PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE IN THIS ISSUE - Meetupfiles.meetup.com/17538542/Blue Ridge Digest Digest-May...

Summer Issue 2015 -

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

NGC Membership

Dear Garden Club Members,

I am just back from VFGC Convention 2015. How great it was to

be in attendance as our Blue Ridge District members took center

stage at the convention. We have three elected officers: VFGC

President, Janice Clem; First Vice President, Marty Bowers; Re-

cording Secretary, Karen Dillon and two appointed officers: Corre-

sponding Secretary, Patty Smith and Chaplain, Sue Patterson.

Blue Ridge District is well represented for 2015-2017. Lisa Robin-

son was installed as Blue Ridge District President along with Rita

Leiser and Hazel Vance as BRD Directors. Congratulations to these

ladies. What a fantastic group!

My thanks go to all who have helped during the last two years of

my administration. Those of you who have worked on the board,

on committees, helped set up meetings, helped with all the details

of registration, procured wonderful programs, helped with printing

programs, provided us with our lovely issues of the BR Digest and

set up flower shows have done a fantastic job. Many of you have

donated silent auction baskets and other items for our sales tables

and others have worked the tables. You all helped in so many

ways as we hosted the SAR and VFGC in Roanoke in the spring of

2014. You have provided me with guidance and support all along

the way. Every member of every club in Blue Ridge District is such

an asset not only to me but to your club, your community, the dis-

trict, state and beyond.

The last two years have gone by so quickly. I have enjoyed visit-

ing with so many of you at our district meetings, at your club

meetings, luncheons, fashion shows, flower shows, tree dedica-

tions, celebrations of anniversaries, plant sales, etc. Blue Ridge

Garden Clubs and Councils continue to amaze me with your work

on multiple projects which provide opportunities for your members

to share their talents and expertise with others in your communi-

ties and surrounding areas. I have enjoyed reading your Club

President’s Reports which have hi-lighted your activities and ac-

complishments. I loved hearing the names of Blue Ridge District

Clubs as they received awards at the VFGC Convention. Keep up

the good work and apply for awards! Your club deserves the

recognition.

It has been an honor and a privilege to have served as the Blue

Ridge District President from 2013-2015. I look forward to seeing

all of you as we go forward with our next administration of officers

who will need your support just as I have. They have wonderful

ideas and enthusiasm to share with us. …..continued on page 2

IN THIS ISSUE

President’s Message

Contents

New Members

Club News

Dues

New Officers

Janice Clem VFGC Pres

Thank You

Ecology Warriors

NGC Offerings

Marty Bowers

Flower Show Report

Flower Show Results

Blue Ridge Parkway

Awards Winners

Flower Show School

Edible Plants

Water Quality

Waterways Cleanup

Digest Subscription

Book Review

Yearbook Sponsor

Calendar of Events

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Summer Issue 2015 -

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE continued

Keep being Involved, Invigorated, and actively helping to Enlarge

Garden Clubs in the Blue Ridge District.

Have a great summer. Rosemary

NGC LIFE MEMBERSHIP AWARDED

Hilda Lindell, BRD Life Membership Chairman, presented outgoing

Blue Ridge District President Rosemary Drennen with a National

Garden Clubs Life Membership at the spring district meeting.

Rosemary was thanked for her years of service to the BRD.

CLUB NEWS

DUES DEADLINE - All clubs should submit their dues and

membership rosters to both the current Blue Ridge District (Patty

Smith) and Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs (Claudia Cosby)

treasurers before May 31st.

Belmont Garden Club honored Barbara Catron with a VFGC Life

Membership.

On April 23, 2015, members of Blue Ridge Garden Club planted

two trees at Main Street United Methodist Church in Bedford, Va.

The trees were dedicated to the memory of two long-time mem-

bers of their club, Louise Ford and Jane Murray.

WELCOME

NEW MEMBERS

North Lake

Jennifer Harvey

Bonnie Beuggert

Salem GC

Esther Davis

Ann McBroom

Bev Reiger

Wendy Shepperson

Marsha Shortell

Be sure to let the

Treasurer/Membership Chair-

man know of any new

members in your club.

