Plant Ridge & Valley Natives

The second edition of Ridge & Valley Native Plant Guide is out! Available for purchase at local nurseries

Purchase online
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Native Plant Production: Collection, Storage,
and Propagation Workshop
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News & Updates

• Want to stay in touch with everything going on? Sign up for our newsletter! Free, no membership required.

• Picnic & Pulling Invasives at Natural Chimneys Park, March 23, 2025, 12-2:30.

• Join us at the 3rd annual Pollinators in Your Yard event hosted by Harrisonburg Public Works, Saturday, March 29, 12:30-4

• Save the date! Our annual spring plant sale will be held Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Earth Day Staunton.

• The 2nd edition of the Plant Ridge & Valley Natives Guide is out! Find it at Carrier Arboretum, Seven Bends Plant Nursery, A Woman’s Touch, Yellow House Natives, Secret Garden Supply Co. (Staunton), Stone Soup Books, Waynesboro Landscape and Garden Center, Woodstock Gardens, & more

• Save the date! Fall 2024 plant swap will be held in Bridgewater October 19, 2024.

•The statewide annual meeting of the Virginia Native Plant Society will be held Sept. 20-22 at Massanetta Springs, in Harrisonburg.

•Native Gardening 101: Fall Maintenance & Planning Ahead, September 7, 2024, 10-12. Cost: $10 for the series

•Guided Walk on the Madison Run Fire Road June 20, 2024, 10-1. Free; registration required.

•Guided walk & potluck social at Sunnyside Retirement Center June 9, 2024, 3-6:30 p.m. Registration required; space is limited.

•Native Gardening 101 webinar June 8, 2024, 10-12. Cost: $10.

• Our annual plant sale will be Saturday, April 20, 2024 at Earth Day Staunton, 11-3.

• Don't miss our Plant & Seed Swap and Chapter Meeting on Sunday, October 22, 2023. View details, location, and more information.

• Orders for the new Plant Ridge & Valley Natives Guide are now shipping. Order your printed Guide now. 5-31-2023

• The new Plant Ridge & Valley Natives Guide is available for pre-order. Update May 11: We expect to ship the guide to pre-order customers by the end of May. 5-11-2023

• It’s official! On Monday September 12, 2022 the Shenandoah Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society was unanimously reinstated by the VNPS Board!

• In July 2022 we formed a Steering Committee to revive the Shenandoah Chapter (1987-2017). The committee includes Anna Maria Johnson (Coordinator), Elaine Smith (from the former chapter), Isaac Matlock, and Lora Steiner. View more details in our announcement of the Shenandoah Chapter Reboot. For more information, please contact Anna Maria Johnson at shenandoahchapter@gmail.com. You can also connect with us on our Facebook Page.

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Wildflower of the Year 2025: Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
Coming soon: VNPS offers Mayapple artwork on T-Shirts and other apparel. Mayapples are perennial herbaceous plants with thick fibrous roots that arise from a creeping rhizome. Each year the rhizome elongates about 6 to 20 cm in length, terminating in a bud for the subsequent year’s leafy stem and one or more buds for continuation…... Read more
February 8, 2025
Source: VNPS Blog
Red Maple, Acer rubrum
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Red Maples, also called Swamp or Scarlet Maples, are known for their brilliant fall color. Now they may seem to be a surprising choice for the February Plant of the Month, but they are a true harbinger of spring, blooming in late winter often as early as…... Read more
February 5, 2025
Source: VNPS Blog
Inkberry, Ilex glabra
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Inkberry or Gallberry is a great choice for the December Plant of the Month. This handsome broadleaf evergreen shrub typically grows slowly to about 5 – 8’ high and wide and has plenty of winter interest with its small narrowly ovate to lance-like dark green leaves that…... Read more
December 26, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog
Winged Sumac, Rhus copallinum
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Winged Sumac is a beautiful large deciduous shrub that shines throughout the year but is especially vibrant when it ignites into a fiery crescendo in fall. Typically growing from 7 – 15’ tall, this sumac often spreads into large colonies by root suckers. As fall turns into…... Read more
November 20, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog
Sweet Goldenrod, Solidago odora
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Sweet or Anise-scented Goldenrod is one of the earliest fall blooming Goldenrods to grace our open areas including open woods, fields, powerline cuts and roadsides each fall. Its golden plumes light up much of the Eastern United States from New Hampshire south to Texas on dry, often…... Read more
September 13, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog
Common Cut-leaf Coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Common Cut-leaf Coneflower is a tall statuesque late summer-fall bloomer found throughout Virginia and stands above most perennials at heights 5 to 9 feet. Also known as Green-headed, Tall Coneflower, or Wild Golden Glow, it is widely distributed in open floodplain forests, alluvial swamps, seepage swamps, wet…... Read more
August 22, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog
Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society The July Plant of the Month, Common Milkweed, is a lovely, robust, herbaceous perennial festooned with showy clusters of flowers from June to August. A member of the Milkweed genus, Asclepias, it often gets a bad rap for its rhizomatous roots that can spread aggressively; however, this…... Read more
July 20, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog
Southeastern Prickly-pear Cactus, Opuntia mesacantha
By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Native Plant Society Southeastern Prickly-pear Cactus is certainly eye-catching when in bloom in late May and June and curious and just plain cool at any time of year. This native evergreen is technically a “shrub” although it grows only 6 – 12” high. It is indeed a member of the…... Read more
June 21, 2024
Source: VNPS Blog