Top 10 Home & Garden Events for DC's Spring

Here is the online link to this week's The List: Top Home & Garden Events on page 23 of today's print edition in the Washington Examiner. You can find the Examiner in the many red street-boxes around town. I saved a screen capture of the listing as a JPG and posted it here -- which you can now click on to read at 100%.

I didn't include the upcoming Washington Home & Garden Show because that technically takes place before spring begins. However, I'll be listing them in our weekly events and we will be exhibiting there -- this year in booth #702. Plus, if you check our "contests" page at our web site, http://www.washingtongardener.com/, later this afternoon, you'll see how to win free passes to the show.

Note that our credit line web site link in the Examiner is misspelled! They hit one of my major pet peeves which is dropping that first "e" in gardEner. That is joined by people who add an "s" to the end of Silver Spring, MD, and the many local folks who say "Mac-donalds" instead of "Mc." (I don't know why that last one bugs me as much as it does, you'd think I was Irish or Scottish myself, but I'm not. I think it just grates on my ears when I hear it.)

Note also that this is not a listing of this weekend's top 5 events, as per usual, but was supposed to be a preview of all upcoming spring events. The entire section got cut drastically and some vital information got dropped or mixed up, so I'm pasting here the original Top 10 listing as I submitted it to them.

TOP 10 Home & Garden Events SPRING 2008
(in chronological order)

3/6/08

By Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener Magazine
http://www.washingtongardener.com/

1. PhotoSynthesis: Washington Gardener Photo Contest Art Show Opening Reception
March 28, 6:00-8:00pm
World Building, 8121 Georgia Ave, downtown Silver Spring, MD

You are invited to view the winning images of the first annual Washington Gardener Photo Contest at an art show in downtown Silver Spring, MD. All 16 stunning photos were taken in DC-area gardens. Both inspirational and educational, this show represents the best of garden photography in the greater DC metropolitan region. The winning photos are also published in the March/April 08 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine along with additional details on the entrants and their images.Fee: $0/Free.For more information: http://www.washingtongardener.com/index_files/contests.htm or call 301.588.6894.

2. Native Plants: “Cultivars Considered”
22nd Annual Lahr Native Plant Symposium & Native Plant Sale

March 29, 9:00am-3:30pm Administration Building Auditorium, National Arboretum, 3501 New York Avenue, NE, WDC

How do native plant cultivars fit into our gardens and what are the possible effects our garden choices have on the natural world? Tony Avent, renowned horticulturist and owner of Plant Delights Nursery, will explore this topic along with speakers from research, public gardens, and the nursery trade. All registrants gain early entry to the Native Plant Sale. Fee of $85 includes lunch. Registration required.
For more information or for registration information, see our website, http://www.usna.usda.gov/Education/events.html or call 202-245-4521.

3. The Montgomery County Home Show
March 29, 10am-7pm & March 30 11am-5pm
Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, MD.
Home and garden exhibits will be both indoors and out. Local garden celebrity, Mike McGrath of WTOP News Radio, is one of the event’s featured speakers. Meet Matt Fox and Shari Hiller, popular hosts of HGTV’s long-running hit, “Room by Room,” who’ll share some of their favorite weekend how-to projects at the Show.
Fee: $8. Pre-registration is not required.
For more information: http://www.delmarvahomeshows.com/ or call 703.476.8422.

4. Daffodil Show
Saturday, April 5, 2-5pm and Sunday, April,6, 9am-4pm
The Washington Daffodil Society’s 59th Annual Daffodil Show will be this weekend at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. A photo contest and flower display is featured. From miniatures to multi-headed, these sweet-smelling harbingers of spring are a delight to view and super-easy to grow.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required. For more information: www.washingtondaffodilsociety.org.

5. Historic Garden Week in Virginia

April 19-27, 10:00am-5:00pm

Gardens and homes throughout Virginia

From the James River Plantations to the Eastern Shore, rich mosaic of some of the country’s finest properties at the peak of Virginia’s springtime color. Sponsored by The Garden Club of Virginia, local events are scheduled from the Atlantic Ocean to the Allegheny Mountains and will span the centuries from the early 17th through the early 21st. Visitors interested in architecture and interior decorating will see beautifully renovated historic properties as well as stunning contemporary residences, exceptional artwork, and some of the country’s best collections of glass, china, and American, European and Asian antiques. Many houses have interesting family histories intertwined with the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the Victorian era.Fee: between $10-$35 per event. Registration is required.For more information: http://www.vagardenweek.org/ or call 804.644.7778.

