservation Medal. Three club members have received recent Horticulture Awards of Merit: Beth Holt, 2013; Helen Junkin, 2016; and Geraldine Osborn Molloy, 1998. Twice, the club has received the Quad Blue ribbon for the best InterClub artistic arrangement at a GCV flower show -- 2005 Rose Show and 2017 Lily Show. And, in 2012, the club sponsored Dugdale Award recipient Lynnhaven River NOW.

Princess Anne hosted the 97th Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors meeting on October 18-20, 2016, at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

PAGC Presidents 1994-2022

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The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club maintains a full and dedicated membership of 60 active members 15 associate members, three honorary members and an unlimited number of lifetime members. Strong and enduring friendships and leadership are found among each of the classes of membership at the club level.

Jeanette Cadwallender, former RVGC President, served as Garden Club of Virginia President from 2014-2016. During her term, the GCV launched its Centennial project, a five-year commitment to grant $100,000 each year to Virginia State Parks from funds generated from Historic Garden Week. Individual clubs partnered with nearby state parks to identify and meet specific needs. The RVGC worked with Caledon State Park and secured a grant for a new water station for use by humans and their pets while hiking in the park.

Within the community of Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties, RVGC is known for its Historic Garden Week tours conducted by “Gracious Commonwealth Volunteers” (wearing colonial costumes until 2019) and decorated with stunning floral arrangements.

The club’s conservation and beautification efforts are visible in the local GCV Restoration sites, other historic sites and parks throughout the area. The RVGC hosted a one-day conservation fair showcasing the community’s conservation partners and services and invited the public to learn about them. The club's “Do One Thing” initiative began as an effort to encourage members to conserve and quickly spawned a Facebook page with public support.

The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club hosted the GCV’s Board of Governors meeting in October 1996 and the Annual Meeting, “Roots of Restoration,” in 2017. The club presented beautiful Daffodil Shows in 2005 and 2006 at the University of Mary Washington’s Jepson Center. Plans were made to host the Lily Show in 2020 and in 2021, but those were thwarted with the COVID-19 pandemic. The club willingly volunteered to host the 2022 Lily Show at Fredericksburg Academy in June. Held in memory of former GCV President and Garden Club of the Northern Neck member Helen Murphy, the event showcased stunning lily stems, artistic arrangements, and photography.

The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club has been instrumental in providing financial support, horticulture, floral arrangements and labor for several community projects throughout the years, including:

• decorated and delivered miniature Christmas trees for Mary Washington Hospital patients, small spring arrangements for assisted living residents and patriotic centerpieces for USO night at Historic Kenmore
• partnered with the Central Rappahannock Regional Library system to provide additional landscaping for the downtown Fredericksburg branch (a former Common Wealth Award finalist)
• created the LOVE Garden at the city entrance crossing of Routes 1 and 3
• placed a fountain and bench at Hurkamp Park
• served on the Plant Central Rappahannock Natives Committee, which created a native plants demonstration garden at Cedell Brooks, Jr. Park in King George County
• donated seed money for Downtown Greens (a community garden)
• rejuvenated the garden (1995) and donated funds for refurbishment of the garden shed at the Rising Sun Tavern (2020)
• participated in the GCV’s Mirror Campaign to restore the Kent-Valentine House mirrors
• partnered with the city to plant trees at Riverfront Park

Along with the various plantings in the area parks, members worked with community partner, Bloomia, and a member’s husband to plant tulips throughout the city. The club annually participates in Arbor Day observances, planting dogwoods on Washington Avenue, a pin oak in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery, a tree in Hurkamp Park after 9/11 and trees on the grounds of the juvenile detention center. The club partnered with a member’s son, who was working on a high school Senior project, to create a rain garden at the Bragg Hill Family Life Center, thereby beautifying a community space and mitigating run-off from the parking lot.

Through its Nature Camp Scholarship program, the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club has sponsored more than 25 area children and continues to send students to Nature Camp each summer.

The RVGC received the Common Wealth Award in 2014 for its work at Chatham Manor, helping to research and restore the original Ellen Biddle Shipman garden of 1921, commissioned by Mrs. Daniel Devore, homeowner, RVGC founder, and first club president. Additionally, the club partnered with the Friends of Chatham and the Rappahannock Rotary Club to restore the garden statue of Pan and to establish an endowment for the Chatham gardens.

Blossom Buddies, Botanical Bunches, Botanical Buddies and Bless My Bloomers

The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club remains committed to conservation and beautification through education and action, which often begin at very early ages. In 2000, the Blossom Buddies program was created by member Marion Zimmermann to teach members’ children and grandchildren the principles of cutting garden flowers and foliage, using simple mechanics in flower arranging, and creating small topiaries, wreaths, and tea cup arrangements. The latter decorated the tables at a Mother’s Day tea party. The more proficient students were later invited to join Mrs. Zimmermann and the Altar Guild at the Washington Cathedral in decorating the choir stalls for Christmas.

Raising funds for events and projects has always been a way to gather members for fellowship and fun. Members created and sold beautiful holiday arrangements and wreaths for many years. Biennial December auctions added to the funds and fun in subsequent years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, members gathered, socially distanced and masked, to create and sell Botanical Bunches, holiday bulbs curated in glass pedestals with beautiful ribbon. The club also benefited from the bulb rebate program through Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, while challenging, provided opportunities for new ways of enjoying the garden club experience. The president established the COVID-19: Responsible Virginians Gathering Protocols committee, whose members kept abreast of all new information related to the pandemic and guided the club through the various stages of meeting together. During the first year, the club met monthly using the ZOOM video platform. The Botanical Buddies program (secret pals) made sure connections stayed strong and spirits were uplifted. Bless My Bloomers, the monthly newsletter created by the president, was filled with information about “events to come . . . or maybe not. . .”, links to programming that could be accessed online, club business, RVGC Recollections culled from the club’s history, and pictures of winning flower arrangements and horticulture specimens. Members continued to exhibit their flower arranging skills or their gardens’ bounties by photographing their exhibits and sending them in to be judged virtually.

The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club is proud of its contributions to its community and to the Garden Club of Virginia. It is equally as proud of the efforts by the membership to stay connected, share knowledge and talents, and provide leadership and mentorship to one another. Through gatherings at members’ homes and the UMW President’s home, flower arranging workshops, Historic Garden Week, and community work, members enjoy being together. The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club looks forward to celebrating its Centennial in 2024.

RVGC Presidents 1994-2024

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therivannagardenclub.org

Rivanna Garden Club has had tremendous impact on Charlottesville and its surrounding communities for many years with award winning projects, grants and volunteerism. The club's successful tours during Historic Garden Week, in collaboration with its sister clubs (Charlottesville and Albemarle), have contributed significantly to the Garden Club of Virginia's Restoration projects around the Commonwealth.

While contributing so much to the community, RGC members have formed lasting friendships and the club is proud to be known for its “worker bee mentality -- well-rounded, diverse and known for getting the job done."

Community Projects

The club's annual Christmas Market has provided major funding for community projects, as well as an opportunity for community residents to purchase beautiful holiday wreaths, table top arrangements, crafts, delicious food and holiday gifts. In addition, RGC members contributed $25,000 for community projects in celebration of the RGC centennial.

For many years RGC has provided annual scholarships to Nature Camp in Vesuvius, and to ARC (Albemarle, Rivanna, Charlottesville) Camp, where students are given opportunities to learn about nature and the environment.

• planting an arboretum at the Miller School of Albemarle in 1996
• designing and planting a pollinator garden at James River State Park in the spring of 2018
• working and providing funding to complete an outdoor learning center at the Brownsville Elementary School  in 2019 as a memorial to member Mary Eades

• supporting the restoration of the Upper Grove at Monticello (tree planting)
• restoring a rock wall at the Ivy Creek Natural Area.

Tri-Club: Albemarle, Charlottesville and Rivanna

The "tri-club" that includes Albemarle Garden Club, the Charlottesville Garden Club and Rivanna Garden Club, was formed to facilitate Historic Garden Week. Rivanna had previously joined with the Albemarle and Charlottesville garden clubs in planting a maple tree at the entrance to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport in honor of the victims of 9/11.

In 2008, a proposal was initiated by Rivanna and presented to the Garden Club of Virginia by the three clubs to realign the HGW district and expand the clubs’ role and cooperation within the district. This enabled the clubs to share their thoughts and concerns with the GCV Board of Directors.

