2004

Pruning Seminar: The Bowie Beautification and Tree Preservation Committee hosted a Pruning Seminar on February 28th at the Bowie Senior Center. Jessie Smith of the BCGC conducted the session. 

 

Adopt-A-Highway Program: Cleanups of Route 197 continued during this year in March, May, and September. Here Harold Moline and Steve Hall do their part.

Field Trips: 

bulletOn March 8th, the club made a trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show.
bulletThe club made its annual trip to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania on October 12th.

 

16th Annual Plant Sale: The sale was held on April 24th in the parking lot at St. Matthews Methodist Church on Route 450, Bowie.

 

Annual Club Picnic: The picnic this year was held on June 12th at Highbridge Park in Bowie, MD.

 

 

Garden Tours:  

bulletA public garden tour was held on July 10th at the home of Faith and Gerald Bange. Their garden had about 750 cultivars of daylilies, other perennial plants, some annuals, specimen trees and plants.
bulletBeverly Landymore opened her garden on July 24th. Since she reduced the number of daylilies in her collection, she offered them for sale a reasonable prices.
bulletIris Mars opened her garden on July 25th. Iris has a small garden, but has a great deal of variety.
bulletSarah Tangren scheduled more tours this summer -- July 17th and August 21st.

The officers and committee members as of June 2004 were as follows:

President  Kent Winterson   1st V.P. , Programs Mary Fay Nelson
2nd V.P., Membership Beverly Landymore   3rd V.P., Plant Exchange/Door Prizes  Pat Cone
4th V.P., Public Relations Sue Lombardo   Treasurer Barbara Eberstein
Secretary Charles Einolf   Field Trips  Harold Moline
Historian Annie Chelliah   Newsletter Kris Gasteiger & Iris Mars
Note: Kris retired in Oct.
 Member Garden Tours  Kent Winterson   Hospitality Rose & John Arslanian
Sunshine Harriet Feldman   Plant Sale Vacant
Webmaster Dawnelle Loiselle (retired in August)   Community Projects Marion Payne

 

BCGC and BRAVA: The Bowie-Crofton Garden Club has had a love affair with the new Bowie Performing and Visual Arts Center (BRAVA) over the last five years. Over this period of time, the BCGC has contributed substantial dollars toward the landscaping and plantings of this structure, dollars earned were, for the most part, from the club's annual plant sale. As of July, 2004, the club has donated a total of $10,000 towards the art center. The date on the check is July 13, 2004.

 

Scholarship Fund: This year, the club donated a $1500 scholarship to the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland.

Membership: As of April there were 84 individual memberships, 31 families and 3 honorary members. In September the numbers were: 59 individual memberships, 27 families and 4 honorary member.

Holiday Party: The party was held on December 12th at St. Matthews Church, Route 450, Bowie, MD.

The speakers for this year were:

bullet1/27: Sara Tangren, Chesapeake Native Nursery -- "Using Native Plants"
bullet2/24: Peter West, Spokesman for the National Science Foundation -- "Antarctica"
bullet

3/30: The Washington, Virginia, Maryland Garden Railway Society -- "Garden Railways"

 

bullet4/27: Dr. Robert Howell, author of the incorporated article "Soil pH and Measurement" -- "Spring Forward, Fall Back with Mums"
bullet5/25: Paul Jung, Resident Ornithologist -- "Birds, as They Relate to the Garden"
bullet7/25: Mitch K. Baker, V.P. of the American Plant Food Co. or Bethesda, MD. -- "Healthy Organic Solutions for Gardening"
bullet8/31: Mary Fay Nelson, BCGC V.P. for Programs -- "Finding Everything AND the Kitchen Sink: Verge Keeping in Parks and Public Spaces"
bullet

9/28: Jesse Terres, BCGC -- "Greenhouses"

 
bullet10/26: Bob Howell, BCGC -- "Fukusuke, a Method of Dwarfing Mums"
bullet11/30: Sarah Tangren, Chesapeake Native Nursery -- "Native Plants in Home Gardens: Flowers and Other Plants at Two Houses in Takoma Park"

 

Cider and cookies at the October meeting. Shown are Rose and John Arslanian.

 

2005

Notice to BCGC members: To date we only have photos of the October meeting. If any club member has photos of 2005 events to share, please contact Tamah Sminkey at .

Adopt-A-Highway Program: Cleanups of Route 197 continued during this year in March, May, September and November. Mary Nelson coordinated the March cleanup.

Field Trips: 

bulletOn March 7th, the club made a trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show.
bulletOn June 5th, members of the BCGC attended The Secret Garden Tour sponsored by the historic Hammond-Harwood House.

