“The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician.” Paracelsus Creating Sanctuary Sometimes we all need a place to get away from the noise of our daily lives to find some peace. We want a place to relax, to heal, to reconnect with the natural world, and to dream of a better future for ourselves and our loved ones. Our outdoor spaces can provide us with peace, healing, sanctuary, sustenance, and inspiration when we design them with these...
Fragrant Gardenia Flowers Fragrance often announces the shift in our seasons, alerting us to look more carefully for what has changed since the day before. In June, a languid sweetness in the air calls our attention to the first flowers opening on the Gardenia shrub, a fixture in many Southeastern gardens, including residential gardens in coastal Virginia. Pristine, white and elegant, Gardenia flowers tend to fade all too quickly. Their beauty is ephemeral as they fade first to beige...
Dangerously Beautiful Opuntia Opuntia is a dangerous plant. A beautiful plant, perhaps, useful and delicious; but always dangerous to anyone who comes near it. Approach any Opuntia (Oh-POON’-tee-ah) you see with great care. Wear gloves. Wear heavy shoes and long pants. Study it carefully before approaching and consider its mysteries with an open mind. It is rife with contradictions. Opuntia is a native cactus that looks entirely out of place in most Virginia landscapes, though it grows here easily in...
The 2026 Pruning Home Visits Application Request window is OPEN through mid-March, 2026. APPLY NOW to get personalized pruning instructions from our Extension Master Gardeners. Click below to apply. Woody plants remain healthier, more productive, and more beautiful with strategic, well-timed pruning. Pruning young plants guides their growth into a strong and balanced structure. Pruning older plants opens them up to sunlight and airflow, limiting the opportunities for disease to infect them. Proper pruning can also rejuvenate them with...
Pruning woody shrubs is both art and science. Selecting which branches to leave and which to remove allows a gardener to train a woody plant into a pleasing, balanced shape that fits the available space. Some gardeners use pruning techniques to create neatly trimmed topiary, elegant hedges, or espaliered fruit trees. Gardeners may also prune roots and branches and remove leaves and buds to train trees to live as bonsai in shallow containers. Woody plants are extremely adaptable and...
Broadleaf Evergreen Trees & Shrubs Buxus microphylla, Littleleaf Boxwood Buxus sempervirens, Common Boxwood Ilex opaca, American Holly Ilex vomitoria, Yaupon holly Ilex aquifolium, English Holly Ilex cornuta, Chinese Holly Myrica cerifera, Southern Wax Myrtle Myrica pensylvanica, Bayberry Osmanthus heterophyllus, Holly Tea-olive Pyracantha coccinea, Scarlet Firethorn Quercus virginiana, Live Oak Broadleaf Evergreen Trees & Shrubs with Showy Flowers Camellia japonica, Japanese Camellia Camellia sasanqua, Sasanqua Camellia Kalmia latifolia, Mountain Laurel Magnolia grandiflora, Southern Magnolia Rhododendron spp. Azaleas and...
The Elements of Life Water, light, and air fuel our lives. We depend on them, as does every plant and animal. Light energy powers the chemistry of photosynthesis to transform elements like carbon and hydrogen into sugars, food. Oxygen fuels the production of life energy in every living cell. And water fills every cell of every living creature; gives us sap and blood; powers every process of life. There is no life, not even the tiniest microbe, without water. ...
The Olympic Games, a symbol of international unity and athletic excellence, incorporate plants and flowers into their ceremonies. These botanical elements enhance the visual appeal of the events and carry cultural and historical significance as well. Laurel and Olive in Ancient Greece In ancient Greece, victors of the Olympic Games were awarded olive wreaths, known as kotinos, made from the branches of the olive tree which is sacred to Zeus. This tradition dates back to 776 BCE and symbolizes...
Appropriate Species for Tiny Forests in Eastern Virginia Tiny forests designed following the Miyawaki method include a wide variety of native trees, shrubs, and ground covers planted randomly and densely, varying the heights of trees to establish a canopy layer, intermediate layers, and a ground cover layer. Plant as many as 3 to 5 plants per square meter into the prepared soil. Plants grow quickly, reaching for the light. A forest that takes a century or more to develop...
“Why should a man die in whose garden grows sage? Against the power of death there is not medicine in our gardens But Sage calms the nerves, takes away hand Tremors, and helps cure fever. Sage, castoreum, lavender, primrose, Nasturtium, and athanasia cure paralytic parts of the body. O sage the savior, of nature the conciliator!” From the Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum ca 1100-1200 CE The name Salvia officinalis, designating our common culinary sage, derives its species name from...