PETERSBURG — Did you miss the Petersburg Garden Club walking/drive tour during the Garden Club of Virginia’s 89th Annual Historic Garden Week this year? Homeowners and club members knocked themselves out. It was spectacular!
“It’s been an above-average year for us,” said Kathy Hayes, co-chair of the Petersburg Historic Garden Day. “Four hundred and twelve tickets were purchased; we usually sell between 300 and 350.”
The tour focused primarily on the Historic Poplar Lawn area. It had four private houses and gardens, as well as an enchanting woodland garden.
The houses included 129 Marshall Street [Michael Maszaros and Andrew Cushin]Marshallstrasse 133 [Jill Hendricks and Jason Lucas]215 South Jefferson St [Deborah and Conway Boyce]221 South Jefferson Street [Eleni and Richard Murphy]and garden just at 1675 Mount Vernon Street [Barb and Gary Rudolph].
Cockade City Garden Club
The Cockade City Garden Club served lunch at the Second Presbyterian Church at 419 W. Washington St. in Petersburg. Guests were treated to a continuous fashion show provided by the All Manor of Things Gift Shop. As well as the lunch and fashion show, there was a fundraiser to sell geraniums, led by Cockade City Garden Club member Linda Maclin.
Lunch will be served at Flowerdew Hundred in Prince George County next year, according to Cockade City Garden Club member Linda Wynne.
“It was a great day and the weather was perfect. I think we had more people at lunch than other years,” said Wynne, who runs lunch. “We were busier than ever, but there was a lot going on. We ran out of geraniums.”
Ticket holders viewed Matters of Scale: Charles F. Gillette in Petersburg, a public exhibition at the Petersburg Public Library through June 30.
Renowned landscape architect Charles F. Gillette [1886–1969] landscaped gardens in Petersburg. The special exhibition shows Gillette’s garden plans for St. Petersburg customers from the 1920s to 1950s. It also includes his desk and a bench designed and made by Gillette.
Artist Catherine Venable’s painting Matters of Scale, commemorating the Petersburg Historic Garden Day and Gillette Exhibition, was displayed in the library. It features properties on tour, the St. Petersburg Public Library, and Garden Club members making floral arrangements.
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Petersburg sights
Center Hill Museum provided complimentary cups of tea and biscuits in the dining room of the Bolling family home. Tours were available at Historic Battersea, a rare example of Palladian architecture listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ticket holders were also encouraged to visit the Exchange Building Museum and the Blandford Church Museum.
Proceeds from the tour support the Garden Club of Virginia’s mission to restore and preserve Virginia’s historic public gardens and landscapes and fund landscape architecture research grants.
Visit VAGardenWeek.org to read descriptions of each property. Click Tour Guidebook at the top of the website. The Petersburg tour can be found on pages 170 – 172.
According to Hayes, the 2023 Petersburg Historic Garden Day will take place on Tuesday, April 18.
Exhibition curated by the Library of Virginia:Petersburg hosts public exhibition: Charles F. Gillette, renowned landscape architect
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