Faces of Green Spring
Fall 2019
by Ivy Sinaiko
Did you realize that all the lovely floral arrangements that grace the Historic House are created from flowers from the gardens at Green Spring? I didn’t until I had the pleasure of meeting the two volunteers who create them: Kate Scheuer and Annie Stat. As a person of no discernible flower-arranging talent, I was very impressed with their work and enjoyed learning a little about them.
Kate and Annie at the Historic House (Photo credit: Ivy Sinaiko)
Kate and Annie have been a flower-arranging and tea-serving team at Green Spring since 2015.
Kate, originally from Southside Virginia, has lived in Burke since 1975. She holds a certificate in flower arranging from Fairfax County. After a period of helping a friend with wedding flowers, she decided to volunteer at Green Spring Gardens to explore beyond her own neighborhood and meet new people. When not at Green Spring, she enjoys yoga (she has been a yoga instructor), cooking, and participating in book clubs.
Annie, a native of New Jersey, lives in Alexandria and came to Green Spring as a volunteer in 2012 after retiring from the Fairfax County Park Authority with 25 years of service. Her career with the Park Authority included time at Hidden Pond and Huntley Meadows. She still volunteers at Huntley Meadows as well as at the James A. Duncan Branch Library. She also works with At Home in Alexandria, visiting a very lively 95-year-old twice a month.
Kate and Annie enjoy learning about what works by trial and error. Some flowers last a long time in arrangements; others are beautiful but only briefly. Some color combinations work; others don’t. They consider their work a way of “showing off” the garden.
The three of us agreed that taking a walk at Green Spring is good for the soul and raises one’s spirits. Chatting with them and being surrounded by their handiwork definitely raised mine. I can certainly understand why Debbie Waugh enjoys having them as her volunteers!
