Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Published April 16, 2025 at 3:45PM | Updated April 17, 2025 at 1:01PM

NOVA Parks Executive Director Paul Gilbert at a Juneteenth 2024 event (courtesy NOVA Parks)

When Paul Gilbert finishes leading NOVA Parks, the regional park system will be nearly 2,000 acres larger than it was when he started.

The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority announced last Friday (April 11) that Gilbert will retire as its executive director by the end of 2025. His 20-year tenure included the addition of 15 new parks and several signature attractions, from the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial at Occoquan Regional Park to the winter light festivals in Bull Run and Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.

New plaque at Meadowlark park salutes women who challenged segregation

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 7, 2025 at 9:45AM

Officials from NOVA Parks, NAACP, Fairfax County and more unveil a sign at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens to honor Howard University students who challenged bus segregation (courtesy NOVA Parks)

Before it became Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Caroline Ware’s farm in Wolf Trap served as the staging area for a noteworthy yet little-known battle in the civil rights movement’s long struggle against segregation.

A constitutional history and social sciences professor at Howard University, Ware hosted a picnic on May 14, 1944 for friends and students, four of whom got arrested after refusing to move to the back of the bus they boarded to return to D.C.

Virginia Chamber Orchestra to make music at Meadowlark this fall

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 30, 2022 at 3:00PM

The Virginia Chamber Orchestra started performing at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens during the pandemic (courtesy Virginia Chamber Orchestra)

The Virginia Chamber Orchestra is tuning up for a fall concert series at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Wolf Trap.

The “Music in the Gardens” series will kick off at 3 p.m. this Sunday (Sept. 4) with “Viva Violas!,” a showcase of that oft-overlooked member of the string family.