Each December, the tri-club comes together to decorate the Charlottesville Amtrak Station with a beautiful Christmas tree, wreaths, arrangements -- a very festive event that brings holiday cheer to travelers.

GCV Awards

Under Fran Boninti’s leadership, RGC received the 1997 Common Wealth Award -- $5,000 to landscape the Ivy Creek Natural Area education building. This project was completed with the help of the Master Gardeners. Mary Bentley submitted an article on this project that appeared in the 1999 edition of the Journal. In 2011, RGC received the Common Wealth Award -- $10,500 for landscaping and site improvements at Hatton Ferry, the last hand-poled ferry in the United States. And in 2015, RGC and the Charlottesville Garden Club received the Common Wealth Award -- $10,000 for the creation of a garden and outdoor counseling area at the Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center. Matching grants were obtained for each of these Common Wealth Award projects.

In 2008, the Mary Jean Printz Rose award was created honoring RGC member and former President of the Garden Club of Virginia, Jean Printz, for the best InterClub Rose Chairman collection in a GCV Rose Show.

The club successfully nominated two local projects for the Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Conservation -- The University of Virginia Foundation’s Tree Transplanting Project at North Fork Park in 1999 and Union Bank and Trust branch on the corner of Barracks Road and Cedars Court for their site preservation work in 2007.

In 2001, member Fran Boninti was awarded the de Lacy Gray Medal for Conservation.

Garden Club of Virginia Events

Rivanna Garden Club has always been an enthusiastic supporter of the Garden Club of Virginia and is especially proud of its contributions to Historic Garden Week that provide trementous support not only the community, but also the Commonwealth.

RGC hosted the 53rd and 54th Annual GCV Lily Shows June 14-15, 1995 and June 19-20, 1996, at the University of Virginia’s Alumni Hall, chaired by Carolyn Wilcox and co-chaired by Cecila Oaks.

Rivanna hosted a fabulous 86th Annual Meeting in 2006, chaired by Nancy Lowry and Jan Stalfort. A Dutch treat barbeque dinner was held Tuesday night in the Ice Park Center with an all-girl band providing entertainment. Wednesday's highlight was lunch on the lawn at Bessie Carter’s family home, Redlands and, when attendees arrived they found a beautiful, tented area with fifteen tables elegantly covered in white linens. The center of each table held a gorgeous “one of a kind” birthday cake made by members of Rivanna Garden Club. Lunch turned out to be a surprise birthday party for Bessie! Following lunch, Peggy Cornett, Curator of Plants at Monticello, gave a presentation on heritage plants. An afternoon tour of Monticello and a trip to Montalto for cocktails preceded the awards banquet at the Omni Hotel.

Rivanna Garden Club members assisted the Garden Club of Virginia and the GCV Horticulture Committee when 2007 Horticulture Field Day was held in the Charlottesville area, featuring gardens that included Whispering Pines, the Taylor Garden, Whilton, Waterperry Farm and Bird Hill.

Rivanna will host the GCV Annual Meeting in 2024 and is planning a conservation themed event.

RGC club members have often served on the Garden Club of Virginia Board of Directors and as chairmen and members of numerous GCV Committees.

RGC Milestones

• Celebrated 75th anniversery in 1997 with a Monticello garden tour and cocktail party with vintage attire at the home of Dan and Lou Jordan on the grounds of Monticello
• Celebrated 95th anniversery in 2012 with a fabulous gala celebration at Morven
• Celebrated centennial in 2022 with a 1920's themed celebration luncheon on Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at the Keswick Hunt Club
• Invited to attend the rededication of a marker originally placed by RGC in 1929 at the birthplace of Susan Koerner Wright at Hillsboro in Loudoun County. The marker says that Susan Wright “inspired her sons Wilbur and Orville to their immortal discovery, giving mankind access to the unlimited aerial highway.”

RGC Presidents 1994-2022

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spotswoodgardenclub.com

The Spotswood Garden Club draws its membership from the city of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The majority of the club’s activities focus on supporting the gardening and gardening-related needs of this wider community.

The SGC members share a keen interest in artistic design and are required to create two flower arrangement each year for judging. The arrangements are based upon specific Garden Club of Virginia styles. In 2004, members began holding monthly demonstrations of the specified style for each month. Two members would present examples or construct the arrangement while the audience members would help critique the arrangement. This was a great learning experience for new and seasoned members and helped to alleviate the anxiety many faced when challenged with the new experience of being judged.

In 2015, the club began conducting workshops for new members to help introduce the many aspects of membership in the Spotswood Garden Club: displaying horticulture; GCV artistic design; GCV flower collections and shows; flower arranging tools, gadgets and kits; gathering and conditioning; transporting; containers; and other favorite resources. Each new member is given a clear bud vase for their first entry in the monthly club horticulture exhibit.

Spotswood established an Active Junior Members category in 2016. Active Junior Members must be under the age of 40 at the time of acceptance, and must be interested in becoming an active member within three years. This category has been especially attractive for those who have more time limitations.

Flower Shows and Artistic Design

In preparation for hosting the GCV Annual Daffodil Shows in 1992-1993, the Spotswood Garden Club was charged with updating the flower show pedestals. After evaluating various samples, a carpenter from Fort Seybert, West Virginia was selected to build 50 pedestals. Col. Kim Brabson, husband of club member Lil Brabson, constructed new 51 linear foot risers for the horticulture display. Those pedestals and risers are still in use after 30 years.

The Spotswood Garden Club and its members have received countless blue ribbons and trophies at GCV Flower Shows, including the 2003 GCV InterClub silver trophy for accumulating the most points for artistic arrangements during a single year; the Quad Blue artistic award at the 2008 Rose Show for a Hogarth curve arrangement; too many horticulture blue ribbons to list , sweepstakes and novice awards.

In 2005, SGC donated a perpetual silver trophy, to be given in honor of Eugenia and David Diller for the best individual artistic arrangement at the annual Garden Club of Virginia Lily Show. Both Genie and David Diller worked diligently to encourage and promote lily horticulture and floral design throughout the state and nationally.

The Spotswood Garden Club hosted the GCV Annual Lily Show in 2013, "Lilies of the Valley," and in 2014, "Oh Shenandoah," at Skyline Middle School, co-chaired by Sandy Hodge and Joyce Overby.

Community Projects

When Greener Harrisonburg was formed in the early nineties, the Spotswood Garden Club supported the organization  by planting and maintaining community landscapes. The club today continues to maintain the gardens and yard at its Fort Harrison project in Dayton.

Camp Still Meadows became a club focus in 2003. The camp, established for physically and mentally challenged individuals, offers opportunities for campers to participate in gardening, cooking and spending time with animals. The Spotswood Garden Club funded three large stone raised beds for flowers and vegetables in 2003 and received the 2003 GCV Common Wealth Award for the project. In 2007, the club funded construction of an additional large stone raised bed and a rock garden, benches and trail that could be accessed by wheelchair. This additional project received the 2007 GCV Common Wealth Award.

From 2008 to 2015, the Spotswood Garden Club designed and planted gardens at the historic Hardesty-Higgins House. As described on the historic house website, "Home to Harrisonburg’s first mayor Isaac Hardesty, the house bears his name and the name of the physician, Henry Higgins, who began construction in 1848. Isaac Hardesty was born in 1795 and became the city’s first Mayor by charter on March 16, 1849, incorporating the town of Harrisonburg. Hardesty completed construction of the home by 1853. The City of Harrisonburg purchased the house in 2001, and following an extensive restoration, opened the home as museum, visitor center and café. The club designed and executed a landscape plan with trees, boxwood, and perennial flowers for the garden area which included special emphasis for beauty surrounding the patio area, a relaxing dining space for the café."

During this time, the club also designed and executed the landscaping for the nearby Massanutten Regional Public Library. The gardens focused on beauty, simplicity and fragrance to develop an oasis in downtown Harrisonburg and  included a seating area with bench, dogwood tree and flowers. A memorial statue of children reading books was placed in memory of Sandra Eagle, a Spotswood Garden Club member, by her family.

In 2011, the club’s downtown Harrisonburg gardening revitalization project was expanded to extend another block to the Virginia Quilt Museum, where the Spotswood Club planted the surrounding gardens. The Spotswood Garden Club designed the garden to provide trees, shrubs and perennials. Plantings included tri-color beech, Ginko, Little Gem Magnolia, Crepe Myrtle, lilacs, boxwood and flowering perennials. The club maintained the garden for two years.

