Garden Post Spring 2011

The The The The GardenGardenGardenGarden PostPostPostPost Spring 2011 District I

Member of National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc.; Central Atlantic Region; National Garden Clubs, Inc.

Director’s Notes

By David Healy, Director, District I

Enjoyment—of our gardens, our clubs, and our environment

Twenty District I members enjoyed a tour of the Henry Peters

Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park on

Saturday, February 19. The palm house at the conservatory is the

second oldest in the United States and the three, display green-

houses are among the newest.

Cheverly Garden Club will host the District I Awards Meeting

at the Cheverly United Methodist Church at 10:30 a.m. on

Thursday, March 10. District I is providing the beverages and

tableware. Each club president is to arrange to have a dish there

for the continental breakfast. Items should be serving size pieces

or pre-sliced and

Notice of District I Awards Meeting hosted by Cheverly Garden Club

Thursday, March 10, 10:30 a.m.

Cheverly United Methodist Church Foley Hall - 3rd floor on the elevator

2801 Cheverly Avenue Cheverly, MD 20785

Arbor House Gift Shop Trunk Show Photos of Tour to Henry Peters Rawling Conservatory, Baltimore

Continental Breakfast Foods to be provided by each club

Beverages and tableware provided by District I

RSVP to Ann Gardenhour, Cheverly Garden Club

or sliced and are to be placed on serving trays or platters. Club presidents are to notify Ann Gardenhour in the

Cheverly Garden Club how many of their club members are attending and what the club is contributing to the

table. Please use the parking lot at the rear of the building and side door entrance; then, take the elevator to the

3rd

floor and go to Foley Hall.

This spring, the crunch is on as we prepare to host the National Garden Club convention over Memorial Day

weekend at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Washington, DC. District I member Shirley Nicolai of both Tanta

Cove Garden Club and Fergie’s Gardeners will be installed as national President at the conclusion of the

convention. The convention’s organizing committee needs volunteers to act as greeters and to work at the

information table before and during the convention. Volunteers are also needed as table hosts during the various

convention banquets. [You must pay for your own meal(s).] Information on attending the convention and on

volunteering during the convention can be found on the NCA website: http://ncagardenclubs.org/ Thank you for the many notes on the death of my father. He was 94, and his body gave out before his mind.

I also wish to thank those of you who have helped hold District I together while I’ve been in California tending

to my 92-year-old mother, who has suffered a sharp decline.

The The The The GardenGardenGardenGarden PostPostPostPost 2222 District I wins national award No. 18 for civic achievement

Spring 2011Spring 2011Spring 2011Spring 2011

National Garden Clubs’ Certificate of Commendation for Civic Achievement

was awarded to District I during the NGC’s convention in Atlanta in May 2010.

District I received the award for its Memorial Grove civic project with Prospect

Hill Cemetery.

District I’s Book of Evidence scored all 100 possible points.

The judges’ comments:

What an awesome project. Your Book of Evidence met all the requirements for your project.

Keep up the good work!

Above: NCA Awards Chairman Babs McClendon an-

nounces to District I that it won the National Garden Club’s

Civic Achievement award and presents the certificate to

District I Director David Healy during the District’s

Presidents' Meeting in June on the patio at Arbor House

at the U.S. National Arboretum.

Source: District I’s blogspot

A mass was held for

former District I Board

member Marian

DiLorenzo on December

4 at Saint Mary’s Pisca-

taway Catholic Church,

Clinton, MD.

Marian served on

District I’s Board as

Awards Chairman and

was a member of Tanta-

Cove Garden Club.

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Tanta-Cove, Capital Hill clubs receive Central Atlantic regional awards

Jane Gridley July 3, 1923

January 13, 2011

A mass was held for

former District I Board

member Jane Gridley on

January 17 at The Chapel

at Riderwood Village,

Silver Spring, MD. Jane

and her husband John

resided there for the past

three years.

Jane served several

consecutive, elected terms

as District I’s Treasurer

into 2007 and was a

member of Woodmoor

Garden Club.

In memoriam

The Central Atlantic Region (CAR) of National

Garden Clubs recognized two District I clubs with

awards in October.

Tanta Cove Garden Club received three awards for

its flower show, “Flights of Fancy.”

• 1st Place and $50 for a standard flower show

schedule;

• American Horticultural Society Regional

Perennial Award; and

• 3rd

Place, Outstanding Educational Exhibit

Award, for a flower show exhibit on native

plants.

Capitol Hill Garden Club won 1st Place in the large

club category for the Jean Ladson Outstanding

Achievement Award. It is awarded to a club or group

of clubs presenting the most outstanding garden club

work that is not eligible for any other CAR award.

