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Potomac Valley Chapter
of the
American Rhododendron Society
District IX Meeting: Annapolis, MD

Dates: Thursday, April 24 - Sunday, April 27, 2003
Location: Country Inn & Suites, Annapolis, MD   Phone: (410) 571-6700
Note: All of the Standard Queen Rooms have been booked now (3/6/03) but King Suites are still available. Also, problems have been reported with the published 800 number regarding our discount rates so please contact the hotel directly.
Registration Deadline: March 24, 2003

Springtime in Historic Annapolis

The Potomac Valley Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society wishes to invite you to this spring's District IX meeting in historic Annapolis, MD. We hope to reflect on the rich heritage of our region as we visit private and public gardens including the U.S. National Arboretum with its renowned Azalea Collection and Bonsai Exhibits. We have arranged a program of excellent speakers, a superb banquet, and a great plant sale filled with rare rhododendrons and some selections from local hybridizers.

We encourage you to register early, before March 24th, since the hotel will release the rooms they are holding for us at that time. Although we will do our best to accommodate late registrants, we may have difficulty arranging bus transportation and banquet seating after that time. More importantly though, entry into the plant sale will be by registration number so the earlier you register the sooner you get in.

Program Details:

Thursday: April 24, 2003
If you arrive by early afternoon, you should have time to visit historic Annapolis or take a boat ride around the harbor. Details will be provided in your registration packet. Dinner will be on your own at a nearby restaurant. Don Hyatt will open the program that evening followed by an encore presentation on propagating rhododendrons by our West Virginia humorists, Harry Wise and Frank Pelurie.

Friday: April 25, 2003
In the morning, we will board buses for an all day tour of the U.S. National Arboretum. Arboretum staff members and volunteers will be on hand to give us a guided tour of various exhibits including the recently renovated Azalea Collection. Other proposed stops include the National Bonsai Collection, the National Herb Garden, the Asian Valley, and the Gotelli Dwarf Conifer Collection. Dinner will be on your own in Annapolis at one of the many excellent local restaurant. That evening, landscaper George McLellan will share his beautiful slides and amusing commentary about the Castles, Gardens, and Rhododendrons in Scotland. The Flower Show and Plant Sale will also open that evening.

Saturday: April 26, 2003
Today's bus tour will include historic London Town Gardens as well as the private gardens of Bob and Rosa McWhorter, Carol Segree, and Maggie West. For the banquet that evening, we will board buses and travel across the majestic Chesapeake Bay Bridge for a delicious meal on the Eastern Shore at Annie's Paramount Steak and Seafood House. Please select an entree as you register: Grilled Sirloin Steak (10 oz.), Crab Imperial, Stuffed Chicken Breast (Polo ala Formage), or Vegetarian. Our banquet speaker will be Scott Vergara, former Director of the Rhododendron Species Foundation. An employee of Conard-Pyle now, Scott will enlighten us on rhododendron species for our area.

Sunday: April 27, 2003 There are no planned activities for Sunday, so we encourage you to visit Annapolis, take that harbor boat ride if you missed it on Thursday, or visit a number of local gardens before heading home. You can also head back to the National Arboretum or travel into Washington D.C. for more sight seeing.

Private Gardens on Tour

Carol Segree Garden Carol Segree Garden
Carol Segree started her garden in on a 1+ acre lot in 1987. Previously farm land, the property is level in the front but plunges into a deep, wooded ravine at the rear. Carol has developed her stunning landscape by enhancing that natural terrain, removing many trees but keeping native dogwoods, hollies, and kalmia. She has now created winding paths, wide flower beds, and border plantings to display her collection of nearly 1200 rhododendrons and azaleas. Pictured in her garden with Bruno Kaelin (left), Carol is also partial to companion plants, especially her magnolias, Japanese maples, and peonies.

Great Smokey Maggie West Garden
Purchased in 1950, Maggie West's property is about 5.5 acres in size with about 2 acres of lawn and garden maintained near the house. Her home sits majestically on a high bank, 80 feet above the water overlooking Broad Creek, an inlet of the South River. In her garden, she has about 250 rhododendrons and azaleas used either as accent plants among the annual and perennial beds or scattered in the woods among native kalmia, hollies, and ornamental trees. One of her favorite rhododendrons is Great Smokey (pictured left), a Haag hybrid she obtained when she first joined the Potomac Valley Chapter. Other favorites plants include Hachmann's Fantastica, Nearing's Yellow Eye, and Midnight Flare.

Bob and Rosa McWhorter Garden Bob and Rosa McWhorter Garden
The McWhorter's started "Rosa Gardens" (pictured left) on their 2 acre wooded home site in 1986. Planting many of the original azaleas among their dogwoods, majestic poplars, and stone outcroppings even before their home was built, they have continued to add to their collection by opening trails in the woods and pushing the landscape back toward the rear of the property. Their plants have not been bothered by recent droughts because Bob installed an extensive watering system seven years ago. With hoses concealed under the mulch, each of their 1100 rhododendrons and azaleas has its own drip head!

The United States National Arboretum

National Arboretum Even though we will spend a full day here, it will still not be enough to see everything at the U.S. National Arboretum. The facility covers 466 acres and has 9.5 miles of paved roadways that tie together a number of outstanding botanical collections. Pictured to the right is drive around the Azalea Collection on Mount Hamilton, one of the highest points in the District of Columbia. Barbara Bullock, curator of the Azalea Collection, will give us a private tour to show how she and her dedicated volunteers have expertly renovated the garden. The area includes Ben Morrison's original 1948 plantings of the Glenn Dale Azaleas as well as representatives of other hybrid groups, species, and new introductions. Within the Azalea Collection is the walled Morrison Garden, the Frederick P. Lee Garden and Pond, and the Henry Mitchell walk.

