Asiatic Bittersweet Image 1: Unopened Asiatic bittersweet fruit in early October, by Gloria SchoenholtzImage 2: Asiatic bittersweet vine with expanded fruit later in the fall, by Gloria SchoenholtzIntroduced to the United … [Read more...]
Saving the monarch butterfly, one milkweed plant at a time
On a hot summer day at Claytor Nature Center, a handful of students are plucking fingernail-sized clippings among rows and rows of milkweed plants. What are they doing? Broadly speaking, they are researching how to save the declining monarch … [Read more...]
Wise Watering in Dry Times
We gardeners don’t need a weatherman to know it’s been an abnormally dry year in the Charlottesville area. Federal weather data confirms what we’re seeing in our yards: total precipitation for our locality is around four inches below what we would … [Read more...]
BUILDING BIODIVERSITY
Nature loves a layer. She cements courses of sediment into solid stone. She laminates an annual succession of circles into living trees. She layers an onion in pungent iterations of itself, one inside the other. And, sandwiched between the strata of … [Read more...]
Climate Change and Its Effect on Gardening
To quote David W. Wolfe, Professor of Plant & Soil Ecology at Cornell University, “We are in the unfortunate situation of being the first generation of gardeners, ever, who cannot rely on historical weather records to tell us what our climate … [Read more...]
Sources and Solutions: Stormwater
In undeveloped areas precipitation typically soaks into the ground. However, when buildings, parking lots, roads and other hard surfaces are added to the landscape, the ground cannot absorb the water. Read more: … [Read more...]
NATIVE PLANTS: AN ELEGANT SOLUTION
Along the eastern edge of Lake Sydnor, on the narrow strip of land between the shoreline and the Children’s Garden, a group of plants is hard at work. The beauty of the bed belies its greater purpose. The plants there are members of a “designed plant … [Read more...]
Cold Weather and Pests
COLD WEATHER AND PESTS The Entomological Society of America reminds us that most insects, including pests, have evolved ways to cope. Dr. Lewis at Iowa State University has more. Not even deep freeze can put unwanted pests on … [Read more...]
What Do You Mean I Have To Water In The Winter?
Winter watering is something that stumps many people. If you think about it, most of us put the hose away in late October or November when we begin to have frosty nights. Hoses may not come out again until late March or April. In … [Read more...]
Fall Fire Season in Virginia
Fall wildfire season is here! Keep yourself and your family safe from the ravages of wildfire. Preventing a wildfire from ever starting is critical to the safety and security of everyone in Virginia. And, since most wildfires (96 percent) … [Read more...]