Capitol Hill received the award for its annual bulb

give away program, which has resulted in thousands

of daffodil and crocus bulbs planted in public spaces

on Capitol Hill over the past decade.

The award came with a certificate and a $100

check.

District I participated in the “Holiday Design

Showcase for the Home,” the NCAGC’s fundraiser

on December 3 for the May 2011 National Garden

Club convention in May in Washington, DC.

Connie Dalpra, Woodbury Garden Club; Poss

Tarpley, Tanta-Cove Garden Club; and District I

Director David Healy, Capitol Hill Garden Club;

checked registrations at the door. District I provided nametags, and, with Poss' help,

provided the vegetable trays for the refreshment

tables.

Three District I clubs donated the four children's

gift baskets shown below for the silent auction:

Holiday Design Showcase for the Home


(Left to right) Adirondack chair basket by Cheverly Garden

Club; pink tub of art supplies by Woodmoor Garden Club

District I’s members, clubs help raise funds for the national convention

District I members too numerous to mention

donated costume jewelry for the resale table, which

was swarmed during breaks in the program.

Marian DiLorenzo October 27, 1941

November 28, 2010


(Above) Two baskets of children’s books by Four Seasons

Garden Club

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Only dignitaries from Prince George’s County, the

Christine Hambach gets German charity to give a $50K grant to the Youth Garden

Goddard Garden Club’s President Christine

Hambach, District I’s Award of Honor recipient for

uniting District I with Prospect Hill Cemetery for a

civic project, proves once again why she is worthy

of high praise.

This year, she provided the push that resulted in

a $50K grant to FONA for the Youth Garden at the

US National Arboretum from the dissolving German

Orphan Home’s foundation, a charity for children

and child-related organizations.

“As one of the Directors of the German Orphan

Home, I pushed hard and won a $50,000 grant for

the Youth Garden,” she said. “That should really

help them progress in their good work.”

Editor’s Note: Thank you, Christine, you do good work too!

NCA to revisit its recent instructions to clubs on Youth Garden donations

In an NCAGC e-mail distributed February 23,

District Directors were instructed to notify club

treasurers that the Youth Garden is no longer an

NCAGC project and the NCAGC is no longer

accepting donations for the Youth Garden and no

longer will award clubs certificates for donations to

the Youth Garden. The NCAGC instructed club

treasurers to send their Youth Garden donations

directly to FONA.

Stay tuned Since then, a dialogue has been developing among

those who want to take another look at the NCAGC’s

announced position regarding donations to the Youth

Garden. Watch for the NCAGC to provide more in-

formation regarding donations to the Youth Garden.

On December 3, the U.S.

Department of Agriculture

announced the appointment

of Dr. Colien Hefferan as

Director of the U.S. National

Arboretum.

Acting Director Ramon

Jordan will serve as a key

advisor to Dr. Hefferan on

scientific and management

issues.

Dr. Hefferan is the former head of the USDA’s

Cooperative Research, Education, and Extension

Service that handles public education and making

grants.

She began working for the USDA in 1979 as an

economist with the Agriculture Research Service’s

Family Economics Research Group.

She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of

Illinois and a B.S. from the University of Arizona.

Before joining the USDA, she was a research fellow

at the Australian National University in Canberra, an

adjunct faculty member at the University of Mary-

land, and an assistant professor of behavioral eco-

nomics at Pennsylvania State University.

Million dollar donation, stakeholders’ outrage save Arboretum’s azaleas, boxwoods from deliberate destruction

FONA receives $1 million donation to save the

collections; hort experts and gardening groups lead

opposition to Arboretum’s destructive decision

On Valentine’s Day, Friends of the National

Arboretum (FONA) announced it received a $1

million donation that will establish an endowment to

help preserve the azalea and boxwood collections at

the Arboretum destined for deliberate destruction.

FONA plans to launch a major fundraising cam-

paign this spring to raise an additional $1 million

needed to maintain the collections into the future.

FONA reports the $1 million donation was made

anonymously by friends honoring prominent

attorney Brendan V. Sullivan, Jr., and Lila Sullivan,

longtime residents of the Washington area. A successful “Save the Azaleas” website and

letter writing campaign created by horticulture

experts and other special interest groups helped save

the prized collections of boxwoods and azaleas at the

Arboretum.

The groups galvanized community responses and

led strong opposition to the Arboretum’s decision to

destroy or dismantle the azalea and boxwood

collections. The groups include the Azalea Society

of America; American Boxwood Society; American

Daffodil, Hemerocallis, and Rhododendron

societies; Garden Club of America, and National

Garden Clubs, Inc.

Dr. Colien Hefferan,

Director of the U.S.

National Arboretum.

