District I

Director’s Notes

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

Spring 2012

District I Awards Meeting

Saturday, March 3, 9:30 am

Meet in the Classroom at The Behnke Nurseries Co. 11300 Baltimore Ave (US Route 1)

Beltsville, MD 20705 (301) 937-1100

REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED

After our meeting, stay for Behnke’s free talks on “Starting Seeds Indoors” at 11a and/or

“Starting Seeds Outdoors” at noon. Reserve your seats now; seating is limited to 35. Make reservations online at: http://behnkes.com/website

District I’s Board met November 8 and ac- cepted the resignation of Director David Healy. He resigned to fill a vacancy in the NCAGC as 1st Vice President, placing him in line for the presidency this spring. D-1’s Board appointed Woodmoor Garden Club’s previous president Danielle Brabazon as the new Director. David remains on the D-1 Board as Treasurer. The Board met and had lunch at Franklin's Restaurant, Brewery & General Store in Hyattsville as part of D-1’s annual eat, drink, and shop fundraiser that day. Danielle Brabazon David Healy

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

By Danielle Brabazon, Director, District I I certainly have been enjoying my yard this winter

as Mother Nature has given us many gorgeous days! While watching the daffodils begin to grow, I can- not help make a comparison to how my role in the District has grown. I would like to give thanks to all the clubs that have supported me in my transition from Awards Chair to District Director. Special thanks goes to the District 1 Board members who have agreed to stay and guide me – thank you Ann,

Arleen, Freia, Dee, Charmane, Sonja and Norma. A

Treasurer, and for allowing me to continue his theme of Enjoyment – of our gardens, our clubs, and our

environment. I enjoyed the wonderful bus trip to Richmond that Ann and David arranged. Even my 8-year old enjoyed the music at Hanover Tavern, the great lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, and, best of all, the Tacky Lights Tour. It was a great time to meet members of other clubs. David reported the trip cleared $191.66 for District I and the Franklin fundraiser in November eared us $116.72. Thank you to all who participated.

(Continued on p 2)

I certainly have been enjoying my yard this winter as Mother Nature has given us many gorgeous days! While watching the daffodils begin to grow, I can- not help make a comparison to how my role in the District has grown. I would like to give thanks to all the clubs that have supported me in my transition from Awards Chair to District Director. Special thanks goes to the District 1 Board members who have agreed to stay and guide me – thank you Ann, Arleen, Freia, Dee, Charmane, Sonja, and Norma. A very special thanks goes to David for all the work he did as District Director, for agreeing to take over as

Director’s Notes (from p1)

Due to unfortunate circumstances, District I is not able to take a bus to the Philadelphia Flower Show this spring. I hope everyone gets to attend as their schedule allows. I see bus trips as great opportunities and as great benefits of membership in NCAGC. Many of you have interacted with our new Awards Chair, Sally O’Connell. Thank you Sally for filling in my vacancy. We are still looking for an Assistant Director, so please, if you have any interest in helping organize and plan for the District, I would love to talk with you. Sally and I look forward to seeing a representative from each of the clubs at the Awards Meeting being held at Behnke’s in Beltsville at 9:30 am on March 3. Light refreshments will be served. Plan to stay for Behnke’s free, back-to-back talks on starting seeds indoors at 11am and starting seeds outdoors at noon. Make your reservations online and check Behnke’s website for a coupon offer for money off purchases. The NCAGC Awards Meeting is being held on Thursday, March 29, at the City of Fairfax Regional Library. Lastly, all Presidents, please mark your calendars for Saturday, June 16. I am excited to announce that NGC President Shirley Nicolai has offered her house for our Presidents Coffee. I have invited repre-sentatives from the different NCAGC Councils to attend to perhaps inspire us and our clubs to explore new areas!

What’s coming up?

Sat, Mar 3, 9:30 am, D-1 Awards Meet in the Classroom at Behnke Nurseries, 11300 Baltimore Avenue (US Rte 1) Beltsville, MD 20705 Make online reservations for the limited seats for the free talks on planting seeds at 11 am and at noon.

http://behnkes.com/website

Spring events at the US National Arboretum See the calendar of demos, tours, sales, etc. at:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Education/events.html

Thurs, Mar 8, 10:30 am, Morning of Design, $3 Sponsored by NCA Judges Council & District III

Tysons-Pimmet Hills Library 7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22043

Find driving directions, bus routes at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/ty/

Tues, Mar 13, 7 pm, Fergie’s Gardeners’ invite All are invited to attend their program on garden soil by Shane LeBrake, expert gardener – More info on p3 Alice Ferguson Foundation Farm House, Accokeek, Md.