The club's gardening activities during this time also included designing, planting, and maintaing the gardens and yard at Fort Harrison and the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society in Dayton.

Fort Harrison, also known as the Daniel Harrison House, was built in 1749 by Daniel Harrison, the first settler in the Dayton area. The fort was built with two-foot thick limestone walls to withstand attacks from hostile natives. Fort Harrison Inc. purchased the house in 1978 and began restoration. The Spotswood Garden Club adopted a project to design, plant and maintain the gardens at the restored site. With guidance from the Garden Club of Virginia landscape architect, Will Rieley, a picket fence was built with painting done by a local Boy Scout troop. Fruit trees of the time period and small herb and perennial flower gardens were planted. Spotswood maintained the garden for many years.

During 2010 and 2011, the club revisited one of its projects from 1955 and refurbished the landscaping around two large bronze  turkey statues that welcome visitors to Rockingham County, the "Turkey Capital." The original project was open to Rockingham County elementary school students to submit a design for statues to represent the county's proud poultry heritage. The 1955 winning design was submitted by Gerald Harris, a fifth-grade student at the Lucy Simms School for African-American children. Miss Simms (1856-1934), enslaved prior to the Civil War, later graduated from Hampton College and became an educator at the school that bears her name. Her name and photo are on the Emancipation and Freedom Monument in Richmond which was inaugurated in 2021.

The final project for this time period was the flower planting that the club added to a Harrisonburg roundabout on Carlton Street.

In November 2014, the Spotswood Garden Club held an Arts and Flowers Show at the Explore More Discovery Museum, highlighting the floral interpretation of paintings created by members who are professional artists. After the meeting, the show was opened to the public and was well-attended by many members of the local retirement communities, as well as other members of the community. The show was so well received that it was repeated the following year at Sunnyside Retirement Community. At the same time, a floral arranging workshop was conducted for a group of children at the Explore More Discovery Museum.

On March 6, 2014, the Spotswood Garden Foundation was created and in 2018 it became part of the Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. This fund supports charitable, literary, scientific, or educational initiatives that promote the appreciation of gardening, nature, and the environment.

Spotswood Garden Foundation Recipients

• 2014 Boy Scout, Jack Budd, to help with his Eagle Scout project at Bridgewater Retirement Community
• 2014 Edith Carrier JMU Arboretum for educational signs for children’s garden
• 2016 Horticulture building restoration at the Rockingham County Fair
• 2017 Sustainability Matters: A Virginia grown grassroots nonprofit, cultivating community through conservation
• 2018 Spotswood Garden Club for a speaker for the SGC meeting
• 2019 Linville Edom Elementary School for a  reading garden to promote their vision of “celebrating differences”
• 2020  COVID-19 relief fund within the Community Foundation.
• 2022 Lacey Spring Elementary School for an outdoor classroom

In March 2016, the Spotswood Garden Club hosted a tri-club luncheon with Augusta and Blue Ridge garden clubs at James Madison University after a large snow storm. Despite JMU’s efforts to clear the mounds of snow, many ladies had to be shuttled to the meeting from the parking lot. Again, in March 2019, the tri club luncheon held at Cross Keys Vineyard was inundated by snow!

In 2018, SGC established the Glenna Graves Grant of up to $1,000 to be given annually to a group or individual pursuing a project that reflects the values and goals embodied by the Spotswood Garden Club.

Glenna Graves Grant Recipients

• 2018 South River Elementary environmental club’s school community garden
• 2019 Peak View Elementary School
• 2020 Elkton Elementary School greenhouse project
• 2021 Lacey Spring Elementary School gratitude garden
• 2022 Peak View Elementary raised beds for growing vegetables for salsa party

The Spotswood Garden Club holds flower workshops at the Explore More Children’s Museum at Halloween and Christmas. Between 2017 and 2022, SGC purchased and planted trees for Pleasant View Day Services. Club members also planted 200 Green Arrow daffodil bulbs, 100 each at Eastern Mennonite School and Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society in Dayton.

From 2020 through 2022, club members cleaned flower beds and planted daffodils at the local SPCA; planted roses at Pleasant View Home (When the facility was built with no noticable landscaping, the club had planted trees throughout the enclosed garden and recreation area, and hydrangeas and roses around the entrance); mulched and planted roses at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society Museum; donated greenery to the Explore More Children’s Museum for their holiday workshops; judged flower exhibitions at the Rockingham County Fair; and successfully sponsored Phil Satolli, first grade teacher at Lacey Spring Elementary School, for the 2020 GCV Conservation Educator Award.

Garden Club of Virginia

Each year, the Spotswood Garden Club hosts a tour during Historic Garden Week and is well known for its flower arrangements. For over thirty years the club's tour featured a formal tea, often held in one of the local area churches. A special "garden tour tea" was served from an elegant silver service with homemade tea sandwiches and a variety of delectable sweets served on silver trays.

In 2005, the Spotswood Garden Club funded the restoration and repair of two Garden Club of Virginia Catesby prints, and funded two new balustrades for the Kent-Valentine House.

Eugenia and David Diller received the GCV Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement in 2007. "This couple, with their passion for lilies and dedication to horticulture and the education of others, has improved the quality of life and been effective in the protection, restoration and preservation of the natural beauties of our Commonwealth.” Glenna Graves received the Massie Medal in 2018. "Glenna has selflessly inspired others through horticultural education within the Garden Club of Virginia, the American Daffodil Society and the Washington Daffodil Society. In 2016, she won Best in Show at the World Daffodil Show. She has done all of this and yet remains generous and patient as she continues to mentor others."

SGC members receiving the GCV Horticulture Award of Merit since 1998: Rosemary Wallinger, 1998; Eugenia Diller and Glenna Graves, 2000; Laura Dansby, 2002; Janice Whitehead, 2006; Rachel Hollis; 2007; Lorraine Strickler, 2012; Elizabeth “Betsy” Eggleston, 2017; Sherry Leffel, 2019; Marcia McGrath, 2020; and Mary Stickley-Godinez, 2022.

The Spotswood Garden Club received the Common Wealth Award in 2003 and again in 2007 for its work at Camp Still Meadows and the 2022 Bessie Bocock Award for its project at Lacey Spring Elementary School to enhance the outdoor classroom, giving students access to multiple areas: a pollinator garden; an outdoor classroom trail with signage; soil to restore gardens and the school greenhouse; and a pergola and outdoor stage for school programs centered on conservation and environmental topics.

SGC members have served served on the GCV Board of Directors and as Chairmen of GCV Committees: Glenna Graves, GCV Director at Large and Daffodil Committee Chairman; Genie Diller, Lily Committee Chairman; Rosemary Wallinger, Horticulture Committee Chairman; Rachel Hollis, Rose Committee Chairman; and Sherry Leffel, Rose Committee Chairman.

SGC Presidents 1994-2024

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threechoptgardenclub.com

Richmond Aids Ministry Project 1995

With AIDS becoming the leading cause of death for all Americans between ages 25 to 44, the public was afraid and people with AIDS were ostracized. Facing protests from neighbors, Richmond Aids Ministry (RAM) opened two guest houses in 1994 for patients in the latter stages of AIDS who could not otherwise afford housing. Soon after the completion of these cottages, Three Chopt Garden Club began a three-year landscaping project to beautify the two guest houses and the community in which they were located.

According to TCGC member Annabel Josephs at the time, the members of the club first and foremost felt empathy for the residents and wanted to help make their new homes beautiful places to live. They also wanted to ease neighbors’ concerns and thought that plantings could give the houses the feel of home in their eyes as well and help to integrate them into the neighborhoods. Despite the publicity surrounding the houses at the time of initial landscaping, there was never really a question of preserving the club’s anonymity. The members used their names “enthusiastically in support of RAM and the work it does."

Three Chopt not only raised the funds for the three-year landscaping project -- its members selected tress, shrubs and flowers for both guest houses, unloaded the delivery trucks in bitter cold rain, planted, mulched and watered. They brought hoses from home to water the plantings throughout the spring and summer. Three Chopt’s enthusiasm was contagious. Annabel's husband John made window boxes for both guest houses. Members planted the boxes with flowers to bring the beauty of nature into the residents' rooms. He also built a birdhouse for the back garden. RAM staff and guest house residents helped maintain the plantings.