Dried Asters

IN MEMORY

Please let the BRD President know of any

deaths in your club.

North Lake Garden Club honored Barbara Hawkins with a VFGC

Life Membership.

Sugar Loaf Garden Club honored Jinx Weary, 2013-2015 Presi-

dent, with a VFGC Life Membership.

Summer Issue 2015 -

Blue Ridge District’s

JANICE CLEM

was recently

installed as the

2015-2017

VFGC

PRESIDENT

The theme for her

administration is

“MAKING

CONNECTIONS

TO SHAPE

THE FUTURE”

PRESENTING the NEW OFFICERS for 2015-2017

National Garden Clubs

Theme - “Leap into Action”

President - Sandra H. Robinson NGC Headquarters 4401 Magnolia Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110

Telephone: 1-314-776-7574 [email protected]

South Atlantic Region

Theme: "Inspire Conservation Through Education”

Sarah Ann Parler, Director PO Box 306

Elloree, SC 29047 803-879-2304

E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.southatlanticregiongardenclubs.org

Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs

Theme - “Making Connections to Shape the Future”

President - Janice Clem [email protected] 2261 Donagale Drive 540-977-1713 Roanoke, VA 24012

1st Vice Pres. - Marty Bowers [email protected] 2854 Hickory Cove Lane 540-297-0965 Moneta, VA 24121

Treasurer - Claudia Cosby [email protected] 3015 Mount Hill Drive 540-794-7798 Midlothian, VA 23113

Blue Ridge District

Theme - "Education and Communication - the key to our best future"

President - Lisa Robinson [email protected] 2931 Avenham Ave. SW 540-352-9085 Roanoke, VA 24014

Director Secretary - Rita Leiser [email protected] 1218 Chestnut Mtn. Dr. 540-890-3006 Vinton, VA 24179

Director Treasurer - Hazel Vance [email protected] 210 North Branch Road 540-384-7226 Bedford VA 24523

Summer Issue 2015 -

THANK YOU

Thank you to each one who came to the VFGC

Convention installation dinner. It was wonder-

ful to see so many Blue Ridge District friends!

I was overwhelmed and honored when our dis-

trict president, Rosemary Drennen, presented

me a gorgeous bouquet of red roses on behalf

of the Blue Ridge District following the installa-

tion service conducted by our National Garden

Club president Linda Nelson. Thank you for

your love, friendship and support.

I look forward to serving as your VFGC Presi-

dent and will do my best to serve our organi-

zation and make you proud. I know that I can

count on your continued friendship and sup-

port as we work together these next two years

“Making Connections to Shape the Future” –

the theme of this administration.

The Planting Together Community Garden

Project is expanded so that projects complet-

ed throughout the year will be eligible for

recognition. Another focus will be the creation

of Monarch Way Stations to help the threat-

ened monarch butterfly survive. We will par-

ticipate in the Living Legacy Tree Planting

Project which will commemorate the 620,000

lives lost in the Civil War. Each tree planted

will be geotagged with information on a soldier

who made the ultimate sacrifice. To raise

funds for the project, we are asking that our

members make a $10 donation to “Green

Gloves for Planting Trees.” For each $10

donation, the donor will receive a pair of green

garden gloves. Our Plus One membership

campaign will be launched soon. And, VFGC

will host the 2017 National Garden Club

Convention May 16-21 in Richmond. Save

those dates and plan to come. This is the first

time that a NGC convention has been in Vir-

ginia. We want you to come and enjoy this

exciting event. There you have it --- two busy

and fun years ahead. I am counting on you to

be part of this journey in “Making Connections

to Shape the Future.”

Janice Clem

2015-2017 VFGC President

Dried Lobelia

Dried Kousa

Dogwood

NGC’s ECOLOGY WARRIORS

Do you know that National Garden Clubs has

put together an educational publication called

Ecology Warriors Workbook?