Thurs, Mar 29, 10:30 am – NCAGC Awards Mtg City of Fairfax Regional Library 10360 North St, Fairfax, VA 22030

Find driving directions and bus routes at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/fx/direct.htm

Sun, Apr 29, 2 to 5 pm, Woodmoor Garden Club’s Annual Plant Sale and Garden Walk 125 and 127 Eastmoor Drive, Silver Spring, MD

June 3-9, National Garden Week Celebrate, promote your club, and attract new members

Sat, June 9, Districts I and IV promote our garden clubs during Behnke’s Garden Day The Behnke Nurseries Co., 11300 Baltimore Avenue, (US Rte 1) Beltsville, MD 20705

Sat, June 16, D-1 President’s Mtg NGC President Shirley Nicolai’s home WATCH FOR EMAILS WITH TIME, ADDRESS, DRIVING DIRECTIONS

Access the President’s Package online at: ncagardenclub.org

Thurs, Sept 13,10:30 am, D-1 Fall Mtg, TBA

Mon, Sept 25, NCA General Membership Mtg

Wed, Oct 10, Morning of Design hosted by D-1

Tues, Nov 13, D-1 Fundraiser at Franklin’s Franklin’s Restaurant, Brewery, and General Store 5123 Baltimore Avenue, (US Rte1) Hyattsville, MD

WATCH FOR A FLYER IN THE FALL

Check the NCAGC’s website frequently for updates and changes to the calendar items and details.

Get to know Danielle Brabazon, Director, District I Danielle served as District I’s Award Chairman for two years before being tapped to move up to Director when David Healy resigned to fill the 1st Vice President vacancy in the NCAGC this fall. She is the previous president of Woodmoor Garden Club in Silver Spring and has been a member since 2001. Danielle holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and spent eight years teaching chemistry at Loyola College in Baltimore. She left academia when her son was born. She has two children, a daughter 8 and a son 5, and has been introducing her children and her husband John to gardening, which she became involved in at eight years old while helping her parents with their gardens. Danielle spends numerous hours in both her own gardens and in her community’s flower beds and at the local elementary school. She just returned to classroom work with a six week assignment as a para-educator at the elementary school.

District I is fortunate, indeed, to have Danielle take the lead.

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Eastland Gardens Flower Club provided a bountiful floral centerpiece for the District I Presidents Coffee in June at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens to welcome District I to the club’s Anacostia neighborhood. Immediately following the meeting held in the classroom at the park’s Visitor’s Center, the group toured the water gardens led by the National Park Service’s guide Kathleen Bucco.

NCAGC celebrates its 60th birthday

Presidents Coffee tour of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens See more photos by Bill Dean and the D-1 water park tour on District I Blogspot: http://ncadistrict1.blogspot.com

Club News (continues on p4)

Members of Woodmoor Garden Club pose on September 16 after planting their redesign of a flower bed at the Stephen Decatur House at Lafayette Square in downtown Washington, DC. The Decatur House is the home of the White House Historical Association and the site of many events throughout the year. The club arranged to take on this project through their Woodmoor neighbor Butch Winters, Facilities Manager for Decatur House, who wanted a different look to a shady location in the courtyard. The club planted two focal bushes, a fall blooming Camellia and a Pieris japonica Variegata; 55 different varieties of hostas, sensitive fern; Christmas fern; Chrysogonum virginianum, a native ground cover known for both its foliage and flowers; and spring flowering scilla, hyacinth, and crocus bulbs. During the club’s September meeting, the club took a close look at moss with a program presented by Linda Davis on “Moss for Beginners.” Linda and her husband Charles have inventoried mosses and liverworts for the National Park Service at Great Falls Park in Virginia and at Piscataway and Fort Washington Parks in Maryland. Her presentation involved a demonstration on reproduction of mosses, observation through a microscope to see moss take up water, and valuable information about this great ground-cover. For more information on moss, visit the Natural History of Maryland.