Extreme Stream Makover 2007

The four Richmond GCV clubs joined forces in 2007 with the James River Association (JRA) on a project called Extreme Stream Makeover. JRA identified a stream off Horsepen Road in dire need of clean up and bank restoration. On assigned days, the JRA staff and a large group of members from all four clubs turned out to work, hauling trash out of the stream bed, clearing the banks of invasives and filling the banks with new plantings for stabilization. Extreme Stream Makeover was the first joint project involving the four Richmond clubs and the impact was even greater than expected. Lasting friendships developed among the four clubs and members were anxious to take on another project together.

Capital Trees 2009

(visit capitaltrees.org)

GCV Annual Meeting 2010

View Photos

The meeting, “A Passion to Preserve, A Vision to Create,” was co-chaired by Lila Putney and Susan Hamill. TGCG members Francine Brown, Carol Price and Alice Siegel opened their gardens for tours prior to the meeting on Wednesday, followed by lunch at Alice's beautiful home. Cocktails and the awards banquet were held at the newly renovated Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Gorgeous flower arrangements from the banquet were donated to the Virginia Home and Westminster-Canterbury. The first annual Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award in the amount of $5000 was presented to the Boxwood Garden Club, the James River Garden Club, the Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton, and Three Chopt Garden Club for their joint project, Capital Trees.  Read Journal article.

Virginia Treatment Center for Children

Three Chopt Garden Club began a project in 2020 to upgrade an inpatient arts and crafts garden at the Virginia Treatment Center for Children (VTCC) -- a project that exemplified key points of the club's mission to support education through gardening and beautification of community spaces through charitable endeavors. Learn more about VTCC.

The project included installation and ongoing maintenance of plants and flowers. By 2022, club members had contributed over 50 volunteer hours in planting, weeding and watering, with plans to continue enhancements and maintenance.

GCV Annual Meeting 2022

View Photos

Three Chopt Garden Club hosted the 102nd Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia May 11-12, 2022, at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. “Awakening Our Senses” was co-chaired by Ashley Wallace and Jakie Bowles. Attendees were offered tours of the Low Line or the Enchanted Garden at the Poe Museum on Tuesday afternoon, followed by cocktails and Dutch treat dinner at The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing. Lunch on Wednesday was served at the Jefferson Hotel's Rotunda. Following Wednesday afternoon's meeting, Julee and Drew Spitzer hosted attendees for cocktails in their beautiful home and garden. The awards banquet was held afterward at the Country Club of Virginia.

TCGC Presidents 1995-2023

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With the goal of creating a garden club that might one day join the Garden Club of Virginia, a group of ladies from New Kent and Charles City counties began to organize in 2015, with the support of the GCV and mentored by the Ashland Garden Club. The group adopted the name Three Rivers Garden Club, referring to the York, Pamunkey and James rivers that flow through the two counties. Member Ginny Green designed the club’s colorful logo which features a great blue heron hunting among cattails and invokes thoughts of life on the local rivers.

After Three Rivers officially launched in February 2016, it assisted the Ashland club annually with Historic Garden Week tours and co-hosted a tour in New Kent County in 2018. Bonds of friendship emerged between the two neighboring clubs and several joint club meetings boosted camaraderie. Over its first four years, Three Rivers offered its members programs with outstanding speakers on conservation, beautification, restoration, gardening and flower arranging. Three Rivers grew to more than thirty members, participated in community beautification projects, took field trips to Maymont and beyond, and developed club traditions like its annual holiday luncheon at Upper Shirley Vineyard.

Upon recommendation of the Ashland Garden Club in the fall of 2019, the GCV Membership Committee determined that Three Rivers had met the requirements for GCV membership pursuant to GCV bylaws. Many Three Rivers ladies then attended the biennial meeting of the Ashland, Brunswick and Petersburg garden clubs in November to meet GCV President Jean Gilpin at the Kent-Valentine House and to become further acquainted with GCV. Jean and other GCV board members held further discussions with the president and leadership of Three Rivers to clarify the obligations associated with GCV membership.

TRGC accepted an invition to join the Garden Club of Virginia in 2020, becoming the forty-eighth member club, the first to be admitted since 1997.

TRGC Presidents 2020-2024

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tuckahoegardenclub.com

Brief History

On May 16, 1928, Martha Whitehead Michaux invited a few close friends and neighbors to join her for lunch at the Country Club of Virginia to discuss the possibility of forming a garden club. Word spread among friends, and on June 28, the Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton was organized. The club became a member of the Garden Club of Virginia in 1933, and a member of the Garden Club of America in 1952.

Horticulture

Horticulture lies at the heart of the Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton activities. The club has presented numerous horticulture programs and propagation workshops over the years, often emphasizing historic plants. Members have made annual pilgrimages to nurseries, gardens and parks to broaden their knowledge and explore new, rare and unusual plants, and have generously shared their knowledge through entries in the Garden Club of Virginia’s daffodil, lily, rose and symposia shows. Since 1995, members have brought home over 34 individual major GCV Horticulture Awards; two American Daffodil Society awards; Lily Chairman’s Cup for the InterClub Test Collection; the Mears Trophy (thrice); Mary Jean Printz Award; Sweepstakes (twice); the Pollinator Award; the Dahl Award; and the Linnaeus Award. In 2016, members Martha Moore and Sue Thompson become GCA horticulture judges and the GCV Horticulture Award of Merit has been presented to Sue Thompson 1999, Tricia Sauer 2000, Martha Moore 2002, Julia Cox 2005, Nancy Gresham 2006, Eleanor Towers 2007 and Nancy Cann Purcell 2012.

Conservation

Flower Arranging

The TGCW is home to talented and creative flower arrangers. Much of the arrangers' inspiration comes from Virginia’s beautiful spring and fall seasons, with budding branches, bursting bulbs, and abundant flowering shrubs and perennials, ladened with fruit and berries throughout the year. For the past several decades, TGCW has had active GCV and GCA artistic judges who make GCV flower shows possible -- writing schedules, passing entries, clerking, judging and planning awards ceremonies.

The club received the Garden Club of Virginia 2011 InterClub Artistic Award and, since 1995, has won 22 individual major GCV floral design awards daffodil, lily and rose shows. In 2013, club member Peyton Wells created the first virtual flower show to which all of the GCV member clubs were invited. The show featured five divisions -- Floral Design, Horticulture, Photography, Botanical Arts and Conservation -- and was judged by GCV and GCA members. With club support it was a huge success. In 2019, members co-chaired, produced and judgeed the GCA’s first multi-divisional virtual annual meeting flower show. Virtual flower shows were helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community Involvement

• Funding and volunteer work at Richmond's Library Park, 1998 GCV Common Wealth Award recipient
• Construction, planting and dedication of the Microclimate Wall at the Science Museum of Virginia (2000)
• Extreme Stream Makeover to help improve and restore the James River in Richmond’s near west end (2007)
• Planting native plants at Bandy Field, a neighborhood urban park, 2004 GCV Common Wealth Award recipient. The club stayed involved and supported the Bandy Field Association into recent years when Bandy Field was put into a conservation easement to protect against further development.
• Support for educational programs at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
• Support for an educator at Peter Paul Development Center
• Sponsoring students to Nature Camp (2007-2016)
• Ssupport for landscaping for an inner-city school playground
• Donations and support for a “Grow Lab” at St. Andrews School (2012-2016)
• Participation in a riparian buffer project along Tuckahoe Creek for the James River Association (2001)
• Participation in all phases of Richmond's four-club Capital Trees projects since 2010
• Participaation in Partner 4 Plants, a community project with the James River Garden Club and GCA to eradicate invasives from the trails of Chapel Island, on the edge of the James River Low Line.

Tuckahoe Plantation, Thomas Jefferson's boyhood home, plays an important role in the lives of TGCW members. Three current club members -- Mrs. W. Taliaferro Thompson III (Carey), her daughter, Mrs. Fernando B. Viego (Carey) and Mrs. Addison B. Thompson (Sue) -- and their families have been stewards of the property. Members are immersed in its rich culture. They have learned the history of its landscape and plantings and have enjoyed watching the gardens evolve with its plant selections that reflect the 18th century. The property is host to club meetings and celebrations, propagation and flower arranging workshops. Members are honored to serve as hostesses during Garden Club of Virgnia’s Historic Garden Week.

