Polly Rowley received the 2015 deLacy Gray Award for Conservation at the Annual Meeting in Norfolk, May 13, 2015. Polly was raised in a family of conservationists; her grandfather was a forester and her father and uncles promoted the preservation of trees and land. Polly founded the Middleburg Horticulture Symposium when she was president of the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club from 1990-1992. This biennial event is still held.
Of her many stellar accomplishments, one stands alone. Polly designed and oversaw the installation of a learning landscape at The Hill School in Middleburg. This nearly 300-acre learning laboratory offers hands-on experiences to students and promotes the value of conservation. She chose the plant materials herself, sticking to common native trees and plants that promote good use of soil, water and wildlife.
Polly received the Dudley Cup, a Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club award given for outstanding service to the club and community, in 1987; the GCV Horticulture Award of Merit in 1994; the Garden Club of American Zone VII Horticulture Award in 1996 and the GCA Zone VII Horticulture Arts Award in 2011. These awards, her quiet knowledge and her beautiful gardens display her gardening for conservation expertise. Polly represents the best of GCV conservation.