Carol Segree Garden Another "must see" at the Arboretum is the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum which houses approximately 150 miniature trees such as the specimen pictured to the left. Many of the bonsais in this exhibit are centuries old and priceless, plants that were given to the United States by Japan to commemorate our nation's Bicentennial. Adjacent to the Administration Building and Bonsai exhibit is the National Herb Garden. Other locations we expect to see include the Asian Valley, a dramatic south-facing slope with rare plants at the edge of the Arboretum bordering the Anacostia River, and the Gotelli Dwarf Conifer Collection, one of the finest collections of dwarf evergreens in the world. If time permits, we can see other specialty areas including Fern Valley with native plants and bulb displays, the Boxwood Collection that frames a number of outstanding perennial collections including the tree peonies which may be in bloom, the Dogwood and Magnolia Collections which could still be in flower, the Holley Collection, and the Friendship Garden. If you are a "Friend of the National Arboretum", there is even a FONA Members Plant Sale that day.

London Town Publik House and Gardens

Carol Segree Garden London Town Gardens is an 8 acre woodland garden amid a 23 acre park that surrounds the historic and fully restored London Publik House (c. 1760). Situated on a scenic inlet of the Chesapeake Bay known as the South River, the garden affords many lovely views of the water as trails wind through wooded glades and open areas. The Spring Walk descends along a man-made stream planted with azaleas, ferns and wildflowers, eventually reaching a pond at the water's edge (pictured right). The Azalea Glade is filled with native azaleas, rhododendrons, and both evergreen and deciduous azalea hybrids. There is a gazebo and overlook to the South River in the Winter Garden, and the Wildflower Trail has many choice companion plants including trillium species, lady's slippers, and other hardy orchids.

Flower Show:
The Middle Atlantic Chapter will be hosting its annual flower show in the lower lobby of the hotel. Entries will be accepted Thursday evening and Friday morning, not just from MAC members but from the other chapters as well. Elepidote rhododendrons must be single trusses, but lepidotes and azaleas can be sprays not to exceed 15 inches in length. Please be selective since space is limited.

Plant Sale:
John C. White You won't want to miss our plant sale. We have propagated a number of hard-to-find hybrids from pioneers like Joe Gable, Weldon Delp, Russel and Velma Haag, Augie Kehr, and George Ring. We also have local introductions such as the fluorescent pink John C. White (pictured right), a heat tolerant hybrid introduced by Ray and Jane Goodrich and named in honor of Margaret White's late husband. Plants in the sale can range from rooted cuttings to larger specimens but some clones may be scarce . A partial listing of the plants we expect to have available is provided below.

Plant For Members 2003

Registration Instructions and Contact Information:

Per Person Registration Costs
Basic Registration Fee: $30.00
Friday Garden Tours and Box Lunch: $35.00
Saturday Garden Tours and Box Lunch: $35.00
Saturday Banquet: $38.00 Please indicate entree choice: steak, crab, chicken, or vegetarian
Please fill out a registration form and mail with check payable to the Potomac Valley Chapter ARS

Contact People

Norman and Jean Beaudry, Registrars   -   BeauNorm @ aol.com
Don Hyatt, Chapter President   -   Don @ donaldhyatt.com

Room Reservations: (Please make room reservations with the hotel separately)

Country Inn and Suites, 2600 Housley Road, Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: (410)-571-6700
Rates: King Suite (sleeps 3 w/ sofabed) $99.00
     Standard (2 Queen Beds) $80.00 per night - All Booked Now
Mention the American Rhododendron Society to get our discount rate.
    Note: Problems have been reported with the published 800 number regarding our discount rates so please call the hotel directly.

How to Get There:

1. From the East -
From the Bay Bridge, stay on Route 50 West. After crossing the Severn River Bridge, get in the right lane (0.5 miles) and turn right onto Bestgate Rd. After 2 miles, at Rt. 178, Bestgate becomes Housley Rd. Cross over Rt. 178 and continue on Housley until it ends at Rt. 450. The hotel is on the right.

2. From the South -
Coming up I-95, take the Washington Beltway (I-495, I-95) outerloop to the right, going over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. After about 17 miles, turn right onto Rt. 50 East. If coming via Rt. 3/301, turn right onto Rt. 50 East and then follow "Detailed Directions" below.

3. From the North -
Use the Baltimore Beltway (I-695), Rt. 32, or Rt. 100 to get onto Rt. 97 South. Then exit that road onto Rt. 50 East and follow "Detailed Directions" below.

4. From the West -
Use the Washington Beltway, I-495, to get onto Rt. 50 East. The follow "Detailed Directions" below.

Detailed Directions from Rt. 50 E:
While heading East on Rt. 50 E, after passing exit 22, stay in the far right lane and turn right at Exit 23. Bear to the right onto West Street (Rt. 450) and go for about 0.4 miles. When you see the "Westfield Shopping Town" sign, get in the left lane and make a left onto Defense Highway (Rt. 450). Go for about 0.5 miles to Housley Road. Country Inn and Suites will be on the right past Best Buys and Home Depot.

Map of the Area


Copyright © Donald W. Hyatt

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