Garden Club of Virginia

The Garden Club of Virginia has been a guiding force for TGCW for nine decades with club members serving on the board and state-level committees. Three members, Mrs. Arthur B. Collins (1952-1954), Mrs. Thomas W. Murrell, Jr.(1978-1980) and Mrs. John Thomas West, IV (2008-2010), have served as President of the Garden Club of Virginia.

The club enthusiastically participates and has enjoyed the benefits of GCV events -- Historic Garden Week, Horticulture Field Day, Legislative Day, Conservation Forum and GCV Symposia. In recent years club members have served on the GCV Flower Show Committee, Horticulture Committee, Conservation Committee, Membership Committee and Journal Committee. TGCW enjoys the benefits of its proximity to GCV's Richmond headquarters, the Kent Valentine House, where it frequently holds membership meetings. Along with nearby GCV clubs in the area, TGCW shares responsibility for keeping the house filled with fresh flower arrangements.

TGCW partners with three remaining Richmond GCV clubs to assume alternating responsibilities during Historic Garden Week in Virginia -- state chairman, area chairman, flower arrangers, hostesses, copy writers, marketing chairmen, treasurers and members of the house procurement and transportation committees. From the beginning the club has supported restoration projects funded by Historic Garden Week in the Richmond area and throughout the commonwealth.

GCV Awards

Over the years, four members of the club have received the Massie Medal for Distinquished Achievement, the oldest and most prestigious award given by the Garden Club of Virginia. Sue Thompson received the medal in 2013 for her effectiveness in promoting the betterment of the club, demonstrating excellence in horticulture, restoration, preservation and conservation of the natural resources of our Commonwealth.

A New Decade

The COVID-19 pandemic briefly put a stop to in-person meetings in the spring of 2019. Not to be thwarted, members continued to hold meetings and fundraising sales in open-air venues. Zooming allowed members to stay in touch and to conduct club business. It also allowed for hands-on floral design and botanical arts workshops in the colder months of the year. The internet became key in virtual club flower shows, and for floral design, horticulture and photography. Digital communications became more important, and the club’s website was updated with more comprehensive content and a fresh, user-friendly format. The monthly newsletter allowed for club business to be shared with all members. Members continued to stay in touch by emailing pictures of their COVID-19 gardens, abundant with the extra attention, and new plants and shrubs that they were installing on their properties, with uplifting quotes and stories of the plants in their lives.

As the club enters a new decade, it is planning creative ways to accommodate members with the ever-growing pressures of modern living, hoping to continue offering opportunities for all members to be educated, and to pass their knowledge of plants and the love of gardening on the others. Members are moving ahead with an urgent mission to keep things as green as possible and to reduce carbon footprints. Traditions will remain true and passions will deepen.To quote Gertrude Jekyll, “The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies.”

In preparation for its centennial in 2028, the club has begun researching its documents housed at the Library of Virginia -- culling through and transcribing minutes, committee reports, reading news paper articles, scanning photographs and other accumulated club history. As research continues, the documents are telling a story -- the Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton has always been home to plant lovers, conservationists and gardeners who love making things beautiful.

TGCW Presidents 1996-2022

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vbgardenclub.org

In March 1937 when Virginia Beach was a summer resort with a small winter community, eight women organized the Virginia Beach Garden Club. As of 2024, the club is 65 active, 29 associate and three non-resident members strong.

VBGC members have wonderfully diverse interests ranging from floral design and horticulture to conservation and photography. Many members have gone beyond the club level to grow and to share, joining local federated garden clubs, the Garden Club of Virginia and the Garden Club of America committees and judging programs. Meeting programs and workshops continue to be the focus of club members as they revel in learning and growing together. The club's annual propagation workshop teaches the Forsythe method and floral design workshops are always well attended.

Through the Years

By 2006, PAGC had became computer savvy and created a member database, a new logo that would evolve over the next fifteen years and an online newsletter, the Ground Cover. Annually, the club invites its Junior Virginia Beach Garden Club for a joint meeting and program.

In 2010, the Virginia Beach Garden Club Fund was established as a means to defray travel expenses for presidents and delegates attending the GCA and GCV meetings. The fund continues to grow from investments and donations.

In 2012, PAGC celebrated its 75th Anniversary with appreciation for the past and renewed enthusiasm for the future.

By 2014, work began to develop a club website which members now rely on as a cornerstone for club business.

In March 2020, with the spread of the COVID-19, quarantine became the order of the day. Many VBGC activities and those of GCV and GCA were cancelled. Members worked tirelessly to stay connected and successfully learned to Zoom for meetings and to enjoy creative safe distance gatherings.

In 2022, after  years of hard work by dedicated members, Mac Houfek’s garden “Fernwood” was documented and accepted into the Garden Club of America Collection at the Archives of American Gardens in the Smithsonian Institute. Mac’s garden joins the other VBGC documented garden belonging to Meg Campbell.

In 2024, the spirit of the Virginia Beach Garden Club is alive and well with an enthusiastic membership and great hopes for a bright future.

Fundraisers and Community Events

Fall Flower Festival

The success of the festival led to a change of venue to the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Between 1992 and 2019 booths were added to include local vendors, rare plants, Second Hand Rose (a booth of recycled home and garden related items donated for resale by members), Roots and Shoots (a booth of perennials from member’s gardens potted for sale) and Garden Art (a booth featuring planted hypertufa pots created by our members in workshops), as well as consignment shrubs and perennials from a local grower for purchase on sale day. As rental expenses continued to rise, the festival was pared down and the focus shifted to online orders.  When COVID-19 hit, the Fall Flower Festival became the Fall Flower Sale, a completely virtual ecommerce event with a one day pick-up and delivery.

Tidewater Garden Symposium

The Tidewater Garden Symposium, started in March 1988 by Dale Henderson, was a joint venture with the Garden Club of Norfolk that continued for over 20 years. This annual event was a non-profit educational project for the public, emphasizing local growing conditions. Each event had four nationally known speakers and drew horticulturists from all areas of Tidewater.

Spring Speaker Event

In March 2022, after rescheduling multiple times, the club was finally able to hold its first Spring Speaker event with guest speaker was James Farmer. The event began with a cocktail party at the beautiful home of member Lou Flowers. The following day James spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. The event included vendors and a book signing. Cathy B. Graham was the guest speaker at the club's second event in March of 2024 that also included a book signing plus additional vendors. These fundraising events have allowed the club to significantly increase its support for community projects.

Community Projects

PAGC members continue to prioritize community projects that highlight the club's mission. In the late 1990s, the club focused on funding projects at the Virginia Marine Science Museum (Native Plant and Wildflower Garden and the Coastal Woodland Retreat) and the Norfolk Botanical Garden (Native Plant Garden, the World of Wonder’s Children’s Adventure Garden and the Safari Wetlands Garden).

In 2004, the club proudly reframed twenty-one watercolors, painted by VBGC past president Adele McMahon, that hang in the Kent-Valentine House.

Mary’s Garden at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital has been a project near and dear to PAGC from its inception in 2001. Named for and honoring two beloved club members, Mary Hamilton Winder, who donated a large amount of money from her estate, and Mary Babb Savage, who had a lengthy hospital stay. Under the leadership of Jean Marie Randolph, VBGC designed, implemented the construction and helped raise over $200,000 needed to complete the garden. Meg French, then a member of the Junior Virginia Beach Garden Club and now a member of VBGC, drew the plans for an exquisite garden complete with a fountain, seating areas and curved brick walls. This garden provides peace and solace for all who visit.

At St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children, VBGC funded their entrance walkway, lining it with blooming trees and flower beds. In 2009, the club partnered with Garden Club of Norfolk to fund a visual sound buffer along the interstate by planting 24 native trees.

The second decade of the 21st century brought the club's vision to the Brock Environmental Center with the Rain Garden at Pleasure Point, as well as the Living Green Wall in the Environmental Studies Classroom. Support for the Norfolk Botanical Garden continued as the club supported their 75th anniversary by contributing to the Reflection Garden.

VABC partnered with Camp Grom to create a Healing Garden for Veterans and their families and contributed to the VB Public Art Sculpture overlooking the Lynnhaven River on the Lesner Bridge.

Looking forward, PAGC is committed to the Sentara Brock Cancer Center, Grey’s Garden at CHKD Mental Health Facility, Judeo Christian Outreach Center and the Dozoretz Hospice House.

