I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends! In November, we had a tour of the gardens at the Hillwood Estate in Washington, DC, led by ODCS member and Hillwood docent Kaki Power. Before taking us through the gardens, Kaki arranged for Hillwood’s greenhouse grower Jarrett Currin to show us the estate’s mum greenhouse, which was full of blooms waiting to be used by Hillwood’s floral design staff. Along the way, Jarrett gave us tips on growing, including the use of different potting soils from Organic Mechanics in Kennett Square, PA (organicmechanicsoil.com). More on that when we order supplies early next year.

Notwithstanding that our plans for an annual member lunch in November didn’t work out, in my view 2025 was a good year for ODCS. Following our annual plant and supply-ordering process early in the year, we had two profitable plant sales, a good crowd at our summer party, a successful show that drew an attendance approaching 300, plus our visit to Hillwood. We kept up our monthly meetings and newsletters, and we’ll finish the year with a number of new members and with our finances in the black (though just barely). All of this was achieved through your efforts and your participation. Many thanks to you all!

ODCS visit to Hillwood Gardens, Nov 11. Pictured: Y.C. Hor-Nash, Camilla Ng, Andy Sherman, Hillwood greenhouse grower Jarrett Currin, Robert Fisher, Warren and Marianne Pfeiffer, Kaki Power, and Marilyn Fisher. Not pictured: Robert and Gail Ewing.

President,
Andrew Sherman