6. 17th Annual FONA Garden Fair 2008
Friday, April 25 - MEMBERS ONLY DAY: 12 Noon to 7 pm

Saturday, April 26 - Open to the Public: 9 am to 4 pm

Sunday, April 27 - Left Overs (if any) Sale: 12 Noon to 2 pm
National Arboretum, 3501 New York Avenue, NE, WDC
Friends of the National Arboretum’s annual Garden Fair is the place to shop for the season for area gardeners. Everyone loads up shopping carts full of plants from their stellar selection of offerings. Spend the day and enjoy the beautiful USNA grounds and performances by the Washington Revels while you are there.
Fee: $0/Free. Preregistration is not required.Details at http://www.fona.org/events.htm or 202.544.8733

7. Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild Annual Plant Sale

Saturday, April 27, 9:30am-6:00pm and Sunday, April 28, 8:00am-3:00pm

Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery, 14th and Quincy Streets in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast Washington, DC

Because the special requests are ever increasing, the offering grows larger each year. Favorite vendors will be back again. This year they are paying special attention to the rose offering. Comparison shopping indicates our prices are 20-30% less than nursery prices. Each rose receives TLC from time of receipt in bare root status until they are offered for sale. Fee: $0/Free. Preregistration is not required. For more information: call 202.526.6800 or go to: http://www.myfranciscan.org/.

8. Flower Mart at the National Cathedral
Friday, May 2, 10 am to 6 pm & Saturday, May 3, 10 am to 5 pm
Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues, NW, WDC
Washington's premier outdoor festival for garden enthusiasts and families is held at the Washington National Cathedral, sponsored by All Hallows Guild for more than 60 years to support the care of the 59-acre grounds surrounding the Washington National Cathedral. All Hallows Guild has sponsored this popular two-day festival since 1939. Plants, herbs, foods, puppet shows, carousel rides, boutiques and entertainment are offered on the Cathedral close on Friday and Saturday, the first full weekend in May. 2008 is the first time that the Republic of South Africa.Free to attend.
For More Information: http://www.allhallowsguild.org/.

9. Takoma Park House & Garden Tour “Carroll Connections”

Sunday, May 4, 1 to 5 pm.
Takoma Park, MD and Takoma neighborhood of NW, DC
The tour is a self-guided walking tour of private homes and gardens, and is an easy walk for most people. Free refreshments and restroom facilities provided.
The theme for this year's tour is "Carroll Connections" which will highlight the connections of one of the important founding families of Maryland and indeed the United States to the Takoma area. Charles Carroll was a signer of the Declaration of Independence representing Maryland; his descendant Daniel Carroll provided a substantial portion of the land for the District of Columbia; and his descendant, Samuel Sprigg Carroll, a Union hero at the Battle of Gettysburg, resided in what is now Takoma Park. Cost of tickets is $15 in advance from selected Takoma merchants, and $20 the day of the tour.
Details at: http://www.historictakoma.org/.

10. Georgetown Garden Tour
Saturday, May 10, 10am-5pm
The Georgetown Garden Tour of 2008 offers an exceptional collection of eight Georgetown gardens all within easy walking distance from each other. This year’s tour gardens offer a superb combination of beauty, creativity, elegance and originality. Georgetown’s most beautiful and imaginative gardens (and some homes) will be open to visitors for strolling, looking, learning and inhaling wonderful spring fragrances.
More details at: www.georgetowngardentour.com.

Bonus Event:

11. Silver Spring Garden Club's Garden Mart

May 10, 9:00am-1:00pm

Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton MD

The Silver Spring Garden Club's annual Garden Mart plant sale is for bargain-seekers and plant-lovers. Come early for best pick of annuals, perennials, shrubs, herbs, houseplants, wildflowers, and much more. This event is rain or shine. Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.For more information: http://www.mc-mncppc.org/parks/brookside/

AUTHOR CREDIT:

Kathy Jentz is editor of Washington Gardener Magazine and is a long-time DC area gardening enthusiast. Washington Gardener is all about gardening where you live. She can be reached at http://www.washingtongardener.com/ and welcomes your gardening questions.