I begin with a very sincere thank you to Winchester-Clarke Garden Club, our gracious hosts for the 103rd Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia. It was a wonderful time together to share new GCV initiatives and to learn from informative, engaging and distinguished speakers.

Congratulations to the recipients of the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement, the de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation, and the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award. Scroll down to learn about the recipients and view the Highlights and photos of the Annual Meeting.

I hope to see you in Williamsburg for Horticulture Field Day and later this month in Orange as Dolley Madison Garden Club hosts the 2023 Lily Show, Summer Fun!

My best,

Show details, schedule and online registration.

Congratulations to Ann Gordon Evans, recipient of the 2023 Massie Medal Award for Distinguished Achievement, GCV’s most prestigious honor. Inscribed on her medal are the words, "For her inspiring leadership, wise counsel and enduring grace.” Ann Gordon’s contributions to GCV are vast and include many key roles in her club, The Huntington Garden Club, as well as within GCV leadership. During her time as President of the GCV (2012-2014) she looked to the future to establish a Long-Range Planning Committee and was part of numerous impactful initiatives in support of the mission of beautification and conservation in Virginia. Read more about Ann Gordon’s accomplishments in the upcoming summer Journal. Please join us in congratulating Ann Gordon for this well-deserved award.

Mary Louisa Pollard is the recipient of the 2023 de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation. This award is presented to an individual member or member club of the Garden Club of Virginia in recognition of an outstanding effort to further the knowledge of our natural resources and to encourage their wise use. Mary Louisa was nominated for this award by her club, the Garden Club of the Northern Neck. Mary Louisa has shown a rich legacy of stewardship, creating partnerships between nonprofits, governmental organizations, and private citizens all rallying together to protect and steward land in the Northern Neck of Virginia. Her love, respect, grace, and humility to accept the immense responsibility of land and conservation stewardship has truly made a difference. Congratulations to Mary Louisa!

Congratulations to The Albemarle Garden Club for receiving the 2023 Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award for its club project “Cultivating Conservationists: Promoting Native Species, Pollinators and Nature Literacy at the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont." The Albemarle Garden Club will work with the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont and five other local organizations to continue their commitment to environmental conservation, protection of native species, and public education. Read details on how The Albemarle Garden Club plans to use the award money to further those efforts.

Thank you to Lisa Richards of The Lynchburg Garden Club, for sharing a presentation on The Roadside Biodiversity and Native Perennial Beds Project at this year’s Annual Meeting. The Lynchburg Garden Club and Hillside Garden Club worked together as recipients of the 2021 recipient of the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award to complete this project. Learn more about their work and enjoy this beautiful video.

You asked and we answered! Starting this September, the GCV will be hosting a monthly learning session, via Zoom, where participants can enjoy a short presentation or workshop, followed by discussion with fellow GCV members. The series, called Cultivating Conversations, is just one of many ways GCV members can connect with each other and take advantage of all that GCV and its members have to offer. Look for a wide variety of topics from flower arranging, horticulture, conservation, beekeeping, virtual garden tours, and more.

Stay tuned for a full schedule to be released later this summer!

Historic Garden Week

Thanks to all of you who gave your time and talent to make Historic Garden Week’s 90th anniversary an overwhelming success. Historic Garden Week 2023 hosted more than 22,000 visitors from 42 states and 12 countries. A record $805,000 in net proceeds will go toward GCV’s ongoing restoration and preservation of Virginia’s historic public gardens, and a fellowship program in landscape architecture. These extraordinary results would not be possible without the tremendous contributions of our dedicated members, sponsors, advertisers and homeowners whose combined efforts make the nation’s only statewide house and garden tour possible.

Since 1929, the GCV has preserved and restored more than 50 public historic landscapes and gardens throughout Virginia. This important work is possible due to the efforts of GCV members who produce Historic Garden Week tours in their communities.

This first set in a series represents a selection of the GCV’s restoration sites through photos taken by GCV members and friends. The photos have been digitally converted to a lovely watercolor effect. $20 per set of 10 ($3 shipping).

Available at shop.gcvirginia.org, at the Kent-Valentine House and at select GCV events. Cards and gift-ready packaging are environmentally friendly.

