Ashburn, VA Arboretums?

I moved up to the Ashburn, VA area a few months ago and only have a few of my plants with me so I am in serious need of a plant fix!

I have a free Saturday for a change, since I am not going home to South Boston and want to breathe in damp air and plant smells. Can anyone tell me if there is an arboretum or plant show nearby Ashburn, other than the National Arboretum? I don't want to go into DC alone, because I am basically a coward at heart but I have no problem going anywhere else, such as to Leesburg, Reston, Manassas, etc.

Thanks!
Terri

Terri, the only two I can think of are Green Spring Gardens Park and Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. I've never been to Meadowlark and a quick search looks like there's not much to see this time of the year but maybe a destination for a spring walk? http://www.nvrpa.org/parks/meadowlark/

Green Spring on the other hand is wonderful! They have a small greenhouse, lovely to stroll through in the winter but not sure if they have any plants for sale this time of the year. They also have a gift shop and library in the main building and all in all just a pleasant place to hang out :) Their website really doesn't give you much information but here goes: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gsgp/ I did a quick mapquest search for directions -
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Ashburn&1s=VA&1y=US&1l=39.043598&1g=-77.487801&1v=CITY&2pn=Green+Spring+Gardens+Park&2c=Alexandria&2s=VA&2a=4603+Green+Spring+Rd&2z=22312&2y=US&2l=38.82441&2g=-77.15791&2v=ADDRESS&2id=2788282#b/maps/l:::Ashburn:VA::US:39.043598:-77.487801:city::1:::/l:Green+Spring+Gardens+Park:4603+Green+Spring+Rd:Alexandria:VA:22312:US:38.82441:-77.15791:address::1:::2788282/io:1:::::f:::/e It's only a short distance on 495 so traffic isn't too bad and easy to find. When you get on Little River Turnpike, Campell and Ferrara Nursery is on your right just before you get to the intersection where you turn left to get to Green Spring - maybe another stop for your trip? Even if you don't make it to Green Spring this weekend, keep in mind that they have plant sales every Saturday starting around the first of April and then the BIG sale sometime mid May.

Oops, just remembered Merrifield Garden Center. Another place I've never visited but they've got three locations and you can get directions by choosing the location you're interested in. http://www.merrifieldgardencenter.com/

Hopefully someone else will chime in to give you more choices :) Barb (DaylilyDiva219) lives in Falls Church and might be able to offer some suggestions if you wanted to Dmail her http://davesgarden.com/members/DaylilyDiva219/ Good luck!

Wow, lots of options -I'm going to take a look at all of them tonight, when I get home. thank you thank you! I don't know if I will buy anything, just wanted to get a green fix. The apartment faces southwest but only gets direct sun for a few hours so most of my few plants are not happy.

terri

Terri, Blandy Farm, the Virginia State Arboretum, isn't too far. They have a really nice plant sale every May with lots of good vendors. I think Debbie is usually there among them.

http://www.virginia.edu/blandy/

The Richmond Home and Garden Show is coming up in February and is well worth the drive.

http://macevents.com/show.cfm/eventid/124
http://macevents.com/show.cfm/eventID/139 (The Maymont Flower Show portion)

There's another nice one at the Dulles Expo Center next month.

http://www.capitalhomeshow.com/ME2/Sites/Default.asp?SiteID=D7442DD908D345AA81661307872BE5FA

You might want to check some of the specific plant societies - Virginia Native Plant Society, Potomac Lily Society, Northern Virginia Daylily Society, etc. - for plant sales and shows too. I know the native plant society has a nice sale in Manassas every spring. My mom has gotten some terrific plants for very reasonable prices at their sales. One of the daylily societies has fairly frequent daylily sales in Haymarket.

Terri, oh my gosh, if you're willing to travel to Richmond you HAVE to go to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden! http://www.lewisginter.org/ Although there's not much to see in the gardens this time of the year their Conservatory is gorgeous year round and even though the gift shop is a little pricey it's still fun to window shop :) They actually have two annual plant sales, one in May and one in September, with a wide assortment of plant vendors.

Whoa! we pass by Richmond 3-4 times a year and have never found Ginter on any of my searches for botanicals and conservatories, I'll have to check that out. It's no big deal to stop for a day en-route for green inspiration! I've been thinking about a spring road trip to the Sunshine State, to visit my Dad. So let's see Richmond, Charleston (must do), and Tampa; that's equal to a hop, skip, and a jump, LOL. Ric
PS. Debbie, are you and Rick up for lunch?

If you go through Richmond, Ginter isn't far from the Powhite Expressway. I haven't been there as it is 2 hours from my Souht Boston house and 3+ hours from the apartment in Ashburn but maybe this Spring I will visit.

Oops, read the posts on this thread last week and forgot to post! Terri, are you sure it would take you three hours to Richmond? A few years ago we were at Lewis Ginter and I had to travel to Alexandria for the day and if I remember correctly it only took me a couple of hours? Even though you're in Ashburn, seems like it wouldn't take you much longer because you wouldn't get snagged by all the traffic I had to deal with on 495 and 66.

LOL, well if you make it to Richmond the first weekend in May you could join us at Lewis Ginter! It's easy to get there, either coming in off I-64 or I-95, and the gardens are spectacular. If you need directions, just let me know :)

Back from a few weeks of family emergency travel back and forth to Richmond and wondering where I left my head... My brain is gone, but I'd like my empty skull back. ^_^

Terri, you could also try Brookside Gardens in Wheaton/Silver Spring, MD. Not far off the Beltway, and they've got a conservatory or two, plus a beautiful spring display of flowers when the bulbs start coming in.

http://www.montgomeryparks.org/brookside/

We're just inside the Beltway here in Northern VA (not far from Green Spring), and to get to Lewis Ginter, which is off of I-95 South, (NOT the Powhite Parkway), and well marked on the road, takes us about 1 1/2 hours (with no traffic of course!), since Ashburn is a good 40 minutes or so away from me, I'd guess it'd be just under 3 hours for Terri. I haven't checked any mapping program, so maybe there is a better way to go that wouldn't take quite as long.

Ric, I think I've strongly recommended Lewis Ginter to you and Holly for your travels south, at least once, in the past. I hope you'll get there sometime. It's very close to the Interstate, so an easy on-off, but... you'll want to spend the better part of a day roaming the grounds, eating lunch and... shopping! LOL!

Anyone who's in the area should DEFINITELY plan to attend their spring garden sale, which is the first weekend in May, beginning Thursday, if I recall correctly, Debbie?

Hope this helps, Barb