VBGC contributes to Scenic Virginia and sponsors a child to  Nature Camp every year

Garden Club of Virginia

For many years, the club has enjoyed teaming with the Garden Club of Norfolk, Harborfront Garden Club and the Princess Anne Garden Club to alternately host the GCV President for a joint meeting in November every other year. The meeting now features local vendors and offers a great opportunity to enjoy being together with sister clubs.

Historic Garden Week

The VBGC has been a member of GCV since 1953 and has enthusiastically participated in HGW for over seventy years. In 2000, VBGC joined with the Princess Anne Garden Club to merge tours and work together for a single Virginia Beach Tour. For a decade, beginning in 2010, VBGC has hosted the Painted Garden, an art show featuring local artists, during HGW in alternate years.

GCV Annual Meeting

The club hosted the 2009 Garden Club of Virginia Annual Meeting, "Treasures of the Sea," at the Sheraton Hotel, c0-chaired by Molly Rueger and Joan Lyons. In keeping with the theme, PAGC members wore pearls throughout the meeting.

GCV Awards and Positions

1996-1997 Conservation Committee: Betsy Agelasto

2000-2001 Editorial Board: Betsy Agelasto; Speakers Committee: Molly Rueger

2000 - VBGC, along with three other GCV Tidewater clubs, proposed the Elizabeth River Project for the GCV Dugdale Award in Conservation which they were awarded at the Conservation Forum.

2000-2006 Horticulture Committee: Mac Houfek

2002-2005 Editorial Board Chairman: Betsy Agelasto

2003-2005 GCV Director at Large: Molly Rueger

2005-2008 Journal Advertising Chairman: Betsy Agelasto; Speakers Bureau: Sandra Baylor, Dale Henderson

2008 - 2009 Director-at-Large :Betsy Agelasto; Speakers Bureau : Sandra Baylor

2009 Annual Meeting Co-Chairmen: Joan Lyons, Molly Rueger

2010-2011 HGW Public Relations Associate: Ellen Sinclair

2010 – 2012 Conservation Committee: Betsy Agelasto; Finance Committee Chairman:  Julie MacKinlay

2012 GCV Legislative Day Chairman: Betsy Agelasto

2012-2014 Conservation Committee: Betsy Agelasto; Development Chairman: Julie MacKinlay

2014 de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation - Betsy Agelasto

2014-2016 Horticulture Committee: Meg French

2018-2019 HGW District 6 Chairman: Emily Mills

2018-2020 Conservation and Beautification Committee: Ann L Wright, Lynda Strickler; Development Committee: Betsy Agelasto; State Parks Committee: Molly Ill

2020 VBGC GCV Common Wealth Award recipient for the Living Green Wall in the Brock Environmental Center Classroom

2020-2021 Membership News Chairman: Molly Ill; Conservation and Beautification Committee: Ann L Wright, Lynda Strickler; Development Committee; Betsy Agelasto

2022-2024 Conservation Awards Committee: Beth Munford; Massie Medal Committee: Molly Ill

GCV Accredited Judges, Artistic Division: Sandra Baylor and Judy Terjen

GCV Horticulture Awards of Merit: 2002, Evie Holt; 2004, Mac Houfek; 2010, Donna Eure; 2011, Susan Gentry; 2012, Dana Parker; 2013, Meg French; 2017, Susie Brown, Kay Shiflett; 2023, Jane Booth

PAGC Presidents 1996-2024

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The first business brought before the club was the subject of refuse dumped along roadsides. There are frequent references to this nuisance in the minutes for some years, as well as reports by the chairman of an interview with the mayor, council, and supervisors. It is reasonable to believe that the establishment of a town dump was the direct result of garden club efforts.

Club members have been beautifying surrounding communities ever since and, on May 20, 1941, the club expanded its vision when it became a member club in the Garden Club of Virginia.

Community Involvement

GCWC has long focused on community involvement and improvements. Landscaping projects over the years have had significant impact in Front Royal: landscaping at Warren Memorial Hospital; the creation of a garden and bird sanctuary at Samuels Public Library (then housed in Ivy Lodge) and another bird sanctuary at Skyline Caverns; improvements to the landscape at Warren County High School; planting marigolds at filling stations; and landscaping at Lynn Care Center at Warren Memorial Hospital and the town parking lots.

When Bowman Park was established with plantings of dogwood trees, flowering shrubs and thousands of bulbs, the club assisted with landscaping maintenance. And when a garden plan was developed for Belle Boyd Cottage on the grounds of the Warren Heritage Society, the club applied for and received the GCV Common Wealth Award.

Trees planted by the club could be found for years along Royal Avenue, on the post office lawn, along John Marshall Highway, on the grounds of Warren Memorial Hospital and Warren County Middle School, at Samuels Public Library and on additional public properties and historic homes.

The club was instrumental in the reclamation of Happy Creek and the surrounding Brookside community in its early days.

And when the club was invited to join the Garden Club of Virginia, it began a long history of hosting the GCV Board of Governors meetings, GCV flower shows and Historic Garden Week tours. Members chaired and served on GCV committees and received accolades from GCV for artistic design, horticulture and conservation.

Since 1990, GCWC has contributed funds to landscape the Warren County Senior Center in Front Royal and continues to participate in the Adopt-a-Highway-Program. Club members have planted wildflowers at Leslie Fox Keyser Public Elementary School and, under the guidance of member Melba Trenary, expanded and maintained the Belle Boyd Cottage Garden.

In partnership with South River, Front Royal and Valley garden clubs, GCWC organized the Beautification of Front Royal Committee. The first project was implementation of a Landscape Corridor Plan developed for the town by the University of Virginia‘s School of Landscape Architecture. Our members continued to serve on the Beautification of Front Royal Committee.

The club has provided scholarships for students at Warren County High School to Nature Camp; presented wildlife programs to Warren County Middle School students; provided decorations for Christmas activities at Belle Grove Plantation, Warren County Heritage Society and Blue Ridge Arts Council; and provided flower arrangements for St. Luke Community Clinic and Salvation Army fundraising dinners. The club also provides funds annually to the Beautification of Front Royal Committee; Warren Heritage Society for the Bell Boyd Cottage Garden; local 4-H Camp; Friends of the Shenandoah River and Shenandoah River State Park.

GCWC recognizes outstanding artistic and horticulture achievements annually with the Artistic Award Bowl and the Garden Club of Warren County Horticulture Plaque. The club participated in the VMFA's Fine Arts and Flowers event in 2009 and continued participation through 2019.

Garden Club of Virginia

The club hosted the GCV 2004 Board of Governors at the Northern Virginia 4-H Center on October 12-14, co-chaired by Melba Trenary and Elsie Upchurch. The GCV Board of Directors met Tuesday afternoon at the Miller-Lickson House. A Dutch treat dinner followed at Rose Hill. The awards banquet was held Wednesday evening at Shenandoah Valley Golf Club.

The club spent countless hours preparing to host the 2020 GCV Board of Governors when COVID-19 resulted in its cancellation.

In celebration of the GCV Centennial, GCWC applied for and received a 2018 grant from the Garden Club of Virginia to develop a pollinator meadow and bee habitat with interpretive signage at the Raymond R. “Andy” Guest, Jr. Shenandoah River State Park. A second grant was received in 2019 to improve the lighting and add additional plantings to the area around the visitor center at the park.

After serving on the GCV Horticulture Committee from 2012 to 2014, Beth DeBergh chaired the committee from 2014 to 2016. She received the GCV Horticulture Award of Merit in 2022. Other recipients of the Horticulture Award of Merit were Judith Geddy in 1994 and Louise LaBarca in 2015. The GCV’s Dugdale Award for Meritorious Achievement in Conservation was presented to the Friends of the Shenandoah River in 2003.

GCWC Presidents 1995-2021

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warrentongardenclub.org

The Warrenton Garden Club was founded in 1911 and became a founding member of the Garden Club of America (GCA), and in 1920, a founding member of the Garden Club of Virginia (GCV).

Community Involvement

The club was a recipient of Common Wealth Award funding in 2000 for its project to plant trees and shrubs at the Fauquier Outdoor Lab. The Fauquier County School facility includes a learning lab with meeting space and a small natural history collection; a pond; and nature trails.

In 2011, the club established a garden around the handicapped accessible playground at the Warrenton Aquatic and Recreational Facility. Members  weed and deadhead during the summer and, twice a year (spring and fall), have all-hands-on-deck to ready the garden for summer and to put it to bed in the fall. The club recently rejuvenated the garden, and in support of the club's efforts to make Fauquier County a member of “Bee City USA,” replaced plantings to create a pollinator friendly garden.

