Imperiled Plants and Missing Pieces

Plants that on are imperiled lists today may become missing pieces tomorrow unless action is taken. Do we know which ones are imperiled? Will it make a difference if rare plants disappear? The Virginia Native Plant Society thinks it does, and has taken steps to help conserve some of the wildflowers in our state that…

Read More

VNPS: What Do We DO?

“A plant society? What is that? What kinds of things do you do?,”  asked a somewhat incredulous young man visiting a VNPS table recently. One of the things we do, of course, is to have educational display tables at all kinds of events, where people can ask questions like this one! To the inquirer, I…

Read More

Natives Are Glamorous Plants!

“Natives are the most glamorous things in the world,” says Randee Wilson, “It really gnaws on me to hear people refer to natives as weedy.” Randee shared his opinion recently with a group of people who are working on  a native plant marketing partnership. There may be some non-natives that are beautiful, too,” Randee said, …

Read More

Spring Ephemerals: Catch ’em While You Can

April is perhaps the very best month in Virginia to catch a sight of these extraordinary flowers that grace the landscape for such a brief time. To be ephemeral is to be short-lived, fleeting, brief. Bluebells, merrybells, Dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, trilliums, lady slipper orchids, bloodroot, hepatica, trout lily, twinleaf and toothwort; even their names…

Read More

DCR Natural Heritage Budget Not Approved

I am very sorry to report that despite a good effort on the part of the VNPS leadership and many of its members who wrote to their Delegates and Senators, the budget amendment to add $900,000 and seven full time staff for DCR’s Natural Heritage Program failed. There was no explicit vote, just an absence…

Read More