JUNE GARDEN PARTY IN FRIENDSHIP GARDEN AT USNA

 June 1, 2013:    More than 40 members attended the annual June Garden Party held for the first time in the Friendship Garden at the United States National Arboretum.  The garden, designed by the Capitol Hill firm of Oehme van Sweden, was a gift to the arboretum from National Garden Clubs, Inc..  National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. oversees the Friendship Garden endowment on behalf of National Garden Clubs, Inc.

Arboretum Director Colien Hefferan (standing right) welcomed the club for a second year to the U.S. National Arboretum for its June garden party.  She commented on the club's knack for picking beautiful evenings and the efficiency of its operations.

Party committee members Joyce Jones and Johann Yurgen presented President Carol Edwards with a picnic basket containing a thermal hot/cold interior.

The club recognized member Wendy Blair (far right) who retired after 14 years as editor of THE HILL GARDEN NEWS.  The self-styled "Problem Lady" took the opportunity to reminisce about the club.  On behalf of the club, President Carol Edwards (right) presented her with a Tiffany crystal bowl.

Member David Healy (left) wore the president's pin for National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc.  It's the first time that a Capitol Hill member has led the state garden club.

A fox observed the party.

--photos by Bill Dean

Members Gardens

In a lively session club members Jeffery Johnson, Barry Brauth, and Denny Lane described the development of their gardens, illustrating their experiences with images of their spaces at different stages of development. 

JeffereyJohnson

Although each garden was unique, their stories shared common themes and advice. Jeffery and Barry both realized that it would be a worthwhile investment to hire a landscape professional to develop the bones of their garden spaces. They advised anyone hiring a garden designer to interview several candidates before hiring and choose someone with experience in designing small gardens. Both successfully worked with Derek Thomas, a landscaper with lots of Capitol Hill experience.

Barry Brauth

All three speakers encouraged us to think deeply about what we want from our gardening space and be prepared to describe our wishes to the design professional in detail while remaining open to suggestion. If we have a limited budget, our presenters advised us to ask the landscaper to segment the work. The first step is to get a well thought out and practical written plan, one that encourages us to use our garden space. Second is to develop the hardscape.

Denny Lane

Since gratification is important to perseverance, our presenters cautioned us to save some of the early budget for plants. Patience may be a virtue in general, but it is essential in developing a garden. Plantings that appear sparse and puny in their first few years, fill-out and fill-in over time, giving us the look that we had hoped for as we browsed gardening magazines at the beginning of our gardening projects. All the presenters felt it was important to make their gardens personal—whether it was bringing in architectural "finds" from overseas travel, adding a favorite plant, making a play space for a child, or encouraging a sense of neighborhood pride in the development of the garden over time. 

 --Carol Edwards, photos by Bill Dean.

Greens Workshop 2012

December 5, 2012:  About 50 members enjoyed the annual Deck the Halls workshop.

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

November 2012 Hill Garden News

CHGC November Newsletter 2012

October 2012 Hill Garden News

CHGC October 2012 Newsletter

Club Participates in Barracks Row Festival

Bill and David potting daffodils.

September 22, 2013:  A number of Club members were right in the heart of this year’s Barracks Row Festival, helping attendees to pot bulbs at the CSX Booth.   This community festival on 8th Street SE had something for everyone, including the DC State Fair. 

Sonia giving bulb planting instructions

 Families, singles, couples and lots of children were drawn to the booth where they potted a tulip or daffodil for planting later in the community and one for themselves to plant at home.  For many festival participants it was their first exposure to bulbs and gardening; for others it renewed desires to garden.   

Mary brings David up to date.

Sporting their Garden Club aprons and armed with Club literature and brochures our volunteers won lots of smiles as they assisted and answered questions about bulbs.  Many thanks to Club members Sonia Conly, Mary Weirich, David Healy, Bill Dean, Faith Brightbill, Mary Ann Sroufe, Sandra Bruce, Gene Smith, and Sharon Calkins-Hubley for lending their expertise and rolling out the welcome mat for those interested in learning more about our Club.     

--Ida May Mantel