News & Updates
• It's time for Harbinger-of-Spring! Read about this early sign of spring in the March-April Wild News and more, including upcoming events and the planned Spring Plant Sale. 2-26-2021
• The first Wild News of 2021: Check the January-February issue for many events scheduled in the next few months; review ferns you can see in winter; learn about taxonomic changes for vascular plants, and more.
• New Wild News: The September-October issue has two articles all about milkweed and upcoming events including "Botanical Art with Elena Maza Borkland."
• New Video: Marion Lobstein and Sally Anderson present an Overview and How To on the Flora of Virginia Mobile App. 7-13-2020
• Would you like to help maintain the fabulous pollinator planting at the Dale City I-95 Rest Stop? Contact our chapter president, Nancy Vehrs. 7-9-2020
• View or download the May-June, 2020 PWWS WILD NEWS. Learn about member work at the I-95 Rest Area pollinator beds, the beauty and history of mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), and enjoy a video tour of the region's Spring Wildflowers. 5-26-2020
• Read about PWWS Member Harry Glasgow recently honored by the Prince William Conservation Alliance.
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Virginia Native Plant Society Blog
- Marsh Marigold: A Spring Tonic April 26, 2021By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Today, the first day of April, has dawned cold with rain and winds after a week of mild weather, and I seek solace in the first harbingers of spring. A hike to Cabin Swamp in Hickory Hollow Natural Area Preserve is just the spring tonic needed. Sure enough, the…VNPS Communications
- 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 4/13/2021: The VNPS sent a joint letter with the Blue…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