A national azalea garden in Washington, D.C.

Part of the azalea collections at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

Lavenders at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

Azaleas at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

A haven for peace and nature seekers who want greens on the grounds which rise towards the sky and provide beautiful natural color can be found within the city limits of Washington, D.C. at the  National Arboretum.

Look, look!  

A beauteous site of hillside azaleas may still be in bloom by the time you read this, spreading their pale colors hither and yon to soothe a weary soul. 

At the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

Part of the azalea collections at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

Lavenders at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

A forest of color at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie 

Can you find the frogs at the U.S. National Arboretum?/By Patricia Leslie

Azaleas of all colors at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

Azaleas at the National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

Azaleas at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

Wandering the azalea paths at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

If you're a guest or member of St. John's Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square, you may join others to partake in a eucharist right in the center of it all and praise God for these heavenly surroundings. 

The National Arboretum brochure says its staff planted more than 15,000 azaleas on Mount Hamilton in 1946-47 which is the Arboretum's highest point at 240 feet and one of the highest elevations in the District of Columbia, offering a view of the U.S. Capitol, two miles west.

Landscape artist B.Y. Morrison arranged the cascading symphony, stacking colors and timing  blooms. 

Azaleas are not solo greens which thrive here, but they are joined by dogwoods, ornamental cherry trees, magnolias, boxwoods, and many more examples of nature's bounty.

Merriam-Webster says "arboretum" is "a place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes."

The Arboretum's website (which hasn't been updated since 2017 [budget cuts, you understand]) says the garden was established in 1927 by an act of the U.S. Congress. It operates under the umbrella of the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

The park has 451 acres and 9.5 miles of winding roadways.  The visitor count is about 600,000 annually.  Garden clubs and volunteers help maintain the galleries where  research, development and education are ceaseless.  

Yes, you can get married here and celebrate other festivities, too. See the website. 

An azalea forest at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

Azaleas at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

The colors are a welcome sight from the browns and greys of winter. Can you smell their fragrance? Anything this lovely must smell good but they have none. Not needed!/By Patricia Leslie

 They could be ballerinas dancing in tutus at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

In the distance at the Arboretum are the National Capitol Columns which formerly stood at the U.S. Capitol 1828-1958 but were moved in 1958 for the Capitol's expansion and because of a design flaw/By Patricia Leslie

Twenty-two National Capitol Columns now at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

A plaque describes the efforts for 30 years by Arboretum friend and benefactor, Ethel Shields Garrett, to have the Columns permanently placed at the Arboretum. For years the Columns lay in storage and were dedicated here in 1990/By Patricia Leslie

The first inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln with the National Capitol Columns, March 4, 1861/Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Alexander Gardner, possible photographer

The plaque dedicated to Ethel Shields Garrett at the National Capitol Columns/By Patricia Leslie

Two of the original 24 Capitol Columns are damaged and lay in the Arboretum's azaleas gardens nearby/By Patricia Leslie

The National Capitol Columns at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

The National Capitol Columns at the U.S. National Arboretum/By Patricia Leslie

You may find as did I the sudden surprise of large columns rising from the ground on a vacant piece of hillside which captivate sight and incite wonder about their locations here.

It's how the stars are lit at night
     and how the dew drops glisten
     How evening shadows mock the light
     and it's how the silence listens

     From the gentle sway of trees
     that bid such fond adieu
     Songs in a summer breeze
     a voice so clear, so true

     The glory of such symmetry
     so more than fills the eye
     To the beauty of such poetry
     this hopeful heart draws nigh

     In natural peace all love is born
     To live and thrive each blessed morn

"Nature's Gift," Charlie Smith, March 14, 2017

What:  The National Arboretum

Where:  3501 New York Ave., NE, Washington, D.C. 20002

When:  Open 7 days/week (except Christmas Day), 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Admission:  It's free!

Information:  www.usna.usda.gov and 202-245-2726

patricialesli@gmail.com

See Hillwood's Russian glories and gardens

The entrance to Determined Women at the dacha at Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens/by Patricia Leslie

The Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens is a respite of soothing and enchanting glorious springtime colors where guests may wander lush grounds, and walk green pathways to admire endless flower gardens.

A sense of peace and serenity prevails; time is unhurried.

One pathway leads to a small Russian dacha*, built about 1969 and the setting of an exhibition of 100 pieces from the collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973) who lived and died at Hillwood and made it what it is today: luxurious galleries and a museum of incredible works of art.

The Grand Duchesses, the four daughters of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia, 1916, two years before they were murdered.

 Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, 1906, whose daughters are pictured above.

Left:  Star of the Order of Saint Anna, 19th cent. St. Petersburg, silver, diamonds and enamel. Translated from the front:  To those who love justice, piety, and faith. In the center is the Russian imperial eagle.

Right:  Badge of the Order of Saint Anna, 19th cent. Russia, gold, diamonds, enamel/by Patricia Leslie

Ms. Post's inheritance as the only child of her parents no doubt made possible her philanthropic efforts and marshaled her business smarts (she founded General Foods with her second husband**).

At age 27 she was the richest woman in the U.S.

Her father had founded the Post cereal company.

