Club Website

For official club information and news go to the website and Facebook page.

This blogspot is maintained for the the historic record from 2010 to 2014.

Who We Are

The Capitol Hill Garden Club brings together Washington area people interested in gardening, landscaping and the environment. Members enjoy lectures, demonstrations, workshops and tours.

We are a 501(c)(3) District of Columbia non-profit corporation. We undertake community projects and contribute to garden and beautification projects in our neighborhood. In past years the club donated thousands of spring flowering bulbs to groups and individuals for planting in public areas on Capitol Hill. Our income comes from membership dues and donations.

We are a member of National Garden Clubs, Inc., National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. and its District I, and the Central Atlantic Region of State Garden Clubs, Inc.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Flowers On Leaves

 Sandra Flowers presented a program entitled "The Leaf Alone" to the regular monthly meeting of the Capitol Hill Garden Club.
Pot with calathea
She explained in her introduction:  “This presentation is about making plant choices based on the contribution of texture, color, size or shape of the plant’s leaf alone.  If the plant has a lovely flower also, that is just icing on the cake!

“All plant leaves have a job to do – making carbohydrate for the use of the plant to grow and thrive. Within that very utilitarian job description, nature has given us an amazing variety of leaves that often rival the beauty of their flowers and since the leaves last longer than the flowers, they have an important impact on garden structure and interest.

“It is all too easy to become enamored of the beauty of flowers and neglect to think that flowers are usually at their peak for 1-3 weeks.  What does that plant contribute to the garden for the rest of the
Hakonechloa with Frances William hosta.
year?  A case in point is a rose, which has lovely flowers and even lovely foliage if you live in England or New England or the Pacific Northwest…which we don’t.  We live in hot, humid Washington DC – which results in Black Spot fungus, eventual defoliation and bare stems for much of the summer.”

Gold Heart Dicentra spectabilis
This was her list of "Some foliage that warrants inclusion in our DC gardens and garden pots":

Gold Heart Dicentra spectabilis
Begonia grandis
Hakonechloa grass
Carex ‘Evergold’
Autumn fern (dryopteris erythrosora)
Japanese Holly Fern (cyrtomium falcatum)
Japanese Painted fern (athyrium niponicum)
Caladiums - White Christmas & Fannie Munson
Arisaema ringens- Cobra lily
Soloman’s Seal (polygonatum multiflorum)
Helleborus orientalis (Lenten Rose)
Helleborus niger( Christmas rose)
Hostas - Sieboldiana elegans, Lemon lime, Frances Williams (& many others)
Rohdea japonica – Japanese Sacred lily
Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’
Asarum splendens -Japanese ginger
Saxifraga stolonifera  Strawberry begonia
Schizophrama hydrangeoides ‘Moonlight’
Caryopteris divaricata ‘Snow Fairy’
Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’
Heuchera ‘Caramel’ 
Alternanthera dentata - ‘Brazilian Red Hot’ & ‘Party time’
Coleus - Saturn
Angel Wing Begonias
Fuschia gartenmeister
Calathea lancifolia

Saturday, November 10, 2012

November 2012 Hill Garden News

CHGC November Newsletter 2012