Membership: As of January, 2005, there were 65 individual memberships, 24 families and 4 honorary members. 

AHS Display Garden: An American Hemerocallis Society Display Garden is established to display the very best daylily cultivars to the general public. Members Jerry & Faith Bange had their garden officially designated an AHS garden.  

17th Annual Plant Sale: The sale was held on April 30th in the parking lot at Bowie Public Library on Route 450, Bowie. Rain dampened the day a bit but almost everything donated by the club members was sold. 

Annual Club Picnic: The picnic this year was held on June 18th at Highbridge Park in Bowie, MD. Rose and John Arslanian did an outstanding job coordinating the picnic. Kent Winterson was presented a gift of thanks as our outgoing president.

The officers and committee members as of October 2005 were as follows:

President  Barbara Eberstein   1st V.P. , Programs Vacant
2nd V.P., Membership Tamah Sminkey   3rd V.P., Plant Exchange/Door Prizes  Pat Cone
4th V.P., Public Relations Denise Cross   Treasurer Pat Clunies
Secretary Charles Einolf   Field Trips  Harold Moline
Historian Annie Chelliah   Newsletter Georgann Wade, Claudia West, Connie Carter
 Member Garden Tours  Kent Winterson   Hospitality Rose & John Arslanian
Sunshine Harriet Feldman   Plant Sale Vacant
Webmaster Tamah Sminkey   Community Programs Marion Payne

Garden Tours:  

bulletA tour of the backyard of Dorothea Eddy was held on June 26th.
bulletTours in July: Joel and Jean Magren (their train garden), Janelle Dietrich (Certified Wildlife habitat).
bulletTours in August: Denise Cross, Harold Moline.

Web Site Operational: The Club website at http://www.bcgardenclub.org was published on September 24, 2005.

Gardens Honored at Beautification Awards Ceremony: The Tenth Annual City of Bowie Beautification Awards were presented on September 29, 2005, at the Bowie Senior Center. The sponsors for this year were the Bowie-Crofton Garden Club, Frank's Garden Center, Magruder's Grocery, Safeway--Bowie Town Center, Giant food--Free State Mall, and the Patuxent Nursery. The following club members received awards:

bulletDorothea Eddy -- 2-Star Maintenance
bulletRobert & Shirley Freidline -- 2-Star Maintenance
bulletAnita Reyes -- 1-Star Maintenance
bulletPaul Simons -- Distinguished side Yard Garden
bulletDiana Twomey -- 1-Star Maintenance

Hurricane Katrina Relief: Harold Moline scheduled a sale of garden materials & perennials at his home on October 8th. Proceeds will be used to aid the victims of hurricane Katrina. 

 Some of the speakers this year were:

bullet1/25: Dr. Robert N. Nelson, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate with NASA in Greenbelt, MD, and BCGC member -- "Gardening in the Greenhouse: The Impacts of Climate Change."
bullet3/1: Kris Gasteiger, Horticulturist, City of Bowie -- "Botanical Journey around Sydney, Australia"
bullet3/29: Harold Moline, BCGC -- "Preparing for the Plant Sale"--a discussion of the new format and requirements for the club plant sale in April.
bullet4/26: Mary F. Nelson, BCGC -- "Daffodils and the Colors of Spring"
bullet5/31: Richard Koogle, Director of Operations of LILYPONS Water Gardens -- "Overview of Water Gardening"
bullet7/26: Question and answer session on gardening concerns.
bullet8/30: Shawn Sizer -- "Hosta: Separation of Plants and Hybridization"
bullet9/27: Ms. Corinne Irwin -- "Rain Gardens"
bullet10/25: Question and answer session on gardening concerns.

Here are some pictures from the October "Bountiful Harvest" meeting:

Goodies for the annual Halloween Party after the meeting! Here are some of the donations for the Plant Exchange.
On behalf of the club, President Barbara Eberstein accepts a certificate of appreciation from the City of Bowie Beautification and Tree Preservation Committee. The certificate was presented by Phyllis LaBorwit   Denise Cross, Barbara Eberstein (President), Annie Chelliah (Historian), and Phyllis LaBorwit.
 

Holiday Party: The annual party was held on December 11th at St. Matthews Church, Route 450, Bowie, MD.

Back to top

For questions or corrections to this web site, please send an email to the webmaster
 at or call  301-512-3048.

Copyright June 2005 by The Bowie-Crofton Garden Club. This page or any part of it may only be reproduced with permission of the author.