News & Updates
- Check out the latest issue of New River News: January 2021 Read about our upcoming Fall/Winter programs and outings, volunteer and outreach projects, and view some great member photos. 1-20-2021
- This Winter and Spring we will continue have to continue our monthly meetings via Zoom since Warm Heath and Virginia Tech are not allowing the public on their campuses. 1-20-2021
- View "How to Prepare Your Garden for Winter" by Debra Graff on our new YouTube Channel! 10-19-2020
Join
Become a Member:
Support Our Mission.
Donate
Support VNPS with
your donation today.
Find a Chapter
Get involved in your
local VNPS chapter.
Virginia Native Plant Society Blog
- Redbud is Ready for Spring March 26, 2021By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter As signs of spring fill the air, I find myself eagerly anticipating the vibrant magenta pink blooms of one of our most beautiful flowering trees, the Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis). This small tree is a common sight along roadsides, woodland edges, and old fields in Virginia in late March…VNPS Communications
- Beyond the Field – Enter March 9, 2021By Nicola McGoff, Jefferson Chapter You drive by it every day, without notice. It is just a field. An ordinary everyday field. Square shaped or almost anyway, with very defined boundaries. Manmade boundaries stretching back through time. The sedentary, fallow field. Static and uninviting for most. A place where utility trumps esthetic. Perchance, one day…VNPS Communications
- Phasing Out the Propagation and Sale of Invasive Plants February 19, 2021Virginia House Joint Resolution 527 calls for a study that will explore options for phasing out the propagation and sale of invasive plants in Virginia’s horticultural industry, which may include potential legislative action to be brought the following year to the 2022 General Assembly. Update 2/18/2021: House Joint Resolution (HJ 527) was approved by the…VNPS Communications
- Skunk Cabbage Secrets February 18, 2021By Nancy Sorrells On this winter weather Valentine’s Day I decided to journey back into the forest behind our property to the secret place I know where the globally rare Swamp Pink (Helonias bullata) grows. Today’s visit was not to see Swamp Pink, which is still sleeping and will not send up its amazing pink…VNPS Communications
- Wildflower of the Year 2021 American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) February 6, 2021Wisteria frutescens is a woody liana, potentially growing to heights of 15 m; young stems are smooth or covered with small hairs pressed tightly to the stem surface. Stems climb by twining around supports in a clockwise direction. Leaves are alternate and odd-pinnately compound, 10—30 cm long. Leaves may have from 5 to 15 leaflets…VNPS Communications
- A Parasitic Lifestyle: Beechdrops and Their Relatives December 17, 2020By Marion Lobstein Two primary characteristics of plants are a light-capturing pigment, chlorophyll, which gives most plants a green color, and the use of this pigment to capture light energy to carry out photosynthesis to produce energy-rich food from carbon dioxide and water. This kind of plant lifestyle is known as autotrophic or self-nourishing. Indian…VNPS Communications
- Red Chokeberry Shines in All Seasons November 9, 2020By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) is a versatile landscape shrub that shines in all four seasons of the year. In spring, showy clusters of up to 25 pristine white, or pink-blushed flowers light up the garden. Throughout summer the foliage is a lustrous dark green, then ignites in fall with shades…VNPS Communications
- Goldenrod Glows in the Fall October 1, 2020By Richard Stromberg Along with Asters, Goldenrods are the dominant flowers in September. Some of them continue flowering into October, and you will see their fluffy seed heads all winter. Goldenrods have small-flowered, yellow spikes and sprays. Twenty goldenrod species are frequent in the Piedmont Chapter area. Note that the large leaves at the base…VNPS Communications
- The Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly and its Native Host Plants September 10, 2020By Mary Lee Epps, Jefferson Chapter I decided to write this article for our chapter Newsletter, The Declaration, because of an experience I had two years ago. On a family outing to the Dripping Rock area of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we explored a trail that leads from the west side of the Parkway. After…VNPS Communications
- All About the Stamens September 2, 2020By Betty Truax, Jefferson Chapter Years ago, when I lived in Northern Virginia, my mom gave me a Mock Orange plant that had no scent. It was a shared plant from her friend Anna Davis in Rochelle, Virginia. The plant was important to my mom because it reminded her of being young. With this particular…VNPS Communications