"We hope this becomes a community space where people are hands-on learning about how to garden in their own yards, for sustainability, for our ecosystems." Mary Nelson, a planner with the city's Parks and Recreation Department, said that at the June 15 unveiling of the Huntington Botanical Garden, as reported by The Virginian-Pilot. This Saturday, November 7, the park runs that idea at a much larger scale. Newport News' 1st Annual Sustainable Landscaping Festival fills Huntington Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with native plant nurseries, a free tree giveaway and a series of talks. The garden by the gazebo was built as a demonstration plot. Saturday is when the city brings in teachers for the people who live around it.
Fifty-Some Years of Roses, Then a Soil Virus
The space had a long first chapter. City officials decided in the late 1960s to build a rose garden at Huntington Park, and it opened in 1970 through a joint effort with the Virginia Peninsula Rose Society. They started with about 750 roses, mostly hybrid teas and grandifloras. The city's history of the garden records expansions in 1975 and again in the 1980s. The park listing still calls it the "2002 American Rose City rose garden." Over time the city also used the garden and its gazebo as an events venue.
Rose rosette disease ended that chapter. The Virginian-Pilot describes it as a disfiguring disease caused by a virus that lives in the soil, with no treatment or cure. The last roses came out in December. Torrance Archie, director of Newport News Parks and Recreation, said in a WAVY report carried by WFXR that losing the roses "marks the start of an exciting new chapter for this cherished park."
Replanting roses in soil that carries the virus would have set up the same loss again. The city chose a different direction. Nelson put it this way at the unveiling: "While we're sad to see that go, we're happy to move from this monoculture of roses to this really diverse plant community."
What Grows There Now Was Picked to Be Copied
The new garden covers nearly an acre and was planned with the Virginia Living Museum. The museum's team planted native species only and donated most of the plants. City officials put the project cost at about $40,000. More than 50 volunteers, including city and museum staff, put 1,200 plants in the ground during a community planting day in April.
The garden is split into themed areas: a meadow, a summer-blooming garden, a sensory garden and a native-plant section. The city says they are meant to show sustainable landscaping, biodiversity and pollinator habitat. The Virginia Living Museum listed these plants from the spring planting:
- Milkweeds: swamp milkweed, common milkweed and butterfly weed
- Perennials: giant hyssop, blue lobelia, New England aster, woodland sunflower, coneflower, black-eyed Susan and yarrow
- Shrubs and vines: spicebush, American cranberry viburnum and coral honeysuckle
The labeling turns the garden into a classroom. Every plant has a label, and QR codes on plaques around the garden link to Nelson's notes on each species and how to care for it. You can stand in front of a coneflower and pull up its care instructions before deciding whether it belongs by your own mailbox.
Neighbors helped build it. The Peninsula Master Naturalists and the Newport News Public Art Foundation contributed ideas, expertise and volunteers. Art students from Menchville and Warwick high schools designed the map at the entrance and painted the butterfly wings for the photo spot. Mayor Phillip Jones called the project a "community-powered initiative," according to The Virginian-Pilot. The same June report said an outdoor education center with picnic tables was expected to open in the fall.
Saturday Moves the Lesson From the Garden to Your Yard
The QR codes tell you what a plant is. The Sustainable Landscaping Festival covers the rest: buying the plant, getting your soil ready for it and keeping it healthy. Admission is free, and the Newport News Green Foundation's event page gives the address as 361 Hornet Circle, the same spot as the botanical garden. The Parks and Recreation listing uses the park's main address, 9285 Warwick Blvd. It estimates 20 to 30 vendors, including native plant nurseries, local museums, environmental groups, state agencies and city departments, plus food trucks.
The talks run back to back through the middle of the day. The Green Foundation encourages registering ahead through its event page.
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. to noon | Sharon Baum | Setting up a native garden: reading microclimates, dealing with soil conditions, and techniques that fit your yard and your budget |
| Noon to 1 p.m. | Megan Tierney | Easy Integrated Pest Management for home growers, with fewer chemicals |
| 1 to 2 p.m. | Kendall Topping | Is your tree dangerous? Warning signs, monitoring, and when to call a professional before extreme weather |
The Newport News Extension Master Gardeners will run a Design and Mobile Help Desk with advice on native plants and horticulture. Bring a photo of the bare corner by your driveway and ask what would grow there.
The free tree giveaway is for Newport News residents. The festival pages don't list species or quantities. Check the Green Foundation page the morning of the festival for updates, and come early if a tree is your main reason for going.
The Tree Giveaway Belongs to a Bigger Plan
The festival is sponsored by Newport News Parks and Rec, Rooted Together and the Newport News Green Foundation. Rooted Together is the city's urban forestry initiative. According to the Parks and Recreation urban forestry page, the department received a Virginia Department of Forestry grant to write a long-term plan for the city's tree canopy. The Green Infrastructure Center is guiding the two-year process together with an advisory committee of city staff and community members.
The plan aims to grow the canopy and take care of the trees already standing. That includes replanting and giveaways in the Southeast Community. Proposed pieces include tree stewards, a citywide tree inventory, tree-care standards, public education and storm-readiness outreach. That explains Saturday's lineup. Kendall Topping's 1 p.m. talk on storm-safe trees covers the storm-readiness goal, and the giveaway puts new trees in residents' yards.
Making a Weekend of It on Warwick Boulevard
The festival is the middle of a fuller first weekend of November. Here is one way to plan it:
- Friday, November 6, 6 to 9 p.m. First Fridays Moon Markets fill Historic Hilton Village at Warwick Boulevard and Main Street with live music, local food trucks and small businesses. Admission is free, and vendor prices vary. Visit Newport News has the listing.
- Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. Walk the botanical garden first while the festival is setting up its tents. Then catch Sharon Baum at 11 and stop by the Master Gardeners' help desk. Get a lunch from the food trucks before Megan Tierney's noon talk.
- Saturday afternoon, 1 to 5 p.m. Stay for Kendall Topping at 1, or head to the Mariners' Park Fall Festival at Lions Bridge at The Mariners' Museum and Park. Admission is $2 per person and free for children 3 and under, and it covers the live music and children's activities. The festival also has the Teeny Tiny Farm, food trucks and a paddle on Mariners' Lake.
- For the 21-and-over crowd. Advance beer and cider tasting tickets at the Mariners' festival cost $45, or $35 for museum members. They include a souvenir tasting glass and free festival admission, and you'll need a valid ID.
If you can only do one thing on Saturday, spend it in Huntington Park. The plants are still in the ground after the tents come down. The milkweed and asters will be there next spring with their QR codes, and after the talks you'll know more about what you're looking at.
If Saturday has you looking at your own yard differently, or wondering how a property's trees and plantings fit into your next move, I'd be glad to hear what you're thinking. Let's Connect with Amber Gentille whenever you're ready.
