How do garden plants get their names?
Most plants have common names. However, these can be inexact. For example, is a “snowball bush” a viburnum or a hydrangea? The plant kingdom contains about 300,000 species. In the 1700s, Carl Linnaeus devised a method to classify and name them. The method of identification and classification (taxonomy) is the basis for plant names (nomenclature). You might say, “That’s Greek... READ MORE
Grow your family tree
If everything else is equal, you can even select a plant because of its name. To honor my minister father, whose name was Jack, I selected native Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) for its common name. For my daughter, I’ve planted Tradescantia x andersoniana, ‘Sweet Kate,’ for the cultivar name (definitely not because of its icky common name — spiderwort). Since my... READ MORE
Monumental exhibit seeks viewer input
In recent years, monuments have loomed large in many Southern cities — both literally and figuratively — as citizens have debated the ways we commemorate the past. After the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park and the white supremacist rally that followed, David Voelkel, the Valentine’s Elise H. Wright Curator of General Collections, made a... READ MORE
From CIA to pageant circuit
Karen Moore won her first competition at age 4. To reach the microphone in a talent contest at her nursery school teacher’s church, she had to stand on a chair. She crooned a song called “God Bless Us All,” popular in the early 1950s. Now 69 and a resident of Hyattsville, Md., Moore has continued to wow pageant audiences over the years. She was once a finalist for Cherry Blossom... READ MORE
The ties that bind never lose their import
Spring cleaning is usually a major bore and a major chore. Find a large plastic trash bag. Head for the main closet. Identify t-shirts and socks that no human being ever will (or ever should) wear again. Stuff the stuff into the bag. Repeat. And then head for Amvets or Goodwill, drop it all off, feel virtuous, go home. But this past spring, the ritual annual purge brought me up... READ MORE
A voice for Virginia’s Native Americans
The cement path in Capitol Square spirals like a nautilus, leading to a fountain and meditation circle inscribed with the names of Virginia Indian tribes and the rivers that ran near their homes. Called “Mantle,” the abstract monument to local Native Americans was dedicated in April. Its name is symbolic on several levels — referring to the mantle of the earth, the mantle of... READ MORE
Washington shines in the literary spotlight
The Bibliophile Whether you choose to join the summer tourists or wait until they’ve left town, reading about the District’s sites broadens your horizons. These books about Washington, D.C. hold a special appeal. America’s Greatest Library: An Illustrated History of the Library of Congress, by John Y. Cole, 256 pages, 250 color illustrations, D Giles Limited in association with... READ MORE
Five upcoming plays with Jewish themes
In August, September and October, five theaters in Montgomery County will produce plays with Jewish themes. It’s entirely a “happy coincidence,” says David Fialkoff of the newly formed Jewish Community Theater of Montgomery County (JCTMC), as the plays were not planned to coincide. As its name suggests, the group is dedicated to presenting plays and musicals in the county about... READ MORE
Area pageant winners from D.C. and Va.
Everything that could go wrong indeed went wrong as Phyllis Jordan was preparing for June’s Ms. Senior D.C. pageant. She brought a complicated pattern for her evening gown to a dressmaker that ended up a “hot mess.” She hired a second seamstress to start again, but her results were “deplorable.” “I told her I would absolutely lose if I wore this,” said Jordan, 62. So she ... READ MORE
Former politico sculpts a new passion
Most days you’ll find Karen Montgomery in a makeshift carport that she and her husband adapted into an art studio. There she wields hammer and chisel to bring forth sculptures from her ideas. She’s currently coaxing a large angel to emerge from a hunk of marble. Montgomery, 83, has recently returned to her first love, art, following a 16-year stint in Maryland politics. From 2000... READ MORE
Arts 2024
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