An initiative to  establish a community farm was initiated by the Fauquier Community Action committee in 2009. The original plan for the Fauquier Education Farm was initiated by the Fauquier Community Action committee in 2009. By 2010, the Fauquier Education Farm was established to further develop a program of agricultural education and the growing of fresh produce for lower income residents. Today, the farm regularly donates over 100,000 pounds of produce per year to local area food banks. The WGC began a long-term association with the organization in 2014. Each spring, members seed hundreds of trays to go into their greenhouses. In summer, members volunteer in the garden and in the fall, the club supports the organization's major fundraiser.

With its beginnings in the 1980s, the Clifton Institute has grown over the decades "to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards, to learn about the ecology of the northern Virginia Piedmont, and to conserve native biodiversity." The WGC club provided funding for the Gina Farrar Native Plant Garden at the institute in memory of member Gina, who's generous legacy to our club made this possible and the decision to recognize her life and commitment to conservation and education found unanimous support among club members. Gina received the GCV de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation in 2012 for her outstanding effort to further knowledge and wise use of our natural resources.

The club holds a conservation forum each year that is open to the public. Recent topics have included uranium mining; American Bird Conservancy update by Dr. David Wiedenfeld; climate change presented by Kathleen Biggins, co-founder of the non-partisan, non-profit organization C-Change; and restoring insects presented by Doug Tallamy, professor in the University of Delaware Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology.

The club's nominee, the Piedmont Environmental Council, received the Garden Club of Virginia Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Meritorious Achievement in Conservation in 2018.

Club Milestones

1997 - created a club newspaper, "The Weeder"

2000 - achieved 501(c)(3) status, clarifying the club's position as non-profit organization

2008 - introduced a Junior membership category

Garden Club of Virginia

The Warrenton Garden Club is one of the smallest clubs in the Garden Club of Virginia and members actively participate in GCV events while serving on numerous GCV committees and the Board of Directors. Notably, Kim Nash served as President of the Garden Club of Virginia 2010-2012.

The club hosted the 2009 Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors October 13-15, 2009, at North Wales estate in Warrenton. The weather presented a challenge when temperatures plummeted during the meeting. Undeterred, WGC club members furnished blankets and gloves (socks) for attendees to combat the chill.

WGC Presidents 1996-2024

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The Williamsburg Garden Club was organized March 21, 1929 and was admitted to membership in the Garden Club of Virginia June 11, 1931. A history of the club's first seventy years was recorded by club member Jean Cogle in Seventy Years as a Garden Club: History of the Williamsburg Garden Club 1929-2000.

1995-2000

The City of Williamsburg was making plans in the early 1990s to celebrate its 1999 tricentennial when Williamsburg Garden Club members Mary Ann Brendel, Gale Roberts and Dianne Spence were asked to serve on the Beautification Committee of the city’s Tricentennial Commission.

At the time, Mary Ann was searching for a Master Gardener’s project and learned of the Roots and Shoots gardening program developed in California by Molly and Dirck Brown. As fortune would have it, the Browns had recently moved to Lexington, Virginia, continuing their work.

Mary Ann invited the Browns to speak to WGC members about their Lexington Children’s Garden and the seed for Mattey’s Garden at Matthew Whaley Elementary School was planted. Mary Ann had found her Master Gardener’s project! The Beautification Committee presented the idea to the city’s Tricentennial Commission and WGC members immediately began work. Gale Roberts designed the garden, Millie West raised funds throughout the community and construction was soon underway.

Mattey's Garden was dedicated in 1999 with great fanfare. Matthew Whaley students, dressed as insects and plants, delighted the attendees with a musical produced by WGC member and music teacher Genrose Lashinger. After receiving the 1999 Arbor Day Award from the Williamsburg Area Council of Garden Clubs, Williamsburg Garden Club project leaders led city officials and community members on a tour of the 4,000 square foot fenced garden.

View Mattey's Garden Photos 

With broad community and school support, Mattey’s Garden evolved and flourished. Master Gardeners took on the summer weeding and watering. WGC members Laura Geddy and Cathy Adams spearheaded PTA involvement while numerous WGC members taught weekly classes. Art class activities included painting gourds from the garden and cafeteria meals included salads from the garden’s produce.

Encouraged by the success of Mattey’s Garden, the Williamsburg Garden Club applied for and received the Garden Club of Virginia’s 1999 Common Wealth Award

The Williamsburg Garden Club continues to support Mattey’s Garden and the entire Williamsburg community continues to benefit from the garden today after more than 20 years.

The Williamsburg Garden Club celebrated its 70th anniversary in 1999 during the city’s tricentennial. A charter member of the Williamsburg Land Conservancy, the club donated funds to that organization’s campaign to purchase Mainland Farms, the longest continuously farmed piece of property in the United States located at the gateway to Jamestown Island. After a successful campaign, the property was purchased in 1999 and a conservation easement, held by the Conservancy, was placed on the 214-acre property in 2013.

2000-2010

The club provided funds in 2002 for new shrubs to be planted in the Governor's Palace Maze. According to former WGC President Millie West, “this gift is a small thank you for all that Colonial Williamsburg has done in the past for Historic Garden Week in Virginia.”

Williamsburg members began planning years in advance to host Garden Club of Virginia’s 2002 and 2003 Rose Shows. Every member of the club was assigned at least one task by Co- Chairmen Karen Jamison and Dianne Spence. Jewel Lynn Delaune designed a beautiful garden gate logo to adorn printed material, aprons, totes, notecards and more. The 2002 event was held at the Radisson Fort Magruder Hotel and Conference Center, drawing horticulture and artistic exhibitors from far and wide with rave reviews from all. The show's theme focused on Governor Francis Nicholson's plan of the town when Williamsburg was the colonial capital of Virginia. The balance and proportion of houses to lots, windows to doors, chimneys to rooflines all reflected an enlightened awareness of design principles. The artistic schedule included classes for late Colonial, free form, Federal, Nageire and Hogarth styles, among others -- plus a challenge class.

Immediately upon storing the properties of the 2002 show, members began discussing ways to increase efficiency and to increase public participation in the upcoming 2003 show. The Woodlands Conference Center in Colonial Williamsburg was reserved, artistic schedules were designed; program and invitations printed and mailed.

Everything was in place when disaster struck Virginia on September 18 in the form of Hurricane Isabel. The unusually large wind field uprooted thousands of trees, downed power lines, damaged homes, and business, and snapped telephone poles. Roads and major highways were blocked by fallen trees. Widespread areas in Virginia were without reliable power for two weeks, including the area surrounding the Woodlands Conference Center. The 2003 Garden Club of Virginia Rose Show, to be hosted by the Williamsburg Garden Club was canceled.

In anticipation of Historic Jamestowne’s quadricentennial celebration in 2007, the club partnered with Williamsburg City employees to create a small Anniversary Garden, welcoming visitors at one of the city’s gateways. A larger community garden was created and maintained by WGC members on the grounds of Heritage Humane Society, providing a pet friendly atmosphere for potential adoptive pet owners. Traffic issues and shortage of maintenance personnel contributed to the demise of these lovely ten-year gardens.

2010-2020

The 92nd Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia was hosted by the Williamsburg Garden Club in 2012, chaired by Sherrie Chappell, Lynn Ford and Dianne Spence. With the expectation of hosting 120 guests, planning the three-day meeting began years in advance. Events kicked off Tuesday afternoon with a short bus ride on the Colonial Parkway to Jamestown Island for "Blue Jeans and Bluegrass." Attendees enjoyed a wine reception before toruing the archaeological excavation site, led by Jamestown Discovery director Bill Kelso, and the Archaeareum, designed by Carlton Abbott. Al fresco dinner buffet dinner on the banks of the James River followed, with bluegrass music provided by Bill Kelso, his wife Ellen and “Whoever Shows Up” band members. Carlton Abbot shared behind the scenes stories of his Archaeareum design project during dessert.

Prior to the meeting on Day two, attendees enjoyed escorted walking tours of Colonial Williamsburg's gardens, the Colonial Nursery and the GCV funded design of Bruton Parish churchyard. Picnic style lunch was served overlooking the oval garden at the former Abby Aldridge Folk Art Museum (now the Colonial Williamsburg Spa). Meeting attendees then walked across the street to the Williamsburg Lodge, to be welcomed by Thomas Jefferson before settling down to a full afternoon of business. Members of Colonial Williamsburg’s Fife and Drum Corps made a surprise appearance during cocktails later that evening, leading the guests down a lovely garden path to the awards banquet in the Inn's beautiful Regency Room.