There is great information for adults and chil-

dren on:

• Air

• Bees

• Birds

• Butterflies

• Energy

• Forests

• Invasive Plants

• Land Conservation

• Recycling

• Water

• Wildlife

You may download it for free at the NGC web-

site. Four have been printed for this submit-

ter’s grandchildren for “Grammy Camp” in Ro-

anoke this summer. NGC has a Girl Scout

Badge too!

~ Shirley Edillon

THE NATIONAL GARDENER

The quarterly publication of the National Gar-

den Clubs magazine can be ordered at its

website for $8 per year.

NGC also has books and manuals on numer-

ous topics. You would be surprised at how

many are available! They might be of interest

to you or your club as well as gift ideas.

Summer Issue 2015 -

2015 FLOWER SHOW RESULTS

There were sixty-three horticulture speci-

mens with eleven clubs represented. The

top Horticulture winners were:

Arboreal Award

Jean Summerbell of Hunting Hills GC

Award of Merit

Joyce Woods of Sugar Loaf GC

Growers Choice Award

Brenda McManaway of Boones Mill GC

& Designer Atelier

Collector’s Showcase Award

Brenda McManaway of Boones Mill GC

& Designer Atelier

Award of Merit

Carolyn Fleming of New Castle GC

Award of Merit

Award of Horticulture Excellence Glynis Hopkins of Belmont GC

& Designer Atelier

The top Design winners were:

Designers Choice

Mary McLaughlin of Hunting Hills GC

Table Artistry Award

Janet Shelburne of Southside GC

Petite Award

Award of Design Excellence Brenda McManaway of Boones Mill GC

& Designer Atelier

FLOWER SHOW REPORT

The Blue Ridge District returned to the Sa-

lem Museum for the second time, holding a

Standard Flower Show “Spring … Comes to

the World” on April 10-11, 2015.

Director John Long graciously welcomed the

BRD back, permitting the use of their lovely

facility once again at no charge. The BRD

Board of Directors approved a $100 dona-

tion to the Salem Museum.

A Blue Ridge District Project in 2011 sup-

ported Salem Garden Club’s work reaching

out to like-minded organizations to share in

the funding and construction of the Native/

Adaptive Plant Restoration Project for the

new Salem Museum grounds. The Blue

Ridge District was pleased to contribute

$500 to the Salem Garden Club in April

2011 for the Museum grounds. The Land-

scape Design called for native plantings that

attract wildlife. Be sure to check out the

landscaping when visiting the Salem Muse-

um. The building itself is LEED certified.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design and is an internation-

ally recognized green building certification

system.

Flower Show Chairman, Janet Shelburne,

and the committee wish to thank the Salem

Museum and all of the participants and visi-

tors who helped make the 2015 Flower

Show a success.

MARTY BOWERS

VFGC 1st VP Marty Bowers, a member of Moneta

Garden Club and former President of the

Blue Ridge District, was installed as First

Vice President of the Virginia Federation

of Garden Clubs at their convention in

Williamsburg.

FRIENDS of the

Blue Ridge Parkway An “Easy” New Way to Give to

FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Announcing Amazon Smile!

FRIENDS is partnering with Amazon in a new

program called "Amazon Smile." Every time

you shop with Amazon, part of your purchase

price will be automatically donated to

FRIENDS! Prices are the same and the buying

process is the same. The next time you visit

Amazon, go to smile.amazon.com, choose

FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Ama-

zon takes care of the rest!

