We were lucky to go to the Chili Pepper Festival in the US National Herb Garden at the US National Arboretum in Washington DC this past weekend!
Our pickled Chili peppers (pictured below with amazing Herb Society of America member Pat Kenny) were distributed to visitors to the festival and they got to sample the range from mild to wild peppers like Aji Dulce which are mild to Ghost Peppers which are pretty wild, sending many samplers to the milk jug where milk cuts the heat! The colorful and delicious peppers were a big hit for participants.
The Herb Garden is overseen by the Herb Society of America but is within the National Arboretum, which is a truly outstanding and amazing institution that anyone interested in horticulture should visit. This large wooded property is 550 acres inside a major US city, on the border of Maryland it has a very similar climate as us here in South Jersey with colder temperatures than say downtown DC will experience and less microclimate. The collections of plants world class with so many rare and unusual plants, from native populations or exotic international botanical gardens around the world who share among institutions.
Some notable things at the Arboretum pictured to the right are the Capital Columns that were from the US Capital building's 1958 restoration. They were put in Rock Creek Park until 1990 where members of the Herb Society of America were instrumental in getting then President George HW Bush to have them moved and set up in the Arboretum to create this amazing vista which is viewed from this angle from the Herb Garden. There are also amazing water gardens with aquatic plants and exotic fish. There are several pavillions of Bonsai, from Japan, China and America. There are extensive gardens, collections of plants as well as research plots. The Asian Valley is magnificent showcasing so many incredible plants and housing the collection of Cold Hardy Camellias developed and hybridized by Dr. William Ackermann at the Arboretum. This is one prized aspect of the Arboretum is the plants released over the years to include many prized landscape plants like Cold Hardy Camellias, Crape Myrtles or Sparkleberry Holly where you can go out and see the original plants in the collections.
Horticulturally, Washington DC has so much to offer with the Arboretum, as well as the US Botanic Gardens, The National Garden, the Capital building grounds, the Capital Mall which is horticulturally outstanding! Not to mention amazing plantings at the White House and many other government buildings and other private gardens in DC. The Smithsonian Museums are also worth seeing and you can spend weeks exploring just the museums on the Capital Mall! Another absolute GEM is Rock Creek Park, which is a giant wooded area of mountainous ravines and rivers in the city from The Kennedy Center all the way out north to Maryland. This park is used by hikers, bikers and horses where city people can enjoy a semblance of natural areas in these gorgeous spaces. But overall if you have a free weekend, a trip to Washington DC and the US National Arboretum is a really fine thing to do!