Will Plants Save This DC Institution?

Remember poinsettia fundraisers when you were in school? The National Arboretum has something like that, except much, much bigger. (Though a class trip doesn't hinge on how well you do.)

The Friends of the National Arboretum annual plant sale offers all kinds of unique greens and flowers and draws thousands during the last weekend in April. The group, which provides supplemental funds for the US National Arboretum, would like to see it open seven days a week. (It had to close Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, even during the tourist season, because of sequestration.) Friends of the National Arboretum board members Linda Findlay and Bill Matuszeski, who flank plant sale committee member James Hughes, say they’re also considering new ways of raising funds, including renting space at the living museum for weddings and other events. (All Little Shop of Horrors cast parties should be held there.)

The plant sale raises around $75k and draws some 2,000 people. Members of the Friends of the National Arboretum get first pick—which is why many of them join. This year the group was able to get wholesale nurseries to donate some plants, as well as bring in some unique plants like a primrose that originates from the Ganges River in India. People can also buy plants that come from clippings from some of the trees on the Arboretum property. The money will go toward restoring some of its streams and other projects. A recently won $5k grant will go toward restoring old spring houses that supplied bottled water to Washingtonians in the early 20th century.

Another big project on the National Arboretum grounds is renovation of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum's Japanese Pavilion. Construction begins later this spring and will include a redesign of the tree displays, which were part of the original 1976 US Bicentennial gift from Japan. National Bonsai Foundation executive director Dr. Johann Klodzen says an anonymous donor provided $1.5M of the $2M project. Some $250k is left to raise. Johann, who started at the Arboretum 20 years ago as a waterer, says the best time to visit is the first weekend in May during the Potomac Bonsai Festival.