The London-based floral designer will travel to Virginia to share her signature style with Garden Club of Virginia members and the public on May 12, the day after the Annual Meeting. Her much-anticipated demonstration event will take place at the newly renovated Virginia Museum of History & Culture in Richmond at 10 am to 12 noon. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. Tickets are available online for $75. GCV members can purchase tickets now. Tickets will go on sale to the public on February 16.

Join GCV members and fellow daffodil enthusiasts March 29 for Daffodil Day at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond. The show’s theme, “The British are Coming!” is a prelude to a GCV-sponsored flower arranging demonstration featuring famed London-based floral designer, Paula Pryke. The show’s schedules for horticulture, artistic design and photography reflect all things British. One of the nation’s largest daffodil shows will feature award-winning daffodil specimens, spectacular floral arrangements, and eye-catching photography. Visit the website to learn if exhibiting classes are still open. Plan for time to enjoy beauty and blooms courtesy of more than 50 acres at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, home to one of GCV’s restoration sites, the Grace Arents Garden, and the location of this 88th annual show. After judging, the show opens to GCV members and the public 2 to 5 p.m., free of charge.

Get to Know Your GCV

during Daffodil Day

Join members from across the commonwealth to hear about the myriad activities and initiatives of Your GCV. Both new and longtime members will enjoy this fun and informative program. Meet the GCV leadership and hear the latest on Historic Garden Week, Restoration sites, Conservation projects, Kent-Valentine House and all things GCV. 

The GCV Daffodil Day Committee asks for your help on March 28-29 at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. No special skills are needed to volunteer. Join us during the following time slots, by contacting Catherine Madden, Daffodil Day Chairman at cmadden105@gmail.com. There will be time before or after volunteering to visit the Botanical Garden and gift shop.

The show opens at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29 with an awards presentation. 

A 30-minute video was made of a demonstration by Meredith Lauter, Jennifer Kelley and Lois Spencer and filmed by Ellen Buoyer of the new floral design class, “Casual Contemporary,” featuring grapevine ball mechanics and Holly Chappel “pillow” mechanics, supporting the GCV initiative to use floral foam alternatives.

Historic Garden Week is only 12 weeks away. Online ticketing is now live for all 28 tours taking place this April 23-30. The Guidebook will ship in mid-February. Interiors are back. Only one tour will be a garden-only tour this spring. Several positive changes evolved from adaptations made out of necessity last year. Two thirds of the tours are offering online tickets only. Most have eliminated refreshments. Fewer tours require shuttles and more will be walking tours for 2022. Remember to “Keep it Simple and Sustainable,” and enjoy the week. 

The Restoration Committee welcomed representatives from each of the GCV Restoration properties to the biennial GCV Restoration Committee Maintenance Workshop on January 13, 2022 at the Kent-Valentine House. The event provided a day of informative speakers, timely historic landscape topics, networking, lunch and camaraderie for our GCV Restoration partners. This year’s presentations included: 

The Restoration Committee is pleased to announce that repair/replacement of the brick walkway surrounding the house at Kenmore has been approved. In 1929, Kenmore was designated as the first restoration of the Garden Club of Virginia and Historic Garden Week was created to raise the funds for the project. The George Washington Foundation, owner of Historic Kenmore, will celebrate its centennial in April. The plan is to have the brick walkway project completed for the celebration.

In addition, repairs to the brick steps at Henry County Courthouse have been approved and the project should be completed by the end of February

Celebrate the beauty of nature with this winter photography challenge: Nature's Wintry Scenes. Take images of any element(s) of nature in or following a winter weather event: snow, ice, frost, sleet, rain or storms. Trees, berries, lichen, seeds, pods, cones, leaves and vegetation of any kind are fair game. Photographs may include structures, wild animals and birds but should avoid private homes, people and pets. Think big and go small from wide angle shots to close-ups and macro.

The photography challenge runs through Feb. 28, 2022. Send your photos to photos.gcv@gmail.com with your name and club on the subject line. Make sure photographs are sent “Actual Size” and at least 1 mb in size. We invite you to you go outside this winter, explore your world and show off your photographic talent. Remember: compose, focus, click, review, edit and share!

Join us on Feb. 10, 4-6 p.m., for a fun workshop with David Luria, owner and founder of the Washington Photo Safari to learn more about your DSLR and how to use it to capture stunning photographs. This will be an interactive Zoom meeting with David answering your questions and providing insight into questions he has accumulated over his 20-plus years teaching photography to individuals of all skill levels. David is very excited to bring his knowledge and expertise to GCV members. Register now.

