Congratulations to John Auditore and Ted Williams of 5th Street North for their first place garden in Rock Spring Garden Club’s 2013 Garden of the Year.  Their garden provides a feast to the senses. Yearly mulching has created rich, friable black soil about a foot deep and planting thrive in this humus-rich environment. Variety and diversity in the plant mixture of this garden means beautiful blooms almost all year long. Textures and colors and a diversity of habitats counters the sleep slope of the terrain and show off a unique collection of specimen plants, some rarely seen in this region.  the division of plants and their spread across this landscape provides the glue that holds this garden together. Petals and leaves in different hues – green, blues, yellow, whites and reds, delight the eye. Highlights in this garden include 17 different camellias that provide a riot of magnificent blooms in spring and a rock garden, filled with miniature treasures and regional quartzite stones. Plant varieties, hostas, rare peonies and azaleas and an assortment of full sun and shade flowers fill this gem of a garden. Unique and colorful pots are tucked in throughout the garden providing height and interest, and showcase varieties of flora.

l. to r. John Auditore and Ted Williams, First Place Garden winners

Second place winners, Paul and Pam Gibert, on 35th St North recreated their backyard garden from a sloping hill completely covered in invasive ivy into a lovely terraced garden. Two serpentine stone walls within the garden itself separate the garden into lower and upper sections, and a stone stairway follows the right hand border of the garden. The upper section is dotted with yews for year round greenery. Most of the plantings are perennials including Lenten roses, peonies, columbine, bachelor buttons, spiderwort, irises, camissia, foxglove and dahlias. A unique feature is a beautyberry that has been trimmed to look like a miniature tree. the lower section features knockout roses, pia hydrangea, miniature lilac, euphorbia and herbs. Scattered throughout the garden are several types of allium and a selection of annuals.

Our Third place winner are Lynn and Bob Pollock of North Harrison St. Their front yard oasis provides a quiet and tranquil setting pleasantly screened from the street with mature azaleas and shaded by oaks and poplars.  Sitting by the pond allows a person to enjoy the many flowers and plants while the soothing sound of the stream and the frogs gently croaking add to the ambiance of this garden. The garden includes mature oak and poplar trees as well as a pleasing array of azaleas, ferns, astilbe, jack in the pulpit, and other plants provide sprays of color through the year. The stream and pond bring many birds and wildlife to the garden so that sitting near the pond or on the front porch provides wonderful wildlife watching. the shade in this garden means that it is always pleasant to sit and enjoy this hidden garden even in summer.

And kudos to our Honorable Mention to gardener, Meme Shumaker of 26th St. North.  Hers is a relatively new garden.  You’d never know that at first glance.  Apart from a few trees along the driveway, planting started about four years ago. The garden incorporates many native trees, shrubs and perennials. Native trees include river birch, serviceberry, scarlet oak and black gum. The dogwood is Cornus ‘Rutdan’ Celestial, a cross between our native Cornus florida and Cornus kousa. Some native shrubs in the garden are winterberry, red twig dogwood, Arrowwood viburnum, American cranberry bush viburnum and oak leaf hydrangea.  In the front beds many edibles are also used as ornamentals-strawberries, fennel, and sorrel. The back gardens include many native perennials to attract pollinators and a small vegetable and her garden.

These gardens, as well as previous years’ Garden of the Year participants, are a significant part of why Arlington County is truly a beautiful place to live. 

Our next Garden of the Year will commence in early spring 2014.  Follow up here at our website!