March-April 2024 Wild News!

See Our Spring Updates in the March-April 2024 Wild News

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Wild News 2024 January-February

Enjoy the 2024 edition of the Wild News

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Wild News 2023 November-December

Read Our Fall Updates in the Wild News

Huntley Meadows by Nancy Vehrs

Wild News 2023 July-August

Summer Updates in the
July-August 2023 Wild News

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Our latest updates in the May-June 2023 Wild News!

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

View the new May-June Wild News !

Read the March-April 2023 Wild News!

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

View the March-April 2023 Wild News !

Wild News 2023 January-February

See Our Winter Updates in the
January-February 2023 Wild News

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

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News & Updates

• In the new March-April 2024 Wild News: Eastern Bluebirds Presentation March 7: "Getting Them Started, Helping Them Stay", finding wildflowers locally, a new (old)  Spring Wildflower video, many upcoming events, and more! Read the latest edition now. 3-1-2024

• Start the New Year with the Wild News. Check out the January-February, 2024 edition as we look back at 2023 and forward to a new nature center in the area, our PWWS Annual Slide Show, the 6th Annual Prince William Native Plant Symposium, other upcoming events, and more. 1-1-2024

• In the November-December Wild News: Ecological responsibility and landscape design, reviewing a busy PWWS year, our chapter's "Early Years", upcoming events, and more. 11-1-2023

• New venue for July PWWS meeting July 6 at 7pm: Manassas Battlefield Brownsville Picnic Area. View more information about Liz Dennison's presentation: "Raptor Habitat & Ecology." 6-29-2023

• Don't miss the new May-June Wild NewsMembership meeting & program with Bert Harris on May 4, remembering Kim Hosen, our Plant Sale on May 13, and much more! 5-1-2023

Watch the 2023 Annual Member Slide Show recording on Vimeo. 1-13-2023

• Video recordings are now available on Vimeo of the PWWS 2022 Annual Meeting on September 1 and and Native Medicinal Plant Conservation in Virginia with Susan Leopold on November 3. 11-20-2022

Wild News back issues now online. Newsletters beginning with the very first Wild News from June, 1982 are now online. You can view them all in our Wild News Archive. 11-20-2022

• Check out the November-December Wild News: attend the November 3 PWWS Zoom meeting and  Native Medicinal Plants presentation; read about 40 Years of Treasured Memories with VNPS and PWWS; Prince William Digital Gateway Data Center Alert; upcoming events and much more. 10-31-2022

• In the new Fall Wild News: Check out photos from the Summer Garden Tour; updates on Partridge Pea, Senna species, and the Fabulous Fabaceae from Marion Lobstein; visiting Deep Cut at Manassas Battlefield; upcoming events, and more! Read the latest edition now. 8-23-2022

• Did you miss Marion Lobstein's & Judy Gallagher's presentation July 7 on “The Fascinating Milkweeds and Relatives of Northern Virginia"? Watch the recorded Zoom video now. 7-8-2022

• Did you miss Dr. Cindy Smith's presentation May 4 on "Collectively Building Biodiversity"?  Watch the recorded Zoom video now. 5-11-2022

• Browse the May-June issue of the Wild News: reports from the Bluebell Festival at Merrimac, Stone Bridge Walk, and Garden Tour; news about the PWWS plant sale on May 7; updates on Dwarf Crested Iris; upcoming chapter events, and more. 4-29-2022

• View Ian Caton's March 3 presentation on Vimeo: "Super-Tough Native Plants for Difficult Situations". 3-10-2022

• Check out the January-February 2022 Wild News: the challenges of 2021, enjoying winter Hepatica, lots of native plant websites, upcoming events, and more. 12-31-2021

• Did you miss Warren Laws' presentation "The American Chestnut: The Tree That Made America" on November 4? Watch the recorded Zoom video now. 11-7-2021

• Read the November-December Wild News: reports from our 2021 Annual Meeting in September, invasive plant removal activities, updates on Witch Hazel and woody plant species taxonomic changes, upcoming chapter events, and more. 10-28-2021

• Did you miss Rod Walker's presentation on invasive plants and Blue Ridge PRISM on September 2? Watch the recorded Zoom video now. 9-10-2021

• Check out the new September-October Wild News for information on our September 2 Annual Meeting & Program, a visit to a local wildflower meadow, updates on the Aster species, and upcoming events you won't want to miss. 8-29-2021

• Be sure to attend our PWWS 2021 Annual Meeting and Program on Invasive Plants with Rod Walker on Thursday, September 2 at 7:30pm.