Dried

Larkspur

Summer Issue 2015 -

2014 BRD AWARDS WINNERS

Blue Awards

B-10i Flower Show Schedule -

Westchester Garden Club

Sponsored by Hilda Lindell

B-14ii Habitat for Humanity -

Green Thumb Garden Club

Sponsored by Fincastle GC

B-18 Membership Award -


Sponsored by Patty Smith

B-24i Club Newsletter -

The Garden Club of Bedford

Sponsored by Shirley Edillon

B-25A Club Yearbook -

Southside Garden Club

Sponsored by Anne Robinson

B-25B Club Yearbook -

Sugar Loaf Garden Club

Sponsored by Marty Bowers

B-27ii Youth Activities -

Moneta Garden Club

Sponsored by Janice Clem

B-28ii Youth Horticulture Education -

Moneta Garden Club

Sponsored by Rachel Yungman

B-31i Club Membership Brochure


Sponsored by Hazel Vance

B-4ii Butterfly -

Moneta Garden Club

Sponsored by Janet Shelburne

B-21i Scrapbook -

Sugar Loaf Garden Club

Sponsored by Marian Danco

B-21ii Scrapbook -


Sponsored by Betsy Klein

Red Award

B-21i Scrapbook - The Garden Club

of Bedford

VFGC WINNERS from the BRD

VFGC Special Award—Plant Trees Native to

Virginia <40 Red-Southside GC

>40 Yellow-Moneta GC

#11 Butterfly—Blue Moneta GC

#17 Decoration of Historic Buildings—Blue

Southside GC

#19ii Horticulture Therapy—Garden Project

Blue—Green Thumb GC

#21B Membership Blue—Green Thumb

#30ii Youth Horticulture Education-Blue

Moneta GC

#31i Club Membership Brochure-HM


#32Ai Club Newsletter –The Garden Club

of Bedford

#33 Blue Yearbook <20– HM Southside GC

20-29 Red Sugar Loaf GC

#34i Flower Show Schedule–Red Westchester

#36ii Website—Blue Moneta GC

Flower Show Achievement Award

FS-I-B Standard Flower Show Purple Rosette

Blue Westchester GC

TWO CLUBS WIN SAR AWARDS

SAR 1ii—Arbor Day Tree Planting/Activities

Moneta Garden Club

SAR 6—Garden Therapy/Healing Garden


SAR 28i-Website

Moneta Garden Club

Dried

Love-in-a-Mist

Summer Issue 2015 -

FLOWER SHOW SCHOOL Course II

The Kirkley Hotel and Conference Center in

Lynchburg, Virginia will be the venue for the

second course in this series of Flower Show

Schools sponsored by the Virginia Federation

of Garden Clubs on August 24-27, 2015.

VFGC welcomes Sue Kirkman, a first time in-

structor for the state, who will teach the hori-

culture course. Frances Thrash, Virginia's

own, will be teaching American Creative De-

sign.

Sue Kirkman is a member of the Garden Club

of Frankfort, Kentucky, a NGC Flower Show

Judge, Gardening Consultant, Landscape De-

sign student and a Master Gardener. She is a

member and judge for the American Iris Socie-

ty and a member of the American Horticulture

Society and American Lily Society.

She is a retired history teacher and gerontolo-

gist and served as Kentucky Director of Aging

for several years. Her special interests include

grandchildren, gardening, and home redesign.

Sue and her husband live on a farm with nu-

merous dogs, cats, fox, wild turkeys and the

occasional coyote.

Born Mary Frances Dent in Jackson, Mississip-

pi, Frances now resides in Virginia Beach with

her retired military husband where she is a

member of the Little Neck Garden Club, the

Lynnhaven Heritage Garden Club and the Vir-

ginia Beach Council of Garden Clubs. Now an

NGC Master Judge, she belongs to the Tide-

water Judges Council and the Virginia Flower

Show Judges Council. In all of these organiza-

tions she has held many elected and appointed

offices. Frances was the President of both the

Tidewater District and the Virginia Flower

Show Judges Council for 2013-2015. She is

currently Flower Show Judges Symposium

Chairman for VFGC.

Frances is a Life Member of NGC, SAR, and

VFGC, the American Iris Society and the Tide-

water/Hampton Roads Iris Society. She is also

a member of the Camellia Society.

In 2008 Frances was approved as a Design

Instructor for NGC. In 2009 she was invited to

enter the WAFA competition in Washington,

D.C. where she won a first place award.

