Welcome to the Potomac Valley Chapter of the North American ROCK GARDEN SOCIETY

We have more than 50 years of experience cultivating plants for rockeries, troughs, woodlands, bogs, and more.  We are not just an alpine plant society — we all share a passion for a wide range of plants.  

JOIN PVC and enjoy lectures(via Zoom since spring of 2020 due to the pandemic ), field trips, garden tours, two yearly plant exchanges, trough workshops, and the camaraderie of other gardeners. Our membership welcomes everyone from beginners to experts, from city gardeners with only a balcony to suburban and rural residents with space to spare.

When not enduring a global pandemic, we meet in person for lectures about six times a year at local public gardens, such as the US National Arboretum, US Botanic Gardens in Washington DC, Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD, and Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA.

Please look at our Calendar of Events and through our recent newsletters to learn about current and past events and consider joining our club.

Rock gardening can be challenging in the Mid-Atlantic states due to heat, humidity and too much summer or winter wet, but we persevere. Creating well-draining soils, crevices, choosing plants wisely, and experimenting with ways to keep plants dry when they need to be, we learn to grow diminutive plants, including some alpine, sub-alpine, even plants from the dry southwestern US. But many of us will try anything that is unusual, perhaps challenging, or just different. Examples of plants we have been successful growing are illustrated below.

Androsace barbulata
Asphodelus acaulis
Adonis ‘Fukujukai’
Scilla bifolia ‘Rosea’