BRWS Spring 2024 Newsletter
Check out the Spring, 2024
BRWS Newsletter!

Upcoming Chapter meetings and walks, our chapter's Native Plant Sale May 25, "Just imagine a turtle, stretching its head (Chelone Gabra)", how to throw some (native) shade, and much more...

White Turtlehead photo by John Hayden

BRWS Fall 2022 Newsletter
In the BRWS
Fall 2022 Newsletter

Upcoming Field Trips and meetings, Franklinia: the Franklin Tree, BRWS Fountain Dedication, member profiles, our Annual Meeting to elect officers on October 24, and more...

BRWS Fall 2022 Newsletter
In the Spring, 2023
BRWS Newsletter

Upcoming Field Trips and meetings, our chapter's Native Plant Sale May 27, our President's message, Joe-Pye-Weed apparel, Master Naturalist classes, visiting a Honey Bee Sanctuary, Obedient Plant, Forest Bathing, and more...

BRWS Summer 2022 Newsletter
In the BRWS
Summer 2022 Newsletter

Wildflower Sale Blooms Into More Than Money,
May Field Trip to Quarry Gardens at Schuyler,
Field Trip to a Bee Sanctuary, our Annual August Picnic, and more...

Welcome to the Blue Ridge Wildflower Society!

Welcome to the Blue Ridge Wildflower Society!

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Skunk Cabbage

Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Welcome to the Blue Ridge Wildflower Society!

Welcome to the Blue Ridge Wildflower Society!

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Eupatorium at Bull Run

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

Photo by Brigitte Hartke

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News & Updates

• View newly published wildflower photos by Richard Crites on the BRWS Smugmug gallery. Rich was a great teacher, friend, club leader, and person. Everyone who knew Rich must miss him, his enthusiasm, his knowledge and his sense of humor. 10-18-2023

• You'll want to attend our BRWS Native Plant Sale on Saturday, May 27 at the Roanoke Council of Garden Clubs. View more information about the Plant Sale on our calendar of events. 4-30-2023

• View Dr. Bob Pohlad's slides from his April 24 presentation "Spring Wildflowers of the Appalachians." 4-30-2023

• Don't miss our Annual Meeting & Election October 24: We elect new officers every two years at the October meeting. Please plan to attend. Our speaker will be Brent Wills from Bramble Hollow Farms, telling us about "Biological Farming and Soil."

• Spring is Coming! The Spring, 2022 BRWS Newsletter is hot off the presses. Learn some ways plants endure winter and check out our chapter's schedule of upcoming events. 2-7-2022

• The BRWS 2022 Spring Plant Sale will be held on Saturday, May 28 from 9am to noon at the Roanoke Council of Garden Clubs. View more information. 2-7-2022

Hello Fall! Read the Fall, 2021 BRWS Newsletter to see our schedule of upcoming events, a special message from President Jessica Fleming, and details about Pirate Bush, found only in our region. 9-26-2021

Goodbye Winter! The Spring, 2021 edition of the BRWS Newsletter is now available. Read a message from our president, plan for many upcoming chapter events, and learn about American beautyberry. 2/13/2021

See the list of newly elected BRWS Officers and Board Members. 11/4/2020

• Check out our chapter's Fall 2020 Newsletter: online election for new officers, our summer plant sale success, and suggestions for wildflower walks on your own! 8/30/2020

• The Blue Ridge Wildflower Society Spring, 2020 Newsletter has just been published! Read about upcoming Field Trips and programs, Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) , and Radford's white basswood.

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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