Georgii Musikiiskii (miniaturist), after Johann Gottfried Tannauer, Abraham Heydrich (watchmaker), 1725, watch with miniature portrait of Catherine I, Peter the Great's second wife, gold, silver, diamonds, enamel, copper, St. Petersburg. The ceiling lights at the exhibition are reflected on the watch/by Patricia Leslie

Back of the watch above/By Patricia Leslie

Her admiration of influential women and their designs, works, and artistry form the basis of the exhibition, Determined Women: Collectors, Artists, and Designers at Hillwood which begins in the 1700s and continues to present day. (A curator has added recent pieces about, for example, Stacey Abrams.)

For any cultural and history Russophile like me, the dacha brimming with priceless, historical pieces is another magnificent "find" in Washington, D.C.

After Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun, Portrait of Marie Antoinette and Children, after 1787, at Versailles with the jewel cabinet of Marie Antoinette on the right.

Christina Sanders Robinson (1796-1854), Portrait of Nicholas I, 1840, Russia. His grandmother was Catherine the Great.

Two evening dresses of Ms. Post, the one on the left by Thum (1865-1954), 1920-1925, and the one on the right, by Hattie Carnegie (1886-1956), 1935-1940/by Patricia Leslie

Embroidery by Aunte Mollie Post, Marjorie Merriweather Post's baby bonnet, n.d./by Patricia Leslie

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov, designer, altar cloth, c. 1899, Russia/by Patricia Leslie

 

 Needlework by Caroline Lathrop Post, 1854/by Patricia Leslie

Joseph E. Davies was Ms. Post's third husband who took her to Moscow when he was U.S. ambassador to Russia, 1937-1938. Those years coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and Joseph Stalin's sale of Russian imperial and pre-revolutionary works, money he needed for his industrial agenda.

Carpe diem!

And Ms. Post did! Now, outside of Russia, her Russian collection is considered the best in the world. (What would Mr. Putin exchange for it? Or, some of it?)

Many more Russian artifacts are on display in the mansion.

From left: Maid of Honor Cypher Pin, 1796-1801.  The cypher states for Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Paul I.  These pins were worn on the left side of the breast by Maids of Honor to the Empress. Gold, diamonds, Russia.

Center: Another Maid of Honor Cypher Pin, 1907. Attributed to the firm of Karl Karlovich Hahn.  The pin consists of the ciphers in Russian letters of the last two Empresses, Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna. It was given in 1907 to Irene Rimsky-Korsakoff (1883-1972) (Madame Mishtowt of D.C.). The ciphers are topped by the imperial cleft crown of Russia, all set in diamonds with gold and silver, St. Petersburg

Right: Attributed to Carl C. Blank, Lady of Honor Insignia with miniature portraits of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, 1912. Gold, diamonds, silver, silver gilt, glass, St. Petersburg/by Patricia Leslie

Three busts of Empress Catherine II. 

From left, by Felix Chopin (1813-1892), made in Russia, c. 1867. 

In the center is a marble by an unknown sculptor, made in Russia, after 1771. 

On the right, by August Spiess, designer (1817-1904), the Imperial Porcelain Factory, St. Petersburg, after 1872 after a model by Jacques-Dominique Rachette (1744-1809) based on a marble original by Fedot Ivanovich Shubin (1740-1805)/by Patricia Leslie

Mather Brown (1761-1831), King Louis XVI Saying Farewell to his Family, 1793, U.S.A.

A pathway at Hillwood/by Patricia Leslie

At Hillwood/by Patricia Leslie

Determined Women at Hillwood/by Patricia Leslie

Despite its small size, the exhibition packs two rooms with photographs, paintings, sculpture, jewelry, embroidery and more, a "must see" for Russian cultural aficionados.

But you don't have to love Russian history, culture, and people to want to come since it's more than all things Russian. Artists and designers from other nations, especially France, are represented, along  with dress designers of her own whom Ms. Post admired.  And, I am guessing it was a relative who made Ms. Post's baby bonnet.

Pictures, descriptions and locations of all the objects in the exhibition may be found here. 

After she and Mr. Davies divorced in 1955, Ms. Post established Hillwood where she is buried on the grounds. (She reclaimed her maiden name after her fourth and last marriage.)

Of note: Ms. Post built and owned Mar-A-Lago in Florida, another of her "notable" five homes before Donald Trump, the present owner, bought it in 1985 for about $10 million. She had willed it to the National Park Service which deemed it too expensive to maintain. Forbes places the current value around $160 million.

The Hillwood exhibition accompanies a new publication, The Houses and Collections of Marjorie Merriweather Post ($60, hardcover; $30, paperback).

*A dacha is a small Russian country house or villa. In 2017, approximately 60 million Russians or more than 40 percent of the population of 145 million, were estimated to own one.

**Ms. Post's husbands were, in order:

Edward Bennett Close (married 1905; divorced 1919)

Edward Francis Hutton (m. 1920; d. 1935)

Joseph E. Davies (m. 1935; d. 1955)

Herbert A. May (m. 1958; d. 1964)

What: Determined Women: Collectors, Artists, and Designers at Hillwood

When: Now through Sunday, June 18, 2023, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Where: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, 4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

Admission: Suggested donations are $18 (adults), $15 (seniors), $10 (college students), $5 (child, ages 6 -18) and free for members and those under age 6. $3 discounts are available for adults and seniors who make reservations online for weekdays, and $1 off, for weekends. For busy times (Mother's Day, anyone?), reservations are highly recommended.

Directions via bus, rail, car

Parking: Free and on-site

For more information: 202-686-5807

Café onsite

patricialesli@gmail.com