Tour of Green Spring Gardens Multi-Cache

Brief Description

This geocache is in a high muggle area, and several previous containers have gone missing. Consequently, we have moved the container from its original hiding place. There is still a physical waypoint at the original cache location (located at the lat/long coordinates that you will solve and is further identified by the first part of the hint) but the cache is no longer there.  Instead, go 20 feet SW to find itst new resting place. Please be very stealthy when you find it.  Also, make sure that you rehide the container well so that it is out of sight of passersby. 

This geocache was created by Learn, Explore, and Play (LEAP), one of many Green Spring Gardens' EMG programs that provide visitors with self-guided means to explore the park including themed-topic leaflets, scavenger hunts, and geocache hunts. The cache is located in Green Spring Gardens at 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA  22312 (park entrance is off Braddock Road on Witch Hazel Drive).This cache is placed with the permission of the Green Spring Gardens Park Manager, Fairfax County Park Authority. The park is open from dawn to dusk. Night caching in Park Authority parks is expressly forbidden. Do Not Enter the Park in the Dark! The vehicle entry gate is locked at 5:00 pm (promptly). However, there is limited parking outside the gate, and you may walk in from there during daylight hours. The Horticulture Center is open Monday-Saturday 9:00 am – 4:30 pm and Sunday noon – 4:30 pm.

To get things started, we've placed a travel bug in the cache - a "Friends of Green Spring Frog" key chain.

Congratulations on the FTF to Aronel, who found this cache along with Nemo Consequentia. If you're in the area, make sure you visit Aronel's virtual cache, A Walk Around Green Springs Garden Park.

Detailed Description

This geocache teaches you basic gardening concepts while you hone your geocaching skills. Find the information while you visit various locations throughout the garden to obtain what you need to determine the geocache location. Use the provided coordinates to guide your tour or get a Green Spring Gardens brochure map from the Horticulture Center. The brochure contains a numerical list of the themed gardens and their locations on the map.  

1. The starting coordinates take you to a composting demonstration at the back of the Wildlife Garden (location 9 on the brochure map), behind the Horticulture Center and Glasshouse. By recycling organic materials from around your home to make compost and adding it to your landscape, you will improve the structure of the mid-Atlantic dense red clay. The six containers on the fence show samples of compostable materials. A = the position of the container containing kitchen scraps, counting from the left.
    
2. Now go to N 38° 49.409 W 077° 09.332 in the Children’s Discovery Garden (location 8) next to the Wildlife Garden. Monarch butterflies make an annual migration between their summer homes in North America and their winter homes in Mexico. To provide nectar sources and shelter to sustain them, the Gardens have planted a Monarch Waystation. Find the sign describing this waystation. B = the third digit of the zip code for Monarch Watch.
    
3. Continue to the next waypoint at N 38° 49.432 W 077° 09.330. You’ll be at one of three Townhouse Gardens (location 10) behind the Horticultural Center. In these gardens, landscape designers have created a natural refuge in a small space. Following “right plant, right place” guidance, plants were chosen to fit the scale of a typical townhouse plot.  Each of the gardens has a bench where you can relax and reflect on the beauty of the landscape. Look at the dedication plaque on one of the benches. C = the number of years that Sunshine lived.
    
4. Head towards the Horticultural Center via the Swale Garden bridge (location 6), pass the Patio Gardens (location 5), and arrive at the Rock Garden (location 4) in the middle of the circular driveway at the entrance to the Horticultural Center (N 38° 49.402 W 077° 09.379). The plants in this garden are distinctly different because of their individual adaptations to obtain water, which transports minerals from the soil to the roots and the rest of the plant. Plants’ natural adaptations to drought include thick fleshy leaves and waxy surfaces that conserve water, and specialized roots that collect or store water.  Find the dedication plaque for this garden. D = the number of words on the second line of this plaque.
    
5. Continue clockwise around the circular path surrounding the green space to the Arbor Garden (location 15), at N 38° 49.460 W 077° 09.405, directly across the green from the Horticultural Center. During spring, summer, and fall, you may see the most common pollinators: insects (e.g., bees, wasps, butterflies, flies), birds, and even bats, busily carrying pollen grains from plant to plant. As animal pollinators feed on pollen and nectar they fertilize plants -- some of which produce fruits , vegetables, and seeds that we eat.  Look at the dedication plaque for this garden. E = the second digit of the year John Hans Quast began his work at Green Spring Gardens.
    
6. Next you’ll see the Edible Garden (location 12), at N 38° 49.446 W 077° 09.352.  Although some animals (like insects) are beneficial to plants, others are downright pests!  For example, vegetable gardens must be protected from deer, rabbits, woodchucks, and other hungry animals. That’s why this garden has a tall fence surrounding it to provide a physical barrier to the pests. Look at the sign on the fence with a large 11-letter phone number on it. Of course, when you press those letters, your phone will convert each letter to a digit. F = the sum of the 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th digits of the phone number.

7. Now use the answers from the questions above to calculate the original cache coordinates. The coordinates are N 38° 49.ABC W 077° 09.DEF. To get to the original location, take a left after the Edible Garden and head down the unpaved path into the woods to the Native Plant Garden (location 11). Native plants are present in a region due to natural processes with no human intervention. They support the native pollinators that form the interdependency of our food ecosystem.

When you get to the location specified by the coordinates and the hint, go 20 feet SW to find the actual cache.  I had to move it to this location due to excessive thefts of containers from the original location

After you have found the cache, continue on through the woods to the large ponds separated by a gazebo, take a left and pass the spring house, noting the historic house on the right as you head back to the parking lot. Or simply make your way back the way you came to the Horticulture Center and parking lot.