The Garden Club of Alexandria

March 21, 2022

gcalexandria.com

Community Projects

Oronoco Bay Park in Alexandria is noted for its shrub and flower bed displays at each park entrance. Over many years, The Garden Club of Alexandria has designed, planted, and continued to maintain native plant gardens in the park that are free of herbicides and pesticides. Located on the Potomac River, the park hosts festivals throughout the year and features fields, trails, picnic areas, and event spaces.

The Ramsay House, the oldest home in Alexandria, sits at the entrance to Old Town Alexandria and serves as the Alexandria Visitor Center. When a major restoration of the house began in 1955, The Hunting Creek Garden Club assumed responsibility for a garden and engaged landscape architect Alden Hopkins. That club is credited with “garden and landscaping” on the site’s historical marker. In 2016, The Garden Club of Alexandria initiated a restoration of the garden. With funds available to cover all restoration expenses, the club engaged a landscape architect and worked with club members and city officials to finalize details of this long-term project. Today, the newly restored garden features native sustainable perennials and trees.

Additional community projects have included support for the Alexandria Seaport Foundation, an apprentice program that provides a hands-on learning opportunity for youth; support for Cora Kelly School, a learning community with emphasis in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and creation of holiday floral arrangements for residents of Goodwin House, a retirement community.

Fundraising

The Garden Club of Alexandria fundraisers over the years have included boutiques and a variety of ticketed luncheon events, demonstrations, and speakers, often featuring talented club members. The events are held at locations such as River Farm, home of the American Horticultural Society. The club has also sold note cards featuring line drawings of Old Town Alexandria row houses by a club member. Member assessments have rarely occurred.

In 2007, the club began selling its “Garden Club Man” tie, designed by club members with help from Vineyard Vines. It featured a man sitting on a bench reading a paper. Since that time, the club’s ties have celebrated Historic Garden Week with a dogwood branch and a garden pergola on a background of green arrows.

Club Activities and Programs

The club’s programs have ranged from topics of historical significance to hands-on workshops. Speakers have included GCV Landscape Architect Will Rieley; John Guy of Preservation Virginia; Dr. Steve Carroll of Bandy Experimental Farm (State Arboretum of Virginia); Andrea Wulf, author of The Brother Gardeners and Founding Gardeners; Bill Portlock of Chesapeake Bay Foundation; and Newport-lifestyle blogger Bettie Bearden Pardee.

Some programs have featured demonstrations or hands-on participation: a botanical jewelry workshop by Eilie Lapham; flower-arranging workshops and challenge classes with members and husbands participating; and a horticultural scavenger hunt through members’ gardens in Old Town Alexandria.

Field trips have been popular: Casey Trees headquarters with lunch in the green roof garden; Hillwood in Washington, D.C., home of Marjorie Meriwether Post; Annapolis house and garden tour of member Jordan Richards’ ancestral home, Ridout House, and garden tour of the William Paca House; and GCA headquarters in New York City with a visit to the High Line.

The club is an active member of The Garden Club of America and as such, has been busy planning zone meetings, hosting GCA leaders, and participating in the organization’s national affairs.

At each monthly meeting, club members are presented with conservation tips – recycling, energy efficiency, gardening practices, etc. The club has initiated an anti-litter campaign, presenting educational programs for elementary school students. Club members have continued to push for a “no straws” policy in Alexandria restaurants, noting that the District of Columbia enforces a policy that allows restaurants to provide straws only on request.

2016 GCV Annual Meeting

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.

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

Attendees were 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.

GCV 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.

2016 GCV Annual Meeting Photos

GCA Presidents 1995-2021

1995-1997	Marty Moore
1997-1999	Kay Hobson
1999-2001	Burgess Bradshaw
2001-2003	Anne Baldwin
2003-2005	Betsy Huffman
2005-2007	Anna May
2007-2009	Mary Kay Ryan
2009-2011	Vici Boguess
2011-2013	Meg Carter
2013-2015	Jennifer Kelley
2015-2017	Lisa Mountcastle
2017-2019	Margaret Gardner
2019-2021	Michaela Robinson