A New View of our Earth American soldiers and scientists working at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico took the first images of Earth from space in late October of 1946 when they attached a 35-millimeter movie camera to a confiscated German V-2 missile they were testing. The missile reached an altitude of 65 miles, just above the limit of ‘outer space,’ before crashing back to earth with the film protected in a steel container. Subsequent missile tests...
Dogwood trees explode into a profusion of flowers each spring. They grow wild along the forest edge, in clearings and along highways throughout Virginia, transforming from grey woody skeletons into graceful clouds of pink or white flowers as winter melts into spring each April. The State Tree of Virginia Flowering dogwood trees are cultivated in neighborhoods, around schools, in old church yards, and in private and public gardens, wherever they can shelter in the afternoon shade of taller...
Let’s celebrate some of our more unusual and lesser-known native wildflowers in 2025. The Virginia Native Plant Society has chosen the Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, as its 2025 Wildflower of the Year. The Perennial Plant Association has also chosen a native wildflower, indigenous to Virginia, as its pick for 2025. Perennial Plant of the Year for 2025 The 2025 Perennial Plant of the Year is clustered mountain mint, Pycnanthemum muticum, a native wildflower in the mint, or Lamiaceae family. It...
A Beacon of Spring A blooming redbud tree grabs my attention like no other spring flowering tree. It just suddenly lights up like a neon beacon glowing brightly in the edge of the wintery forest; transforming from non-descript to gorgeous in the space of a day. Unlike other spring blooming trees which show visibly swelling buds for weeks, while they wait for winter’s cold to pass; clusters of redbud blossoms simply break directly out of its bark, anywhere and...
Have You Eaten? Animals engage in the business of eating; there is no common ground between our desire for a beautiful and productive garden and a deer or rabbit’s need for lunch. While we may garden in harmony with birds harvesting berries from our shrubs and bees harvesting nectar and pollen from our flowers, it is mainly because they can assist us with our gardening tasks and feed themselves without destroying our plants. Birds and spiders eat mostly insects, helping...
Fallen leaves carpet the ravine behind our home, broken only by thick green stems of bamboo, taller than most of our trees; a few young pawpaw and scarlet buckeye trees; and the thick trunks of century old beech trees. There are also a few fallen, decaying trunks of trees lost to storms, but none of the undergrowth you might expect to find in a wild ravine bordering a small lake. The soil is rich and deep. Dappled sunlight illuminates...
Evergreen Herbs Lavandula spp. and hybrids, Lavender L. angustifolia (L. officinalis), English Lavender L. stoechas, Spanish lavender, which withstands humidity and blooms in late spring L. x intermedia ‘Phenomenal’, Hybrid ‘Phenomenal’ Lavender that withstands high humidity and heat Mentha spicata, Spearmint Mentha x piperita, Peppermint Petroselinum crispum, Parsley (Biennial) Salvia officinalis, Culinary Sage Salvia rosmarinus , Rosemary Santolina spp. Santolina, Cotton Lavendar Thymus spp., Thyme Teucrium chamaedrys, Germander Landscaping with Herbs in Williamsburg: Part I Evergreen Herbs ...
Plant Literacy Many people assume that Master Gardeners know a lot about plants. When neighbors request a home visit from the Landscape Love or Tree Call team, they often have three questions about certain plants in their yard: First, “What is it?” Some will follow up with, “Is it a native plant?” And then finally, “Will deer eat it?” If the homeowner already knows that deer will eat certain plants, then they may ask for advice about how to either...
Conifers Pinus taeda, Loblolly Pine Pinus virginiana, Virginia Pine Pinus palustris, Longleaf Pine Picea abies, Common Spruce Abies fraseri, Frasier Fir Tsuga canadensis, Eastern Hemlock Taxodium distichum, Bald Cypress Juniperus virginiana, Eastern Red Cedar x Hesperotropsis leylandii, Leyland Cypress The Beauty and Promise of Trees in Winter Planting Trees and Other Hacks to Manage Wet Soils Identifying Local Trees in Winter Native Trees Back to Plant Literacy Main Page
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...