Evergreen Garden Club
April 16, 2024
Attending: Conny Anderson, Jean Barquin, Louise Beale, Winfield Crigler, Jane DeCell, Amy Dewey, Doris Dixon, Kathryn Baker, Catherine Farrell, Ann Fenwick, Helen Garrett, Jeannette Harper, Sara Maner, Colet Mitchell, Janet Nassim, Jackie Poortman, Ann Reid, Donna Roberts, Anne Snodgrass, Susan Taylor, Rosa Wallach.
President Winkie Crigler welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Doris for arranging this fabulous tour and the perfect weather.
Treasurer’s Report (Susie Taylor). We currently have $11,003.11 in the bank. There are two outstanding checks. The first is the donation honoring our April meeting speaker for $100, and the other reimbursing Doris $274.42 for expenses incurred for the ikebana workshop. Once these two expenses clear, and given a deposit for workshop contributions from participating members, we will have $10,628.69 in the bank. The remaining anticipated expense for this garden-club year is $150 which will be a donation honoring the British Embassy to its chosen charity.
The Garden Club continues to enjoy good financial shape and remains on track to donate $5,000 this year to support its philanthropic mission.
Nominations. Lynne Pickard has graciously agreed to chair our nominating committee and to run the election. Winkie will work with Lynne and members will receive an email ballot in the very near future. Please reply to Lynne only and either say that you approve the slate or not. All the current officers have agreed to serve for one more year, so the election will be a referendum on how well we have done this year! 😉
Gifts/Grants. We did not get any additional volunteers, so Mary Jane Glass and Ellen Thrasher will be in charge of our gifts and grants again this year. As Susie indicated in her report, we should have $5,000 in the budget to give away.
Tregaron Work Day. A reminder that we have our semi-annual Tregaron work day on Tuesday, May 7, from 10 to 12. Colet Mitchell is in charge and will be sending an email soon.
May meeting. Our May meeting and luncheon is a visit to Claybrook Garden, a lovely private garden in Rectortown, followed by lunch at Rosa Wallach’s beautiful home and garden. It is about an hour and 15-minute drive to the garden and then 20 to30 minutes to Rosa’s home. And a little over an hour back home. We need to get a head count very soon so that we can plan the luncheon and figure out the cost. I recommend carpooling. The officers will have a Zoom meeting with Rosa to discuss and plan the luncheon in the near future. I think Survey Monkey worked well for the April meeting so will use it to get a tentative headcount for the May meeting as well.
Upcoming Events of Interest:
· All Evergreen members are invited to the VIP reception (9 am) and Opening Ceremony (10 am) of the Cathedral’s Flower Mart on Friday May 3. Let Winkie know if you want to go so that you can be added to the list.
· There is a Potomac Village Garden Club tour on Saturday, May 4, from 12 to 4.
· Mary Jane announced that the Cleveland Park Historical Society is organizing a garden tour on Mother’s Day, May 12. Club members will be notified of how to register, if they wish. Note: This garden tour was later cancelled. But it is coming in May 2025!
The tour of the British Embassy garden. Since your recording secretary was unable to attend, she is much indebted to Cathy Farrell for her excellent notes and lovely pictures.
John Sonnier, the gardener in charge for the past fifteen years, led our tour. He has an inspiring breadth of knowledge and was an excellent host. He was accompanied by a volunteer, Rosemary.
As we strolled up the drive to enter the residence, bordered with magical border gardens filled with lenten roses and tulips, John gave us a history of the development of the site in 1928 when plans were made to move the embassy from Connecticut Avenue to its present location. Construction on the eleven acres was completed in 1930.
The residence and chancery were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens who also designed the gardens with Gertrude Jekyll.
· Lawn and gardens are an extension of the house.
· Lawn and gardens have a pastoral feel.
· No use of chemical fertilizers nor pesticides…chemical free.
· Attention focused on biodiversity.
· The gardeners use leaves and compost as mulch.
· Mulch used in rose beds is spruce chips, charcoal, perlite, and ceramic pellets and water is drip-line. Roses good in April, May, early June, and September.
· John urges us to accept the natural order and stay with what works best in our gardens.
· In our gardens we should be using pine fines mulch which will decompose.
We were served tea and cold drinks following our garden walk and then followed John into the greenhouses as he told us about the orchid collection, introduced us to the viruses that orchids carry, and shared how he developed three hybrid orchids that have been named for an ambassador, Henry Kissinger, and another individual by the Royal Society in London.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Jane Glass, Recording Secretary