• Did you miss the latest updates on the Flora of Virginia presented by Marion Lobstein on July 1? Watch the recorded Zoom video now.  7-3-2021

• It's time for Harbinger-of-Spring! Read about this early sign of spring in the March-April Wild News and more, including upcoming events and the planned Spring Plant Sale. 2-26-2021

• The first Wild News of 2021: Check the January-February issue for many events scheduled in the next few months; review ferns you can see in winter; learn about taxonomic changes for vascular plants, and more.

• New Wild News: The September-October issue has two articles all about milkweed and upcoming events including "Botanical Art with Elena Maza Borkland."

• New Video: Marion Lobstein and Sally Anderson present an Overview and How To on the Flora of Virginia Mobile App. 7-13-2020

• Would you like to help maintain the fabulous pollinator planting at the Dale City I-95 Rest Stop? Contact our chapter president, Nancy Vehrs. 7-9-2020 

View or download the May-June, 2020 PWWS WILD NEWS.  Learn about member work at the I-95 Rest Area pollinator beds, the beauty and history of mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), and enjoy a video tour of the region's Spring Wildflowers. 5-26-2020

Read about PWWS Member Harry Glasgow recently honored by the Prince William Conservation Alliance.

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By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society One of my favorite sights while walking in winter woodlands are the beautiful evergreen leaves of Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens. This eye-catching beauty is one of our most common woodland orchids and instantly recognizable by its exquisitely etched leaves with an intricate network of fine white…... Read more
March 17, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog
White Turtlehead is a perennial herb rising from a rhizomatous rootstock. The smooth stems are only sparingly branched above and attain heights 0.5 to 2 m. Leaves are opposite, narrow, linear to lance-ovate, and up to 15 cm long, with prominently toothed margins. Flower spikes are 3-8 cm long and form at stem tips from…... Read more
February 12, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog
The Virginia General Assembly convened January 10, 2024 and several bills were introduced in the Senate and House of Delegates that deal with native and invasive plants. The first step is to assign the bills to committees, then to subcommittees. Bills must pass the committee to be referred to the House or Senate for a…... Read more
January 18, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Slender Flat-top Goldenrod (Euthamia caroliniana) is a beautiful deciduous, perennial closely related to goldenrods and is an underused but superior pollinator plant. Its nectar-rich flowers bloom over a long period from September into late fall, often lasting into November or even December. It is particularly important to…... Read more
December 20, 2023
Source: VNPS Blog
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Fall is the time that our warm season grasses shine in the garden by adding movement, color, and drama to the landscape. Andropogon glomeratus, or Bushy Bluestem, also called Bushy Bluebeard, is a compact, beautiful native grass often reaching only 2 – 4’ high, with attractive foliage and distinctive…... Read more
September 17, 2023
Source: VNPS Blog
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) is a standout in any garden pond, or freshwater coastal stream or river when its showy lavender-blue flowers are held above the foliage on tall stems. This perennial grows in shallow water where it tolerates up to 2’ of occasional flooding but prefers less than one…... Read more
August 12, 2023
Source: VNPS Blog
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Virginia Sweetspire, Itea virginica, is a stunning deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub and the perfect choice for our May Plant of the Month as the long racemes of white flowers are just beginning to open on this first day of May. Typically growing from 3 – 5’ high and 4…... Read more
June 28, 2023
Source: VNPS Blog
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Chapter Carolina or Yellow Jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens, is a stunning evergreen vine native to the southern United States and Mexico south to Guatemala. In Virginia, Carolina Jessamine is a coastal beauty, common along the southern and central Coastal Plain north to the counties of Lancaster and the…... Read more
May 9, 2023
Source: VNPS Blog