HORThappenings

FONA’s Procrastinator’s Craft Sale and Tree Sale

By Charlotte Benedetto

On a breezy and balmy December Saturday, the holiday tree and greenery sale at the National Arboretum was a hot destination for dozens of DMV families. The first Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) Procrastinator’s Holiday Market and Christmas Tree Sale was coordinated in the spirit of the German Christmas Market tradition—an outdoor market with vendors of handmade work, upscale gifts, and fine foods, along with a variety of local suppliers of the finer things in life. Sweet Dames (sweetdames.com) offered a tasteful array of niche confections—glamorous, perfectly formed, dairy-free, and gluten-free delights. Genelle Drayton of Sweet Dames said not only did FONA make her feel welcomed as a local entrepreneur, but they were “very responsive, and it was easy to sign up.” Early though it was, cars packed every parkable inch of ground. To say there is a near “cult” following Roaming Rooster (roamingroosterdc.com) is not an understatement—at 10:15am, chicken connoisseurs queued up, anxiously waiting for the Roaming Rooster truck to open. “Modern Ceramics”—mugs, spoonrests, and timeless ceramic gifts with a high-touch, high-tech esthetic—were on offer from Bethany A. Slater (www. bethanyslater.com). “So far, so good,” she remarked, as diverse customers bustled in from the wind under her FONA-provided tent. I loved the sophisticated modern earrings by Patience Moore. These ultracool, ultra-matte works of wearable art were so uniform and highly crafted—like smooth petals or nodding orchids. See patientlycrafted.com. Nearby, Republic Restoratives Distillery (republicrestoratives.com) featured an array of gem-like tones of bottled potions, glimmering in stylish rows. “We just launched this line yesterday!“ exclaimed Emily, a Republic brand representative, gesturing at a “ready to drink” cocktail called “Tuxedo No. 2,” which looked very intriguing to the senses. But it wasn’t all boutique booze and glorious art mugs. I was touched to see that at the Procrastinator’s Market, we returned to normalcy, slightly—people removed their masks and ate cheese together, a skilled DJ played the hits, and two teenagers were seen dancing (possibly ironically); many adorable dogs were in attendance, especially appreciated by Arboretum aficionados under age 5. FONA’s wise inclusion of a children’s train ride let families connect over choo choo’s together in a comfortable, casual community environment. Vendors and shoppers alike would do well to look for this outdoor Procrastinator’s Sale next year—participating could be a real holiday bonus. o

Charlotte Benedetto is a writer, artist, and gardener living in Great Falls, VA. She is enrolled in the Northern Virginia Community College horticulture program and is an intern this fall with Washington Gardener.

U.S. Botanic Garden’s Outdoor Holiday Display

By Melinda Thompson

A visitor in the U.S. Botanic Garden can hear the “choo choo” of the train as it travels over a bridge that leads to tracks going through representations of different farms around the world. The U.S. Botanic Garden Holiday Display 2021 is outdoors, with a display that wraps around part of the garden. When walking into the garden, right behind the Patrick Dougherty Stickwork Sculpture, you will see the train. There are two parts with multiple tracks wrapping around models of various types of farms from around the world: a Sorghum-Millet-Cowpea Cropping System in Mali, Africa; an Onion farm in Mexico; a wheat and corn farm in Kansas; a hillside vineyard in South Australia; and many more. While looking at the display of the vineyard, you can see that the detailing is amazing. Every grape on the tiny grape vines can be seen clearly. Devin Dotson, the U.S. Botanic Garden media contact, said that all of these model buildings and displays were made from plants. “They’re made out of plant parts: cinnamon sticks, acorns, acorn squash, sweet grape vines, and hundreds of different plant parts,” Dotson said. One of my favorite displays was a miniature greenhouse that had small plants lined up inside. I also spent a lot of time watching the train pass over my head as it crossed from one side to the next. Children of all ages ran around, circling the display to catch a glimpse of Thomas the Tank Engine trains. Many faces looked in awe at the trains and the intricate displays. Dotson said that normally the train display is done inside the Conservatory, but the Conservatory is closed due to COVID-19. He said that once it was on the front terrace of the Conservatory, but for the last 16 years, it was inside. By the train display, a small gift booth under a tent had various garden items for purchase. The trains are not the only part of the holiday display. Window displays feature Washington, DC, buildings and monuments. The biggest had a replica of the U.S. Capitol. The other two windows featured multiple museum and memorial replicas. These replicas were so detailed that in the replica of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the facial features were clearly chiseled, along with the buttons on his jacket. Windows in every replica building were shown along with each and every brick on the buildings. “They’re lit up throughout the day and well into the evening, ” Dotson said. “For people who are ‘out and about,’ whether it’s daytime or nighttime, we’ll have some fun displays” Dotson said that the replicas are usually placed inside the Conservatory’s Garden Court. All of these replicas—both the ones in the train display and the window display—were built by Applied Imagination. “We’ve been working with them since 2004,” said Dotson. “This is their specialty: building models of things out of plant parts.” Surrounding these intricate replicas are varieties of poinsettias. Each variety is labeled with a small plant tag.