2020 Wildflower of the Year: Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
2020 Wildflower of the Year: Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
2020 Wildflower of the Year: Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
Photo by W. John Hayden
Photo by W. John Hayden
Photo by W. John Hayden
Mountains with Flame Azaleas
Mountains with Flame Azaleas
Mountains with Flame Azaleas
Photo by Nancy Vehrs
Photo by Nancy Vehrs
Photo by Nancy Vehrs
Eupatorium at Bull Run
Eupatorium at Bull Run
Eupatorium at Bull Run
Photo by Brigitte Hartke
Photo by Brigitte Hartke
Photo by Brigitte Hartke
News & Updates
• The Spring 2020 edition of Sempervirens is now available. Read about our upcoming Annual Meeting in Abingdon, the VNPS Mission, and more.
• Due to CDC recommendations and other ongoing closures related to the Coronavirus outbreak, we have cancelled the March 14, 2020 event ‘Earth’s Climate: Present, Past & Future'. We regret having to make this decision, and hope to be able to offer this program at another time. We will refund registration fees. [More information]
• An updated version of the popular Wildflowers for Butterfly Gardens brochure is now available to download.
• VNPS Funded Research Reveals Which Trees are Dying and Why.
• Piedmont Chapter Curlyheads Flower T-Shirts are now available for sale! These are beautiful shirts though in limited quantities.
• VNPS Member Harry Glasgow Honored by Prince William Conservation Alliance.
• The VNPS mourns the loss of its founder, Mary Painter, on October 6 2019. View more information and Mary's obituary.
• Support our Annual Fundraiser: Plant Virginia Natives!
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Imperiled Purple Milkweed at Huntley Meadows Park
Huntley Meadows probably has the largest population of purple milkweed in the state according to Gary Fleming, Vegetation Ecologist for Virginia’s Natural Heritage Program. For a number of years, through efforts begun by its Past President, Marianne Mooney, the Potowmack Chapter has been providing support to Huntley. When recent water control efforts caused major disruption… [Read More]
Landscape Design for Biodiversity Education and Restoration
Part I. Hope ~Paying attention to local natural systems teaches us how to bring forth the hidden potential of nature in areas where others have lost hope. During our ecosystem surveys one of the primary things we find is hope. Although 300 years of landscape degradation have had a profound negative effect on the biodiversity… [Read More]
Here Come the Bryophytes!
All of a sudden, mosses, liverworts, and friends are on a minor upswing in popularity. That thin green mat cushioning your feet and plastering tree trunks, that lowly layer of who-knows-what, is now more popular with the botanist and gardener than ever; it has spawned new field guides, classes, and restoration projects, as well as… [Read More]
Trout Lillies and Trouts Signal Spring!
I am a gardener and an angler. In the spring, these two passions vie for my attention simultaneously because gardens and trout streams wake up from winter at around the same moment. Just as warming ground stimulates seeds to germinate, bulbs to flower and trees to leaf out and bloom, warming activity on a trout… [Read More]
Post-Wild Planting Solutions
We may be planting in a post-wild world, but all the things we love about nature and the natural world are still the things we need and should be planting in our landscapes today. Thomas Rainer spoke to a full house Sunday at the Manassas Community Center, delivering a message that spoke right to the… [Read More]
Big Tree Hunt
The College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech is the creator of the Virginia Big Tree Program, and the New River Chapter recently took a field trip to learn more about it. The purpose of the program is to find and record the biggest examples of many species of trees in Virginia. Measurements… [Read More]
Wetlands
I cringe when the word ”Improve”, or “Improvement” is used about land. It’s applied, of course, to describe the process that adapts land for human uses such as farming or construction. This isn’t improvement in any conventional sense of the word. In the 500 or so year history of European use of American land, the… [Read More]
A New Native Plant Mini Series on YouTube
Introducing a new series of videos! These are truly Mini in length, but mighty in content; each featuring one or two native plants at a time. Plant characteristics, faunal associations, and uses in the home landscape are covered. We think you will love these informative little doses of native love! The producer, a member of… [Read More]
VNPS 2016: Full Steam Ahead!
We have a serious commitment to a lofty Mission Statement, we better be going full steam ahead! For those who would like a short version, our mission statement pretty much says we’re tryin’ to save the world. As in: protect and preserve native plants and their habitats discourage and combat practices that endanger or destroy… [Read More]
