The Virginia Living Museum in Newport News will celebrate “Jamestown 2007” with the installation of an exciting permanent botanical exhibit, Virginia’s Botanical History, 1607 to Today. An introductory sign will describe Virginia as it appeared in 1607 when the colonists first arrived to see vast forests, swamps, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. There will be display gardens of native plants used by the indigenous peoples for food and medicine, gardens of plants that the colonists used for survival and gardens of species the colonists collected, named and introduced to European botanists and gardeners.
In addition, the 2007 landscape will be presented showing man’s impact on the land for the past 400 years. It will include plants introduced to Virginia as well as descriptions of endangered and extinct species. The gardens will demonstrate how the use of the land and the use of native plants changed the landscape of Virginia. By viewing the gardens, it is hoped that visitors will be encouraged to consider the use of native plants.
The Virginia Living Museum provides environmental education to 140,000 school children each year through more than 2,700 SOL-correlated classroom programs held at the Museum and offered as outreach programs in schools across the Commonwealth. The Huntington Garden Club is proud to support this remarkable facility with funding and with volunteers.
Virginia’s Botanical History, 1607 to Today, an educational living exhibit, will open in April 2007, named “Horticulture Month” by the organizers of the “Jamestown 2007” celebration. Hardscaping and plantings must begin soon, and therefore The Huntington Garden Club is requesting financial assistance for this project through the 2005 Common Wealth Award. The project meets all of The Garden Club of Virginia’s areas of interest: conservation, beatification, horticulture, preservation and most especially education.
