Wildlife
Watch Out for Spotted Lanternfly!
I recently attended a workshop focused on early detection of Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) (SLF) in Fairfax County. Speakers represented the Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Fairfax County Urban Forest Management Division. Spotted Lanternfly is native to China, and has also been found in India, Vietnam, and Japan. Introduced in Korea…
Read MoreMeet the Plants of Dyke Marsh: Plants of Value to Wildlife in Winter
Many of the plants that grow in Dyke Marsh are of value to wildlife, providing one or more of the animals’ basic needs: food, water, shelter, and a place to raise their young. This article highlights just a few of these plants that help support wildlife in winter. Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). In late summer…
Read MoreNotes from the Understory
June 2018—Leaps and bounds The next wave of flowers have bloomed, adding small dashes of yellow, white, pink, and purple to the vivid green of the leaves that dominate now. Each species seems to have its own personality. Some protect their flowers by closing up every evening: the Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) balances its purple…
Read MoreNotes from the Understory
Recreating woodlands in your backyard Our (under)story For the past several years, we have been working on a garden inspired by the natural community that might have been here before residential development—probably a Piedmont Oak-Hickory Woodlands. The idea was to use native plants to help support wildlife, from the microbiome all the way up to the…
Read More