Buttonbush is a shrub or small tree commonly attaining heights up to about 6 m, occasionally twice that size. Leaves are opposite or whorled, elliptic to ovate, 2-8 cm wide, and 6-15 cm long; margins are entire and apices are acute or cuspidate, … [Read more...]
The Smell of Spring
by Josh Palumbo, Forest Management Coordinator The harbingers of spring come in a variety of forms. From migrating birds to budding trees, few are ready when one of the earliest signs of spring emerges from its wet soil home. This omen of spring … [Read more...]
HOLIDAY DECORATING WITH FRESH GREENERY
Decorating the house with fresh greenery is one of the oldest winter holiday traditions. Evergreens have been a part of winter festivals since ancient times. Evergreens are used to represent everlasting life and hope for the return of spring. Read … [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...]
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...]
FEED THE BIRDS WITH NATIVE PLANTS
Whether you enjoy bird watching or you like to feed the birds, native plants are a great way to attract them to your yard! MORE SOURCE: https://www.lewisginter.org/feed-the-birds/ … [Read more...]
1989 Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Few blues in nature rival the blue of Virginia bluebells, and a single clump in a garden or a stand of thousands along a stream is a beautiful sight. Continued: … [Read more...]
Wild Garlic
Wild garlic Allium vineale LAlso known as: wild onion, crow garlic, fieldonion, Jamestown-grass, Stag’s garlic, scallion,ramsons and rush-leek. Read about: … [Read more...]
Native Plants for Winter Interest
A number of plants native to our region provide continuing value and interest in our gardens into the winter. Their evergreen foliage or interesting bark add beauty to the landscape, while their berries, seeds, or stems provide support to wildlife … [Read more...]
Sunflowers
Sunflowers are popular. It seems one can find a sunflower on almost anything, from throw pillows to towels to floor mats and rugs. I've also noticed more and more gardeners growing sunflowers for their beauty, their tasty seeds, or for wild bird … [Read more...]