Fergie’s Gardeners invites everyone to a presentation by Shane LeBrake, an expert gardener, on March 13 at 7 pm at the Ferguson Foundation Farm House. Shane is a soil expert and will talk about the care and feeding of garden soil to ensure a bountiful harvest. Shane has vast knowledge and is a wonderful speaker with a great sense of humor. He will share helpful tips and answer questions from the audience. The program is being held at the Alice Ferguson Foundation Farm House, 2001 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek, Md. 20607. For directions, contact Mary Lee Phelps at: 301-283-0769 or mlgp42@msn.com We hope to see you there.

Mary Lee Phelps, Recording Secretary

Photo from District I Blogspot: http://ncadistrict1.blogspot.com

Photo by Mary Cottrell District I Blogspot: http://ncadistrict1.blogspot.com

Cheverly Garden Club provided the corsages District I pre-sented to the past presidents and elected officers of the NCAGC at the 60th anniversary celebration in Alexandria, VA, in September. District I received many thanks for providing the corsages and passed the kudos along to the Cheverly Garden Club for making the corsages. The club continues to be involved in making corsages for family survivors of slain police officers when the officers gather in Washington, DC, for National Police Week.

Note: If it looks like David Healy (arms folded in front row) did

not get the dress code memo, he dressed in his brainchild, a t-

shirt with his Capitol Hill Garden Club logo for a purpose. The

shirt is his clever way to show how to promote our garden clubs.

Promoting membership in our clubs is one of his specific duties

as the NCAGC’s new Membership Chairman, which comes with

his position as the NCAGC’s new 1st Vice President.

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District I’s Olde Dominion Holiday Bus Trip to Richmond and Hanover, VA

All photos courtesy of District I’s Blogspot; find more at: http://ncadistrict1.blogspot.com

A police officer chauffeured New Carrollton Garden Club President Mary Alice Bartman and club member Jane Morse around town in his cruiser to judge the residents’ holiday decorations in December. Judging took longer this year because all residents were eligible. In previous years, entry forms were required and determined actual addresses to be judged. Prizes were awarded for the best overall display, best holiday theme, most appealing to children, best entrance display, and best dressed outdoor tree. The city’s Mayor Hanko presented the awards at the city council’s meeting. The club met the afternoon of February 4 at City Hall for a highly publicized program by a Prince George’s county master gardener on planting a spring vegetable garden with a time line for planting throughout the growing season in the New Carrollton locale. Due to the local focus, notices inviting the public to attend were distributed through area newspapers, schools, and businesses.

Mary Alice Bartman, President

Cheverly’s Ann Gardenhour welcomes Santa aboard during his surprise visit to send off the 45 District I members and their guests headed to Richmond on a special, early bird tour of the “Festival of Lights” at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The trip ended with a guided tour through Richmond’s neighborhoods to see over-the-top decorated homes on the “Tacky Lights Tour.” .

Travelers enjoyed a stop in Hanover, VA, for a buffet dinner and holiday festivities in progress at the historic Hanover Tavern. They also got a brief history of the tavern and the Hanover County Courthouse across the road.

Left: Hanover Tavern

Below: Hanover County Courthouse, the oldest courthouse still in use in the United States.

Several D-1 tourist pose under the gorgeous tree in the Ginter conservatory. You can find NCA President Vickie Godwin in the green coat.

View leading to the front of the Ginter conservatory with the blue lights lit for the festival barely visible at dusk.

One small panoramic view of the acres of the garden glowing during the “Festival of Lights” as enjoyed by all when night fell.

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Club News (continued from p3)

2010 ~ 2011 Award Winners in District I

NCAGC Garden Therapy Certificate to Paint Branch Garden Club for its work at the Hillhaven Assisted Living, Nursing, and Rehabilitation Center. NGC Award and an NCAGC Certificate of Recognition to New Carrollton Garden Club for erection of a Blue Star Memorial Marker. NCAGC Certificate of Merit to Tanta-Cove Garden

Club for its outstanding newsletter. CAR Award and NCAGC Youth Gardening Award to Woodmoor Garden Club for its rain garden project at the Pine Crest Elementary School. Fergie’s Gardeners, after distinguishing itself in gaining a number of NCAGC awards, went on to earn three 2011 NGC Awards: For its work at the Alice Ferguson Foundation, for publication of a membership brochure, and for its yearbook for under 20 members.