By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter   The Common Hackberry is one of our most adaptable native shade trees and is also among the best trees to plant for wildlife. The trunk of hackberries has smooth…

         By Betsy Washington           Northern Neck Chapter, VNPS   American Beeches are one of our most magnificent native trees, beautiful in every season, especially winter. They are also one of the most easily recognized of our eastern deciduous trees, with their silvery gray bark that appears cast…

                        By Betsy Washington Northern Neck Chapter, Virginia Native Plant Society   As the winter solstice approaches, I am already anticipating the blooms of our earliest spring wildflower, Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus. The buds of this winter blooming wildflower begin to appear in our…

By Helen Hamilton John Clayton Chapter These tall, majestic plants are real butterfly magnets.  Blooming in late summer until frost, they range from 3 to 10 feet tall with dense heads of fluffy pinkish flowers that are usually covered with butterflies, bees, beetles and wasps, all feeding and pollinating.  When in flower, Joe-pye-weeds can be…

MISTFLOWER and Monarch Butterflies Conoclinium coelestinum (formerly Eupatorium coelestinum) This is one of the native perennials highly regarded as nectar food for monarch butterflies. The typical life cycle of monarchs includes four flights each year, the third in July-August, and the last September-October that produces a different butterfly, capable of the long migration south. Monarchs…

Mountain-mint Pycnanthemum tenuifolium/muticum By Helen Hamilton John Clayton Chapter, VNPS What’s not to like about a native perennial that is attractive to bees and butterflies, does not spread aggressively, and is deer-resistant?  Mountain-mints bloom from June through August, with small white flowers rich in nectar that is food for many kinds of insects – butterflies,…

By Helen Hamilton A long-blooming native perennial like Spiderwort can fit into a lot of spaces in the home garden. Three-petaled flowers form a triangle – they are violet-blue with vivid yellow stamens growing in a 3’ tall clump. Each flower is open for only a day, in the morning, but they bloom in succession…

By Helen Hamilton This is one of our loveliest early spring flowers, with hanging red flowers that have long spurs and yellow centers. The nectar at the base of the spurs attracts long-tongued insects and hummingbirds. The flowers are mature when migrating hummingbirds appear in our area, and are important food for these little birds,…

By Helen Hamilton Golden Ragwort is a welcome sign of spring, covering swampy areas with bright yellow, from mid-March through early summer. The buds are purple, and open to display yellow disc and ray flowers, unusual for a member of the Aster Family — the rays are often white. This native perennial grows 1-3 feet…

  By Helen Hamilton  One of the first signs of spring is the red haze over the bare limbs of our local maple trees. This would be the male and female flowers of Red Maple. Typical of many species, the male flowers appear first as a yellowish pink, closely followed by the darker pink blossoms…