Congratulations to Marlena Hamilton, the GCV’s Conservation and Beautification Studies Fellow for 2023-2024. Marlena is a student at Christopher Newport University where she is pursuing a master’s in Biology. Through her research, she hopes to gain an understanding of climate risk to red back salamanders through behavior, physiology, and geography. Marlena finds these salamanders fascinating and notes that despite their small size, they still play an important role in the environment. Citing the Christopher Newport area as having one of the highest biodiversity of salamanders in the world, she is excited to learn more about them, educate the public and contribute data to help with their conservation.

We invite you to learn more about the research project that the GCV’s 2022 Conservation and Environmental Studies Fellow, Olivia Smith, presented at the 2023 Annual Meeting in Winchester. Her research, “Towards an Understanding of Restoring Eastern Coastal Plain Forests,” was based on findings taken in the 960-acre College Woods Forest on the campus of William and Mary, but as losses are occurring in similar forest systems elsewhere, the findings may have broader application. We wish Olivia well as she pursues a career in forest management at the Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park. Listen to Olivia’s presentation here.

Thank you to the hundreds of members and clubs who have contributed to the 2022-2023 Annual Fund.

Your gifts help provide the resources needed to fulfill our vibrant mission and deliver programs for our members across Virginia. There is still time to make a gift by check or online by June 30 for this fiscal year. We appreciate your help to support GCV’s exciting path forward.

District 2: Michelle Jennings, Rivanna Garden Club

District 5: Suzi Worsham, Leesburg Garden Club

District 6: Stephanie Broadwater, The Nansemond River Garden Club

Virginia Gillock, The Augusta Garden Club

Jennifer Kelley, Garden Club of Alexandria

Carrie Goodman, The Princess Anne Garden Club

Your work is impactful in so many ways! Zari St. Jean moved to Richmond one week before Historic Garden Week. St. Jean is pursuing a career in horticulture, despite her family and friends encouraging her to become a doctor or pharmacist. She found such a warm welcome from GCV members – and such an exciting exchange of knowledge of flowers and plants – that she is steeled in her decision to pursue her passion in horticulture. Her enthusiasm is palpable in the video below, where she offers her thanks for the generosity of those who hosted her during Historic Garden Week. Thank you, GCV members, for all that you do to spread a love of plants, gardens, and landscapes throughout Virginia and beyond.

Mark your calendar for an exciting new collaboration between the Garden Club of Virginia and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. History Blooms will be a multi-day program at the Museum that weaves together the missions of both organizations and uses artistic floral design to tell the story of Virginia’s history. Information on how clubs and members can participate, in addition to the lineup of speakers and workshops, will be announced this summer.

The 65th Annual Conservation Forum will take place on Thursday, Nov. 2 at the Irving Theater at The CODE Building in Charlottesville. The topic is EcoLandscaping. Come learn how to unlove your lawn, leave your leaves, rewild and much more. Look for registration to open this summer.

This special “Ebb & Flow” Flower Show, hosted by The James River Garden Club, takes its theme from one of Richmond’s greatest assets—the James River—and will feature elements of its unique ecosystem throughout the show. Educational displays by area non-profits will highlight conservation and preservation in and around the river. Visitors will have the opportunity to walk through many creative and fascinating entries in Floral Design, Horticulture, Photography and Botanical Arts. Submissions will come from individuals and clubs of GCA’s Zone VII, which currently numbers 18 clubs and 1,400 members throughout Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The purpose of a flower show is threefold: to set standards of artistic and horticultural excellence; to broaden knowledge of horticulture, floral design, conservation, photography and other related areas; and to share the beauty of a show with fellow club members and with the public. We hope you will come to see these fabulous botanical creations and support the talented people behind them.

The flower show will also include the “River Run Boutique” where visitors will find clothing, jewelry, art, ceramics, and accessories—the perfect place to shop for gifts or a special treat for yourself. Raffle tickets with great prizes will be available at the Welcome Table. Boutique location and hours are same as Flower Show. For more information, please contact Andrea Erda at afishindc@aol.com.

Albemarle Garden Club is proud to present a two-day design forum with nationally acclaimed designer and tastemaker Mark D. Sikes on Oct. 11 and 12, 2023 at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville. Details are provided below.

Does your club have an upcoming event you'd like to share with other GCV members? Email Membership News Chairman Edie Hessberg with details.

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Annual Meeting 2023 Highlights and Photos