Death of Jean Ladson

Jean Thomas Ladson, the namesake for the Jean Ladson Outstanding Achievement Award that Capitol Hill Garden Club received this year from the Central Atlantic Region of National Garden Clubs, Inc., died November 1, 2010. She was an acclaimed floral designer and, from 1969 to 1971, president of National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. She lived in Islamorada, FL.

Her obituary is here and here.

Lanni of Volanni Featured at November Meeting

November 9, 2010: Michael A. Lanni, the owner and floral designer for, Volanni, a custom florist located on Capitol Hill, discussed his floral design philosophy and created several designs. Joyce Jones introduced Lanni (r):

Lanni rolls up aspidistra leaves to line the interior of clear class containers:
Lannie tries to limit the use of Oasis (wet floral foam) inside vases. One technique he uses is to create a grid of bamboo or branches to set atop the container and then place the horticulture within that grid:









Another technique is to fill the container with palmetto fronds: He takes a frond, gathers the leaflets together in a bunch, snips off the petiole, inserts the bunch into the container and, after the container is filled, cuts off the ends of the leaflets to a uniform height:
















Lanni then places flowers or other design elements in the grid created by the leaflets; he says he gets some of his inspiration from Ikebana:










































The three arrangements in the clear glass vases on the right were awarded as door prizes:
The refreshments table featured a Pontorno arrangement:

Central Atlantic Region Award

October 26, 2010: The Jean Ladson Outstanding Achievement Award, with a $100 check, was awarded to Capitol Hill Garden Club by the Central Atlantic Region of National Garden Clubs, Inc. The award was presented in recognition of the club's annual bulb give away program, which since 2004 has resulted in 52,000 daffodils and crocus being planted in public spaces on Capitol Hill.

Central Atlantic Region comprises affiliated garden clubs in seven states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland and National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. The Jean Ladson Outstanding Achievement Award is "awarded to a club or group of clubs presenting the most outstanding garden club work that is not eligible for any other C.A.R. award." Capitol Hill won first place in the large club category for clubs with over 50 members.

District I Director David Healy conveyed the award to President Elvira Sisolak at the regular November 9, 2010 meeting of the Capitol Hill Garden Club. Sisolak thanked former president Pat Taylor who had originated the bulb giveaway program. Sisolak said, "I think we all . . . have a right to be very proud of our Giveaway Program. What we are doing for our community in giving away these bulbs is very important."

Ed Bruske's Slow Food

October 12, 2010: Ed Bruske was a newly minted master gardener when he last spoke to the club at St. Monica's about composting. This time he appeared as an evangelist for the slow food movement.

In a former life, Bruske parted ways with the Washington Post and is now a blogger, personal chief, school lunch watchdog and urban farmer on a sun-filled corner lot in Columbia Heights.

His presentation was as much about vegetable gardening as it was about slow food. He surprised members when he stated that the DC Forester was willing to negotiate the type of trees planted in tree boxes. Bruske said he was able to get columnar oaks to limit the amount of shade on his farming and yet this seemingly flies in the face of the city's effort to create symmetry in tree-lined streets from block to block and to avoid monocultures in order to prevent widespread deforestation in the event of pests or diseases.

It wasn't clear whether slow food was simply foodie trendiness, or a political movement waging battle against agri-business, an economic movement yearning for an Amish lifestyle, or simply affluent folk who are too many generations removed from the family farm. In the end, it seemed odd to preach farmers markets and seasonal eating to a club who has been selling at, and buying from, the farmers line at Eastern Market since 1972.

Annual Fall Party

September 26, 2010: Joyce and Floyd hosted our annual fall party to meet and greet new or prospective members.

President Vira Sisolak spoke to the gathering:

District Flower Show Awards

Upper Marlboro, MD, September 25, 2010: Two Capitol Hill members received awards in horticulture and in design at the District I small standard petite flower show Memories of a Lady's Manor at Darnall's Chance House Museum.

David Healy received a first place ribbon for his miniature chrysanthemum and Bill Dean received a second place ribbon for his miniature rose:















Bill received a second place ribbon for his garden medley arrangement and David received honorable mention for his. The Garden Medley class required: A traditional line design featuring small vegetables; not to exceed 8” in height, width, or depth. Designs to be placed on white pedestals of various heights.

Think North Carolina

September 14, 2010: Bill McLaughlin, the horticulturist plant curator at the U.S. Botanic Garden, advised members to look to North Carolina native plants when incorporating natives into Capitol Hill Gardens. He said our inner city climate and clay soils were more like the North Carolina piedmont. For more interesting natives, he suggested looking farther afield into Florida, Texas and even Mexico. McLaughlin said closely related plants, despite their geographic differences, tended to serve the same insect and bird populations.

His entire presentation follows:

Native Plants for the Urban Jungle

Vice President Carol Edwards presided at the first meeting of the new garden club year.

Mary Blakeslee introduced the speaker; Bulb Co-Chairs Gail Giuffrida and Sonia Conly gave club members their marching orders for this year's annual bulb sale fundraiser--38 years and counting.

Native Plant Program for September 14, 2010 Meeting

Bill McLaughlin, the horticulturist plant curator at the U.S. Botanic Garden, will present a program on "Natives for Capitol Hill." His focus will be how to integrate native plants into small gardens. McLaughlin was celebrated this summer for his agave at his home in South Arlington.

McLaughlin is a lifelong DC area native with wide experience in local gardens. He has a BS in ornamental horticulture from the University of Maryland and has been with the U.S. Botanic Garden since 1986. In 1996, he was charged with plant selection and design review for the National Garden which features roses and Mid-Atlantic native plants.

The entire 2010-2011 program is listed here.

Autumn 2010 Bulb Give Away Application

In order to fill out this form and print it, you can download this form to your computer by clicking the download arrow at the bottom of the window above.

Une Noche en La Habana

June 5, 2010: The annual June garden party was hot, humid and fabulous! The theme was Havana nightclubs before the revolution.

Edee arrives:

Vira and Bill:
Cocktails:














David, Doris and Janice:

The buffets:













Many thought the food year was better than usual:


















Joe and Tony "Cuban Pete" Pontorno:





Vira thanks Johann:
Joyce and Floyd:


The potluck recipes follow and will be updated as received: