The Garden Club of Danville

March 22, 2022

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The Garden Club of Danville actively supports community projects that include the Grove Street Cemetery, the Danville Science Center entrance, the grounds of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, and the Perkinson Rose Garden.

The club hosts an annual geranium sale that successfully funds community projects.

Members have enjoyed educational programs with well-known speakers, hands-on workshops and demonstrations, and garden tours. A memorable trip to the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research included a tour of the research greenhouses where the Lady Astor Rose was propagated. Another favorite program was Flowers are Forever, presented by author Libby Oliver, who focused on the conditioning of flowers for maximum life.  The members also had an opportunity to learn and improve their horticulture staging skills by hosting a presentation and workshop given by Kim Cory and Fran Carden of Albemarle Garden Club.

Club members actively monitor the health of the Dan River and support legislation to enhance its quality. The club has held meetings with like-minded organizations in the area to hear panels of experts who address river-related topics.

The Garden Club of Danville celebrated its centennial in 2018, with a reception for its members that included a display of club artifacts. A granite bench was placed in the downtown Danville area to commemorate the milestone. In celebration of the Garden Club of Virginia centennial in 2020, the club supported grant applications for both Fairy Stone State Park and Staunton River State Park.

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

Read A Bit of History: The Garden Club of Danville written by club member Nan Freed for the Board of Governors brochure.

A recap provided by District 3 Director at Large Candy Carden, The Garden Club of the Northern Neck, described the Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning activities.

“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 and 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 Barbeque at 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.

GCD Presidents 1995-2021

1995-1997	Evelyn Owens
1997-1999	Anne Foster
1999-2001	Meg Clement
2001-2003	Katherine Milam
2003-2005	Nancy Jiranek
2005-2007	Sue Lea
2007-2009	Anne Geyer
2009-2011	Marcia-Lee Rich
2011-2013	Kris Carbone
2013-2015	Jo Silvers
2015-2017	Brenda Sebra
2017-2019	Bonnie Griffith
2019-2021	Micky Younger