Photo courtesy of

National Institute of Food

and Agriculture (NIFA)

USDA names a woman as its new Director of the U.S. National Arboretum

Acting Director Ramon Jordan

stays as key advisor

District I's fall, small standard petite flower show,

“Memories of a Lady's Manor,” was well attended at

Darnall’s Chance House Museum, the 18th century

Georgian home of Lettice Lee Wardrop Thompson Sim in

Upper Marlboro, MD.

District I’s fall flower show’s top award winners

Above: (Left) Portrait of the lady, Lettice Lee, 1753. (Right) Darnall’s Chance, the lady’s manor.

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“Memories of a Lady’s Manor” A Small Standard Petite Flower Show held September 25, 2010

Darnall’s Chance House Museum. Upper Marlboro, MD

“Lettice’s Day” Division II, Design

Above: Danielle Brabazon,

Woodmoor Garden Club, won

the “Petite Award” in the

design division for her entry in

the “Afternoon Tea” class, a

small design in a teacup.

Section A ~ Flowers

Right: Julie

Harrison, Mount

Airy Clay Breakers

Garden Club, won

a “Petite Award of

Merit” rosette in

the flowers section

in the Horticulture

Division for her

Lantana camara,

"Anne Marie."

Section B ~ Foliage

Right: Steve Hannun,

Cheverly Garden Club,

won a “Petite Award of

Merit” rosette in the

foliage section in the

horticulture division for

his Harsford Canadian

hemlock, Tsuga

canadensis.

“September Colors” Division I, Horticulture

Two “Petite Award of Merit” rosettes were awarded in Division I, Horticulture.

Above: Christine Hambach, Goddard

Garden Club, won the “Director’s

Challenge Award” in the design

division for her entry in the

“Candlelight Evening” class, a

standard size, transparency design.

Source: District I’s blogspot: http://ncadistrict1.blogspot.com

Above: Alice and Henry Ferguson’s house facing the Potomac

River as seen from the foot of the garden. Alice Ferguson was a

painter who had studied at the Corcoran. Henry was Ivy League

educated and a geologist with the U.S. Geologic Survey.

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Above: Fergie's Gardeners’ President Betsy Reid (left) and

Alice Ferguson Foundation Deputy Director Libby Campbell

welcome District I for its fall meeting and tour of the

Foundation’s Hard Bargain Farm along the Potomac River in

Accokeek, MD.

Fergie’s Gardeners, Alice Ferguson Foundation co-host District I at Hard Bargain Farm

W e l c o m e

Above: District I Director David Healy poses on the tour with

Mount Airy Clay Breakers Garden Club members Joyce

Meyer, Linda Millette, Mary Beth Cecil, Sonia Johnson and

the club’s President, Julie Harrison.

Above: Knock Out Roses and hyacinth beans intermingled

with scarlet runner beans enhance this entrance to the

house. This was a rose covered entrance when Alice

Ferguson lived here. Alice died in 1951 and Henry in

1966. Henry named their educational foundation after

Alice.

Below: Wareham Lodge, the Alice

Ferguson Foundation’s facility for

overnight environmental education

activities.



Cheverly Garden Club got a head start on gardening

weather this year!

The Cheverly club’s own dynamic duo of Master Gardeners,

David and Carolyn “Casey” Kneipp, presented “Vegetable

Gardening 101” at the club’s February meeting.

At the meeting on March 21, Landscape Supervisor Mike

Tidd and gardeners Peter Bleich and Joe Mudd from the

Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

will present “Tough and Shade Tolerant Plants”—always great

kinds of plants to have in the shade covered yards in Cheverly.

All are welcome to attend. The club meets at 7 p.m. in the 4th

floor parlor in the Cheverly United Methodist Church, 2801

Cheverly Avenue, Cheverly, MD 20785.

To gather together more gardening ideas, the club hits the

road on April 16 for a visit to Hard Bargain Farm, Accokeek,

MD.

Finally, in May, the club is holding its annual plant sale on

the 7th

, starting promptly at 8 a.m. The club, in combination

with the plant sale and with other Cheverly organizations, will

also hold workshops on composting and organic gardening at

the Cheverly Community Center, also at 6401 Forest Road.

For more information on any of the Cheverly Garden

Club’s activities, please contact the club’s president.

Michael Giese

Cheverly Garden Club’s Annual Plant Sale

with workshops on composting and organic gardening

by the Cheverly Conservation Alliance

Saturday, May 7

Plant Sale - 8 a.m. to Noon at the Town of Cheverly Pavilion

Workshops – 9:30 a.m. in the Cheverly Community Center

6401 Forest Road Cheverly, MD, 20785

Above: Goddard Garden Club’s box of 20 small,

bedside floral arrangements ready for delivery to the

Magnolia Nursing Home, Lanham, MD, to bring a

little cheer to the residents for Valentine’s Day.