Frances graduated from the University of Mis-

sissippi with a BA in Education and Math. In

addition to being a retired teacher, Frances

has worked as a floral designer at several busi-

nesses having earned an FTD Master Design

Certificate.

A registration form is found in the Old Domin-

ion Gardener. If there are questions con-

cerning Flower Show School, please contact

Betsy Klein at [email protected] or

call 540-586-0190. Your district representa-

tive to the Flower Show School Committee is

also a source of information.

EDIBLE PLANTS

Refrigerate spinach after harvest;

leave it unwashed until just

before using.

Rumex sanguineus

(Bloody dock, Red-veined dock, Bloodwort)

This is an edible plant that is attractive as an

ornamental both in the garden and floral de-

signs. Try putting its leaves in some of your

recipes for salads, soups, etc. You may find it

a little bitter as do some critters. Let Sue

know if you have any good recipes using

bloody dock.

~ Sue Patterson, BRD Chairman

Summer Issue 2015 -

FALL WATERWAYS CLEANUP

Saturday, October 3rd, 2015

Roanoke Valley and Botetourt County

8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

On Saturday, October 3rd, 2015 volunteer

teams from all over the Roanoke Valley will

join forces to remove trash from streams,

creeks and rivers and their vicinities. Clean

your favorite spot along a stream, tributary or

river (or get to know a new one). In 2010,

nearly 780 volunteers collected 31 tons of

trash and 355 tires! Volunteers found hoards

of bottles, cans, cigarette butts and plastic as

well as many other items such as an animal

skull, bikes, a Desoto hubcap, bait cans, dia-

pers, a full furniture suite, toys, tires and

more.

An after cleanup celebration will be held at

Wasena Park 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. Sponsors will

be supplying food, drink, and great music!

Join in by registering your team today. This is

a "surf and turf" event so you may choose to

work in your neighborhood, park or special site

if you can't work near a stream or river. Sup-

plies are provided. Register online at http://

cleanvalley.org/fall-waterways or download a

registration form and mail or fax in to the

Clean Valley Council.

The flowers featured in this issue

of the Blue Ridge Digest are PRESSED!

Remember to get some of the beautiful

blossoms from your garden

to dry this season.

WATER QUALITY

Water Quality...what can YOU do? What’s in

YOUR water? You would be amazed at all the

toxic material that has to be filtered out of

your water supply to make it useful to you.

How can you help keep your water supply

clean?

An innovative program has been established

by the Environmental Protection Agency. It is

called Adopt a Watershed. This program of-

fers you the opportunity to become a part in

protecting the watershed that is in your area.

We all live in a watershed…it is an area that

drains into a common waterway. This can be

a stream, lake, estuary, wetland, river or the

ocean. There are more than 2,600 watershed

groups. If there is not one in your area, then

you can start one.

EPA has a “Watershed Tool Kit” with eight dif-

ferent things you can do to make a difference.

Become a volunteer monitor, organize or be-

come a part of a trash cleanup, build a Rain

Garden or organize a stream drain marking

program. Green-scape your yard.

Educate your community about water Quality

Protection. Advocate for low impact develop-

ment in your community. Start or join a wa-

tershed organization. For more information

go online to: EPA Adopt a Watershed Pro-

gram. You will find instructions and infor-

mation on all of the above.

Have a drink……of clear, clean water.

~ Carolyn Augustine, SAR Chairman

Dried

Hydrangea

WANT YOUR DIGEST

MAILED?

It’s time to renew your subscription or

subscribe to the Blue Ridge Digest for the

upcoming year which begins June 1.

For $5.00 per year, the quarterly issues of

the Blue Ridge Digest can be mailed to you

with the first issue arriving in August. All

other district members will receive the Di-

gest by email.

Make your check out to the “Blue Ridge

District” and mail to the BRD Editor:

Shirley Edillon, Editor

4858 Glenbrook Drive

Roanoke, VA 24018

Summer Issue 2015 -

are written for the dry southwest and Califor-

nia and one book which looked like it was pub-

lished for the Wayside Gardens Collection in

South Carolina was actually written by a Brit-

ish author and included some plants that

would not be found in the United States.