Lightroom Classic is a popular computer-based photo management, enhancement and publishing program that is fully integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud. It is perfect for the photographer who wants to better organize and maintain easy access to photos, who wants a wide range of editing features that will allow for global as well as for region-specific adjustments, and who wants a reliable way to name, size and export photos. This course is predominantly for camera users but cell phone users interested in more advanced editing techniques are welcome.

The Conservation Awards Committee announces the finalists for the 2022 Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award. Ballots have been sent via email to all GCV member clubs and should be returned April 1, 2022, to: Ann Heller, GCV Communications Coordinator, 12 East Franklin Street, Richmond, 23219, or communications@gcvirginia.org. The winner will be announced at the annual meeting in May.

“Stream Restoration Education at Botanical Garden of the Piedmont”

“Roundabout Meadows”

“Growing Citizens with Seeds of Conservation”

The Conservation Workshop, An Insider's Guide - How to Talk with Your Legislator, held January 17, informed club Conservation chairs and club presidents about important bills and resolutions and shared tips on how to communicate with legislators during the virtual 2022 General Assembly Session.

Information can be found on the Conservation page on the GCV website including: Virtual Advocacy Tips, GCV Board approved 2022 Legislative Position Statements and 2022 GCV Supported Bills & Resolutions. Consider sending a note or email to your legislator thanking them for supporting the environment.

Go to https://www.birdcount.org/ and report your findings February 18-21 through the MERLIN app, easily downloadable on your cell phone. The Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, who launched the project in 1998, will be grateful for your participation. 

The Nominations Committee presented the following names to the Garden Club of Virginia Board of Directors at its January 25 meeting for the 2022-2024 Slate of Officers and Directors-at-Large. These nominees will be presented to voting members for approval at the 2022 Annual Meeting on May 11.

President, Debbie Lewis, The Garden Study Club

First Vice President, Kris Carbone, The Garden Club of Danville

Second Vice President, Wendy Walker, The Garden Club of the Eastern Shore

Treasurer, Tricia McDaniel, The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club

Recording Secretary, Laura Francis, The Hunting Creek Garden Club

Corresponding Secretary, Meg Laughon, Hillside Garden Club

District 1, Kathryn Angus, The Boxwood Garden Club

District 3, Katie Spencer, The Huntington Garden Club

District 4, Paula Irons, Roanoke Valley Garden Club

The Common Wealth Award. Learn more about this award and how your club's projects can benefit. Nominations may be submitted by GCV members or member clubs by March 1. Apply here.

The Horticulture Award of Merit was established in 1960 to recognize individual members of the Garden Club of Virginia who have achieved significant accomplishments in horticulture, both personally and in their communities. Please consider nominating your club’s dedicated and hard-working horticulturalists. 

Nominations are due by March 1. Learn more.

The de Lacy Gray Conservation Medal was established by the Dolley Madison Garden Club as a memorial to de Lacy Thompson Gray. The award recognizes outstanding effort by a GCV member or a GCV member club in furthering the knowledge of our natural resources as well as encouraging their wise use. Nominations may be submitted by GCV members or member clubs by March 1. Learn more.

Shop our full line of items on the GCV website Shop page.

Members of the Augusta Garden Club worked in the garden at Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Staunton, preparing it for winter. In December, members created and delivered flower arrangements to 34 individuals and seven nursing home/assisted-living facilities throughout the community. In preparation for this long-standing club tradition, two floral design workshops were held for new club members to share arranging knowledge and some Christmas spirit.

The Nansemond River Garden Club was invited to create floral arrangements at the Capitol for the 2022 inauguration weekend. Work involved creating floral designs, selecting containers, gathering and conditioning plant materials from members' yards and ordering needed flowers. The Inaugural Committee doesn't have many requirements except color for the designs.

The Elizabeth River, The Nansemond River and The Franklin Garden Clubs welcomed President Missy Buckingham for a GCV presentation held on February 1 at the Cedar Point Clubhouse in Suffolk. Spectacular member-designed floral centerpieces graced every table for their Tri-Club luncheon meeting.

Please share with us by contacting Membership News Chairman Molly Ill at mollyill.vb@gmail.com.

The Garden Club of Virginia recently connected with a Virginia Humanities Fellow, Meredith Henne Baker (right), who is researching the impact of garden clubs in Virginia. She has been pouring through GCV’s archives at the Library of Virginia and at the Kent-Valentine House and exploring the important role that GCV and other garden clubs have played in helping to save landscapes and protect the environment. In addition, Baker found information on Black garden clubs—which at one time outnumbered White garden clubs in Virginia—and is working with the library to raise awareness of them. Henne Baker will be part of a livestream program presented by the Hermitage Museum and Gardens on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m., along with Abra Lee (left), a horticulturalist, historian and writer who researches Black garden history. To register, visit Virtual Talk: Black Garden & Horticultural History | The Hermitage Museum & Gardens.