The Hunting Creek Garden Club

March 22, 2022

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 States 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.

The club provided funding and volunteer hours for the courtyard redesign at Lee’s Boyhood Home in Old Town Alexandria, and was instrumental in the Save River Farm campaign.

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.

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 walk to the Old Dominion Boat Club for a Dutch treat dinner. Attendees were offered optional tours on Tuesday morning that included George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate or the Pope-Leighey House/Woodlawn.

Following a buffet luncheon, President Jean Gilpin called the 99th meeting of the GCV Board of Governors to order Tuesday afternoon. Hunting Creek Garden Club President Gugi Hooff offered greetings and praised co-chairmen Vicky Alexander and Laura Francis. Jean added her thanks to Gugi, chairmen, club members, and the Wilsons.

Following Tuesday’s business reports, cocktails and the awards banquet were held in the hotel’s grand foyer and ballroom.

President Gilpin began the Wednesday morning by thanking The Hunting Creek Garden Club members for a wonderful evening and congratulating award winners. The 2018 Common Wealth Award recipients were The Elizabeth River Garden Club for Urban Garden Invites Youth to “Dream a Different Future” ($10,000) and The Augusta Garden Club for Project Dogwood – A Hundred Year Journey ($6,000). Read project descriptions. 2018 Common Wealth Award Recipients

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.

A new website, huntingcreekgardenclub.org, was launched. Zoom meetings began and a newsletter kept members informed. The April Crenshaw-Bloomer Daffodil Show and club’s May and June meetings were held virtually. Several club members were active during the summer creating “Flower Flashes” for first responders.

HCGC Presidents 1995-2021

1995-1997	Anne Hobbs
1997-1999	Margaret Moring
1999-2001	Donna Clausen
2001-2003	Martha Manson
2003-2005	Lynn Gas
2005-2007	Lucy Rhame
2007-2009	Lea Shuba
2009-2011	Anne Irving
2011-2013	Laura Francis
2013-2015	Vicky Alexander
2015-2017	Kim Davis
2017-2019	Gugi Houff
2019-2021	Ann McMurray