Happy Gardening – we’ll see what this sum-

mer brings us and, hopefully, you have sus-

tainable plants.

~ Marty Bowers, Chairman

Dried

Blupleurum

BE A YEARBOOK SPONSOR

SUPPORT THE VFGC 2015-2017 YEARBOOK

Each club in the Blue Ridge District should be

a VFGC Yearbook Sponsor. Individuals may

also be a sponsor.

The Yearbook provides a wealth of information

for clubs and individual sponsors:

♦ A directory of names, addresses, tele-

phone numbers and e-mail addresses for

all VFGC, SAR and NGC officers and chair-

men, district officers and chairmen, and all

garden club presidents

♦ Information that the Garden Clubs need—

on dues, donations, Life Memberships, etc.

♦ Calendar of Events

♦ Awards offered by VFGC, SAR and NGC for

clubs and individuals

♦ List of Flower Show Judges and Landscape

Design Consultants

♦ VFGC Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and

Standing Rules

The form can be downloaded from the VFGC

website and a check for $10 mailed before

the DEADLINE of June 1. Binders are also

available for $8.

BOOK REVIEW

Dryland Gardening: Plants That Survive and

Thrive in Tough Conditions

By Jennifer Bennett

Firefly Books

As we hear more and more about climate

change, we hear more about xeriscape or dry

land gardening. This does not necessarily ap-

ply to known dry areas in the United States.

Even we, here in the eastern United States

can experience times of prolonged dry hot

weather in the summer. You might want to

consider having a garden that is less demand-

ing on a water supply if you have to manually

carry the water to the plants or if you have to

pay for water or if you need to conserve your

time and energy.

Water is the lifeblood of any garden. Weight

for weight, plants need about 17 times as

much water as humans. Deprived of water,

most plants, except cacti and succulents which

can store water, will soon die.

In Chapter One, author Jennifer Bennett gives

an overview of water sources, watering priori-

ties, watering systems, garden water conser-

vation and the necessity of selecting the right

plants for your garden.

The Pleasure Priority, Chapter Two, touches on

landscaping your planting area. “Your garden

site may be sunny or shady, windy or calm,

sloped or flat, rocky, sandy or gifted with deep

loam.” You may not be able to use all your

favorite plants, but you can pick and choose to

develop a garden with leaf and bloom colors to

make it exciting.

The following chapters cover: Herbs, Grasses

and Ground Covers, Bulbs, Perennials and

Vines, Annual Flowers, and finally Shrubs.

Each chapter spotlights recommended plants,

giving the botanical and common name, zone,

and detailed descriptions, planting instruc-

tions, care and maintenance. Color photo-

graphs are provided for a number of the plants

or shrubs. I was surprised to see some of my

favorites that I would not have considered

suitable for dry land gardening.

Check out the book “Planting the Dry Shade

Garden” by Graham Rice. There are many

other sources of information for dry land gar-

dening, but be sure to check that the infor-

mation is applicable to this area. Some books

Summer Issue 2015 -

BRD CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2015

May 31 Deadline for BRD & VFGC Dues June 7-13 National Garden Week August 24 VFGC Board Meeting-Lynchburg August 24-27 Flower Show School-Lynchburg October 15 BRD Fall District Meeting October 19 VFSJC meeting-Richmond October 19, 20, 21 VFGC Judges Symposium Richmond Landscape Design School

One of the most beautiful species of spring

ephemerals is the Virginia bluebell

(Mertensia virginica).

This is the flower of the Blue Ridge District.

Quarterly Newsletter of the Blue Ridge District

Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. ● South Atlantic Region ● National Garden Clubs, Inc.

Shirley Edillon, Editor 4858 Glenbrook Drive SW Roanoke, VA 24018-2800

Newsletter Deadlines: August 1

send info to: [email protected] November 1

540-989-3137 February 1

($5/yr or $10/2yr if mailed ) May 1

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