Day three was strictly business as attendees met for the final morning session. Guests departed with box lunches provided by the Garden Club of Gloucester, likely hearing loud sighs of satisfaction and relief from triumphant WGC members.

The Garden Club of Virginia 2015 Symposium was held in Williamsburg, chaired by WGC members Terry Buntrock and Misty Spong. Honorary chairmen were WGC honorary members Helen Reveley (wife of William & Mary former president Taylor Reveley), Nancy Campbell (wife of former Colonial Williamsburg president Colin Campbell) and Elisabeth Reiss (wife of former Colonial Williamsburg president Mitchell Reiss).

Williamsburg Garden Club member Nina Mustard was elected President of the Garden Club of Virginia (2016-2018) at the 96th GCV Annual Meeting in May, 2016. That honor was last held by a WGC member in 1954-1954 when Lelia Thorne held the office. Nina had previously been awarded the oldest and most prestigious award given by the Garden Club of Virginia, the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement, in 2011.

2016-2022 coming soon.

Historic Garden Week

The Williamsburg Garden Club hosts a tour each year during Historic Garden Week. Tour sites have included historic buildings and gardens in Colonial Williamsburg, noted buildings and landscaping on the campus of William & Mary, large estates in gated communities and smaller neighborhood homes, art galleries, museums and public parks. Themes have included history lessons of war years and celebrations of love, art and anniversaries. Guided walking tours of gardens in Colonial Williamsburg’s historic area have been included every year.

Noted Colonial Williamsburg homes have included the Coke-Garrett House revealing its history of expansions over two centuries, from the addition of multi-story wings to the brick outbuilding. The house and lawn were used as a hospital to treat wounded Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War; Bassett Hall, an 18th century frame house set on 585 acres of woodlands and gardens, was the Williamsburg home of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The house and most of the furnishings, including many examples of Mrs. Rockefeller’s American folk-art collection, remain much as it was when the Rockefellers furnished it in the mid-1930s.; the Tayloe House, purchased by John Tayloe II in 1759 to serve as his winter residence during sessions of the King's Council. His primary residence was historic Mount Airy, located on the Northern Neck. One of wealthiest men in Virginia, Tayloe was known for his hospitality and entertained frequently in his Williamsburg residence. His son, Colonel .John Tayloe III owned the building in Washington, DC, known today as the Octagon House.

Williamsburg tour attendance has averaged 1000 guests each year between 1996 and 2020, and the success of WGC tours has allowed the club to contribute almost $720,000 during the same 25-year period to the Garden Club of Virginia for the restoration of historic gardens and landscapes throughout Virginia.

Garden Club of Virginia

• 1999 Common Wealth Award for Mattey’s Garden
• Horticulture Awards of Merit: Dianne Spence 2002, Genrose Lashinger 2004, Mary Ann Brendel 2006, Jewel Lynn Delaune 2008, Fran Jones 2010, Minouche Robinson 2011, Karen Jamison 2018
• Massie Medal: Nina Mustard 2011
• GCV Centennial Grants: York River State Park Grants 2018, 2019 and 2020
• GCV Leadership Positions held by WGC Members 1996-2024: Karen Jamison -- Slides 1996-1998, Assistant Treasurer 1998-2002, Development 2006-2008; Gale Roberts -- Parliamentarian 2002-2004, Artistic Design Judge; Terry Buntrock -- Symposium 2015; Dianne Spence -- Finance, 2002-2004, Treasurer 2004-2008, Parliamentarian and Strategic Planning 2008-2010, Director at Large 2010-2012, Nominations 2014-2016, Horticulture 2012-2014, Restoration 2016-2018, Massie Medal 2018-2020, ADS Judge; Nina Mustard -- Online/Webmaster 2006-2010, Director at Large 2008-2010, Corresponding Secretary 2010-2012, 2nd Vice President 2012-2014, 1st Vice President 2014-2016, President 2016-2018, FTGA III 2020-2024, Parliamentarian 2022-2024.

WGC Presidents 1996-2024

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www.winchesterclarkegc.org

Winchester-Clarke Garden Club is fortunate to have historic gardens and landscapes in its surrounding areas.

Dogwood Lane winds through the Blandy Experimental Farm, the State Arboretum of Virginia, and leads to the grounds of the Tuleyries which remain in private hands.  The  Garden Club of Virginia completed a restoration of the stone wall along lane in 2004. Using locally sourced stone, the project returned the walls to their original configuration, seamlessly blending the new with the old. Simultaneously, the WCGC rejuvenated and replaced native dogwood trees along the lane, enhancing its natural beauty. Photos

2007 Lily Show Photos

2008 Lily Show Photos

In 2011, WCGC joined with the Little Garden Club of Winchester in supporting a restoration project at John Handley High School.  JHHS, now on the National Register of Historic Places, opened its doors in 1923, and remains a strong presence in the community. People are drawn to the grounds not only because of the school and its athletic events, but also because it is simply a wonderful place to be. The Garden Club of Virginia was approached for help with the grounds when a major renovation of the school was undertaken. The request included a planting scheme at the front of the building and along the west end of the “bowl” where the football field is located. In addition, GCV restored the design of the “landscape park” east of the bowl. Construction of new walls and dozens of trees have been planted, including restoration of the allée of oaks from the bowl to Valley Avenue, a central piece of original architect Walter McCornack McCornack’s vision.

The Shenandoah Discovery Museum Rooftop Garden was dedicated in 2014. The Winchester-Clarke Garden Club made a significant contribution of $25,000 to the museum which supported the development of the rooftop garden at the museum’s location on Cork Street. The rooftop garden project aligns with the club’s commitment to community beautification and environmental awareness by showcasing native plants, flowers and sustainable gardening practices.

Club members assisted the GCV Horticulture Committee when Horticulture Field Day was held on May 27-28, 2015, in Winchester and historic Clarke County. Attendees registered at Glen Burnie on May 27 with tours of the gardens, museum and a box lunch. Private tours began after lunch and included the “green roof” of the Discovery Museum and private tours of the gardens of Patsy Smith, Jo Ann Larson, Kathleen Quarles and Peter G. Bullough. Guests were also invited to take a self-guided tour of the garden at Handley High School -- a GCV Restoration site. The second day, Clarke County tours included the State Arboretum of Virginia at Blandy and the private gardens of Carolyn Farouki, Tressa Borland Reuling, Ilona Benham and Elizabeth Locke. Departure and box lunches were distributed at Burwell-Morgan Mill, another GCV Restoration site, where visitors could see the mill in operation. Photos

WCGC received the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award in 2019 for its project at Abrams Creek Wetlands Preserve , home to over 300 plant species, 20 of which are on the Virginia Rare Plants list. This 25-acre urban green space and wetlands preserve serves as an educational and recreational resource for Winchester. Recognizing its fragility, WCGC raised funds and volunteered hours to restore and safeguard it.

The club ended the decade making plans for ambitions projects -- hosting the GCV Annual Meeting, "Cultivation - Restoration,'  in 2023 at the historic George Washington Hotel in downtown Winchester; and, with the Virginia Cooperative Extension in 2024, hosting “Hometown Habitat: Stories of Bringing Nature Home,” a movie by Catherine Zimmerman, featuring Doug Tallamy. A panel discussion will follow with Catherine Zimmerman; Dr. Iara Lacher of Seven Bend Nursery; Mark Sutphin, VCE Extension agent; Jennifer Adams, President Master Gardeners of the Northern Shenandoah Valley; and Alex Newhart, Master Naturalist.

GCV Honors and Awards

GCV Horticulture Award of Merit recipients include Judith Anderson, 1996; Rebecca McCoy, 1997; Elaine Brandt, 1999; Martha Cook, 2001; Pam DeBergh, 2004; and Patsy Smith, 2012.

WCGC members have actively participated in GCV events, serving on committees and exhibiting award-winning flower show entries.

The club turns 100 years old in 2024. Encouraged by the hard work of former and current members, club members plan to continue to revitalize, plant, restore, and conserve the beauty around us. In honor of WCGC's centennial, a celebratory luncheon will take place at the historic George Washington Hotel in Winchester.

WCGC Presidents 1995-2025

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