Club News (continues on page 8)

Paint Branch Garden Club honored

its member Patsy Mote with a reception/ tea and book signing to celebrate her first

cookbook, “Great Menus: Seasonal

Recipes for Entertaining.” She spoke

on her experiences writing her first

book, and she has two more books in

progress.

Patsy is also an artist and business-

woman and wife of now retired President

of the University of Maryland Dan Mote.

Paint Branch’s club co-hosted the

event with the University of Maryland’s

Campus Club. Foods served were pre-

pared from recipes in Patsy’s cookbook.

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Above: Patsy Mote (seated) signs fellow Paint Branch club

member Joan Patterson’s copy of “Great Menus.”

Photo by Carolyn Fichtel

The New Carrollton Garden Club's first attempt at a

Saturday meeting attracted five possible new members who had

never attended a garden club meeting.

Master Gardeners Casey and Dave Kneipp of Cheverly spoke

on the basics of vegetable gardening.

Casey led the group through a "how-to” for success with

vegetable gardens using slides and answered many questions.

Since the City of New Carrollton provides public plots for its

citizens to garden that are very popular, there was great interest

in the topic. The club hopes to do a follow up in April.

Polly Wilson

“Great Menus”

by Patsy Mote

DICMAR Publishers

Washington, DC

The Paint Branch club’s March and April programs involve

miniature flower arrangements and a horticulturist from the

Smithsonian talking about the history of the Ripley Garden. A

rose garden tour is the featured event for June; and, hopefully,

another District I club will join us on our excursion.

Donna Aldridge


District I Director David Healy addressed the

November meeting of Mount Airy Clay Breakers Garden Club hosted by Gilda Allen. David praised

the club for their many activities and urged them to

participate in the 2011 National Garden Clubs con-

vention in Washington, DC, in May.

The evening's program featured three table settings

designed by club members.

Mount Airy Clay Breakers Garden Club focuses on tabletop designs


Above: Jackie George sets a traditional Thanksgiving table.

Above: Pam Smart's Italian inspired Tuscan setting

features sunflowers.

Above: Gilda Allen uses the last blooms from her garden to

create her arrangement inside a large shell.

Annual Plant Sale Mount Airy Clay Breakers Garden Club

Featuring plants from members’ gardens May 8, 2011 ~ 8 a.m. until noon

8404 Trumps Hill Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

Club News (continues on page 9)

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Above (left to right): H. Steve Mason,

VFW Post 8950; Norma Hetrick, Co-

President, New Carrollton Garden

Club; and Andrew Hanko, Mayor,

City of New Carrollton; recite the

Pledge of Allegiance and present a

memorial wreath at the dedication.

Left: Geraldo Marshall plays taps.


New Carrollton Garden Club dedicates Blue Star Memorial Marker, historic highway

The dedication program continued at the city’s municipal

center followed by a reception open to the public. Dick Esper,

Chaplain of VFW Post 8950, led the assembly in prayer.

Landover Hills Mayor Lee Walker, whose city is traversed by

the historic highway, followed Mayor Hanko’s welcome.

New Carrollton Garden Club’s Chairman of the dedication,

Margaret McKnew, explained the history behind the designation

of Route 450 as an historic highway and thanked the State of Maryland, the City of New Carrollton, and VFW Post 8950 for

helping with the memorial marker, its dedication, and the public

reception. National Garden Club’s Blue Star Chairman Marion

Caldwell gave the history of garden clubs’ Blue Star Memorial

Marker program that honors all service men and women.

The city’s Police Department’s Color Guard presented the

colors, and students from Parkdale High School sang the

National Anthem.

Club News

9999

Above: New Carrollton Garden Club dedicated a Blue Star

Memorial Marker in September at Route 450 just southwest

of its intersection with the Capital Beltway. During the

ceremony, a section of Route 450 (also known as Annapolis

Road) from the Peace Cross through New Carrollton was

declared a Maryland Historic Highway.

Above (left to right): Among those attending the dedication

ceremony at Route 450 were District I Director David Healy,

NCA Garden Club President Mary Ellen Alden, National

Garden Club 1st Vice President Shirley Nicolai, NCA

Garden Club Blue Star Memorial Chairman Marion

Caldwell, New Carrollton Garden Club member Charmane

Truesdell, and New Carrollton’s Mayor Andrew Hanko.

Right: Guests at the reception could write welcome home cards

as part of the club’s participation in “Operation Welcome Home”

where Marylanders go to Thurgood Marshall BWI airport to greet

service men and women returning from overseas. Club member

Charmane Truesdell (left) and Lurraine Gettier write their cards.


Documents

Garden Post Spring 2011