Where Every Season Blooms Together.
Celebrating gardening, friendship, and community in Suffolk since 1928.
Pre-Order Peony Plants
Plant a peony this fall and it will outlive you. That is horticulture, not sentiment. Sited well and left alone, a peony can bloom in the same spot for a hundred years, which makes it one of the few things you can buy in October that your granddaughter will cut for her own table.
Peonies with a Purpose is the Nansemond River Garden Club's annual sale. Eight varieties, offered as bare roots in three-packs and as established clumps, shipped directly to your door in time for fall planting. You order, we handle the rest, and the plants arrive when the ground is ready for them.
The blooms come in May. The work they pay for starts now.
Our Mission
To Celebrate the Beauty of the Land, to Conserve the gifts of nature and to Challenge future generations to build on this heritage.
The Difference We Make
Preserving Our Heritage
At Cedar Hill Cemetery, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, we continue to maintain the Heritage and Scatter Gardens. Established in 2007, these gardens were honored with the Garden Club of Virginia's prestigious
Common Wealth Award - a living tribute to our region's rich history.
Beautifying Our Community
We're transforming shared spaces like Festival Park with vibrant landscaping, trees, and the newly named gardens.
Our $10,000 contribution helped create a welcoming green space for community events and gatherings - a new heart for Downtown.
Supporting Watershed Education
We're proud to support the Nansemond River
Preservation Alliance and their "Watershed Explorers - WE Can Make a Difference" program. This hands-on experience teaches 3rd graders how they can protect and preserve our local waterways.
Inspiring The Next Generation
Since 1981, Ecology Camp has connected rising 3rd and 4th graders with nature, sparking curiosity and care for the environment. This week-long June camp encourages voung minds to explore the human-nature connection and their role in protecting ecosystems. And, is a cherished outreach project of the Garden Club, building environmental awareness in the next generation.
About the Nansemond River Garden Club
The Nansemond River Garden Club was founded on October 26, 1928, by a group of Suffolk women who thought their city deserved better than what was growing in it. Eight years later the club was admitted to the Garden Club of Virginia, and it has held that membership ever since.
Nearly a century on, the work is still done by hand. Members funded the preservation plan for Cedar Hill Cemetery, an effort that went on to win a state award for the landscape architects who wrote it. They have worked to beautify the Suffolk Museum, supported the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance in getting water-monitoring instruments into elementary school classrooms, and sent teams to Richmond to arrange flowers in the old Senate chamber for two governors' inaugurations.
The river in the club's name is not decorative. It is the reason for the conservation work, the ecology camp, and the letters members have written to Richmond over the years on behalf of the Virginia landscape.
NRGC Board & Committee Chairwomen
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Amy Birdsong
PUBLIC RELATIONS; HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK
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Mary Alice Dorschel
CEDAR HILL ADVISORY BOARD
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Sandy Hart
EXHIBITS
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Paige Jessee
Second Vice President
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Sara Ann Johnson
ECOLOGY CAMP
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Susan Lawrence
First Vice President
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Kristy McCormally
WAYS AND MEANS
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Linda Minnix
PRESIDENT
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Lynda Odom
ARTISTIC DESIGN
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Troy Rapoport
CONSERVATION
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Norma Spain
HORTICULTURE
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Donna Standish
FINANCE
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Catherine Wass
CIVIC
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Terry Yates
MEMBERSHIP
Festiva Maxima is a timeless white peony with fluffy, fragrant blooms that brighten up the garden in spring. This award-winning heirloom grows 32–36" tall and is perfect for borders, bouquets, and cut flower arrangements. Deer and rabbit resistant.
Full sun to partial shade
Height: 32–36"
Blooms: Early May
Plant Size: 2–3 Eye Roots
USDA Zones: 3–8
Suggested planting: 1 root per 3 ft²
Notes: A heavy bloomer with 20+ flowers per plant and large 6" blooms. Peonies take 1–2 years to establish. Staking may be needed in partial shade.
Shipping Dates: October 1 thru January 15