Pause for Pickerelweed

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…

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Stunning Sweetspire

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…

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Carolina Jessamine: Coastal Beauty

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…

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My Discovery of the Eastern Prickly Pear

By Emily Byers, Jefferson Chapter I enjoy the surprise of blooms in my garden each year and always add new native species. Last Fall, I received two eastern prickly pears, Opuntia humifusa, from a fellow gardener. I planted both cacti in a “problem” area of my garden. The area is shaded, gritty stays dry, and reminds…

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Hepatica Heralds Spring

By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Chapter One of the earliest signs of spring is the bloom of the Round-lobed Hepatica or Liverleaf, Hepatica americana. The lovely small flowers of this woodland wildflower look fragile but this hardy perennial blooms in the face of winter often as early as February. An array of…

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Wax Myrtle Sparkles in Winter

By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Our evergreen Wax Myrtle or Southern Bayberry (Myrica cerifera) is handsome in every season of the year but it particularly sparkles in the winter after the leaves of deciduous trees have fallen leaving a gray and brown landscape. Not only are Wax Myrtles a beautiful native evergreen (large shrub…

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Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod Lights Up Woodlands

By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter At our recent fall native plant sale a number of shoppers requested shade tolerant perennials that bloom in shady woodland gardens in late summer and fall, long after spring bloomers have faded. The October Plant of the Month, Blue-stemmed Goldenrod, Solidago caesia, fits the bill beautifully and like other…

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Enchanting Blue Vervain

By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) enhances any landscape in which it grows. It is one of my favorite mid to late summer native perennials for any number of reasons. The beautiful purplish blue flowers atop tall stems provide a striking vertical accent contrasting with more typical mounded plants and flower…

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Turk’s-Cap Lily Stuns in Summer

By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Turk’s-cap Lily (Lilium superbum) is one of our most spectacular wildflowers in eastern North America. Its stunning flowers bloom right now in July and August. Native to wet meadows and rich moist cove forests and bogs from New Hampshire south to Georgia and Alabama, it is found in most…

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The Curious Pawpaw

By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter The Pawpaw, Asimina triloba, is a handsome small tree that is as fascinating as it is curious. Pawpaw is a member of the Custard-Apple Family, the Annonaceae, a large family of tropical and subtropical species. Ranging from Florida and Texas north to New York and Southern Ontario, Pawpaw is…

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