President's Letter
- Apr 1
- 4 min read
April 1, 2026
“The Earth laughs in flowers”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dear Evergreen Garden Club Members,
Refresh, renew, inspire. With morning’s bright sunshine and blue skies, I am overflowing with April Garden thoughts! Don’t you delight in Spring? There is so much on our garden to-do lists; but I propose we take time to ponder these softer days and discover this month’s garden gifts.
Please mark your calendar for our YEAR END MEETING MAY 19th. “From the Garden to Canvas – Painting the Garden” with Artist and EGC Second Vice President Ann Reid. The program will be a home gallery and studio visit. Ann is an oil painter specializing in landscapes and floral paintings. Her beautiful oil painting of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens appeared in our September 2025 Members letter and is on our website. Ann will explain her artistic process with a demonstration on how to capture the beauty of your own garden. This is sure to be a treat! Lunch to follow.
The votes have been tallied – a special welcome to our two new members Chris Mickey and Maureen Slowinski and a special thank you from this year’s Evergreen Garden Club Board for your vote of confidence reelecting us for 2026-2027. Thank you to Membership Chair Rosa Wallach and Assistant Chair Lauren Sherlock for their hard work.
Tregaron Volunteer Workday, May 5, 2026 (rain date May 12, 2026)
LOCATION: Tregaron Conservancy
Klingle Road Entrance, 3031 Klingle Road NW
SCHEDULE: Tuesday, 10/28 at 10:00AM. Meet at by the Lily Pond, near Klingle Road
PARKING: Two-hour parking is available on nearby streets. There is usually plenty of parking.
FYI: Please dress appropriately for gardening and bring gloves, trowel, clippers, bug spray, and a water bottle. More information and a map can be found at tregaron.org.
RSVP BY MAY 1, 2026, to Colet Mitchell, m.colet@verizon.net or text 301-537-5153
Program Meeting: Tuesday, April 28, 2026, 10:00am
Oak Springs Gardens, Upperville, Virginia
Members who are attending will receive an email from First Vice President Donna Roberts with detailed information on tour donation, carpool arrangements, and lunch.
A short business meeting will follow the presentation.
March 2026 Minutes on next page.
Ellen🪴
Evergreen Garden Club
Minutes for March 17, 2026
Attending: Connie Anderson, Julia Bellinger, Susan Bluhm, Winkie Crigler, Jane Dana, Jane DeCell, Doris Dixon, Fossy Fenwick, Nancy Gorman, Lynn Keith, Sara Maner, Sally Marshall, Colet Mitchel, Lynne Pickard, Donna Roberts, Pam Seldon, Laurene Sherlock, Susie Taylor, Christina Thorley, Ellen Thrasher, Fran Usher, Rosa Wallach
Welcome: First Vice-President Donna Roberts welcomed participants and introduced presenter Christopher Lewis, Beekeeper and Certified Professional Horticulturist. Chris has been a beekeeper for fifteen years, has five hives in his backyard, and sells honey.
Program: Chris began by explaining that native bees want a perfect pollinator environment. He also mentioned that honeybees will not bother people because they are too busy working. He provided a list of plants that attract and feed native pollinators.
Chris discussed his honeybee operation in detail. He explained where they live and why not to wear black clothes when working with them (they often think you are a bear). He also explained the variety of ways they flutter and dance different signals and pheromones they give off. The worker bees do a “bee dance” or waggle which tells other worker bees where the pollinator flowers are. Their waggle acts as a GPS for their colleagues.
Queen bees can lay 2000 eggs per day or 50,000 eggs per year. The worker bees only live about 40 days, and the male “drones” do not do anything except reproduce. Maryland’s most important nectar source is the black locust tree. One of the beekeeper’s greatest concerns is having the bees “swarm” or all fly away, which usually happens in April. This is usually caused by the bees running out of space. Another concern is mites. Mites kill bees by causing poor nutrition and loss of habitat. In 2000 there was an influx of mites and viruses which greatly diminished the bee population. Chris had a wealth of information and provided an excellent overview of beekeeping in Maryland.
Business Meeting: President Ellen Thrasher thanked Doris Dixon for hosting the meeting and Doris let everyone know that there would be honey tasting after the business meeting. The minutes from the February meeting were seconded and approved.
Winkie Crigler, Treasurer: As of today, we have $14,062.30 in our account. I am very happy to report that all members have paid their dues. We are on track to spend at least $4,000 in gifts/grants again this year, depending on the results of our philanthropy discussion later this meeting, and we have a healthy balance in the account so that we can make an additional75th anniversary gift of $7,500 in 2028. Motions on the treasurer’s report were duly seconded and approved.
Rosa Wallach, Membership Chair, updated us on the unanimous approval of the officers for 2026-2027 President Ellen Thrasher, First Vice President Doris Roberts, Second Vice President Ann Reid, Corresponding Secretary Julia Bellinger and Recording Secretary Jane Nassim as well as the two new members, Chris Mickey and Maureen Slowinski. One member Sharon Stoliaroff recently resigned so there is a vacancy for a fall nomination. Motions on the membership report were duly seconded and approved.
First Vice-President Donna Roberts discussed the survey monkey related to the April field trip to Oak Spring Garden. Less than 50% filled it out so she circulated a document to fill out by hand at the meeting to let her know who was planning on attending and who could drive. She also discussed lunch options.
President Ellen Thrasher announced that the Philanthropy Committee had a plan and possible changes to the budget for the 75th anniversary celebration. Treasurer Winkie Crigler explained the current budget plans as they relate to the celebration.
Jane Dana, Chair of the Philanthropy Committee, said that the Committee wants to celebrate the 75th anniversary in a more outward facing manner and the Committee members support a bigger gift for the celebration. She discussed an internal fundraising campaign done by the Committee. Some possibilities might be members giving $1000 over three years or matching the dues. The increased money would be used to make a greater impact on the community. It was decided that further discussion of this idea is needed and it would likely take place at the May meeting.
Ellen thanked all participants and the business meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Julia Bellinger, Corresponding Secretary