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Category Archives: Public Education
Five Things You Didn’t Know About . . . Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Arboretum
Anyone who visits Arlington National Cemetery (more than 4 million people do so every year) knows that America’s most hallowed ground, the final resting place of more than 400,000 service members, veterans and their spouses on 624 acres, is also a sanctuary for lovers of flowers and trees. Continue reading
Nurture Your Soil to Grow Your Best Garden
Gardens with rich, dense and diverse plantings—not bare land—attract and provide food for these organisms. They, in turn, move through the soil, aerating, enriching and making it more porous and absorbent. Whatever your “crop”—perennials, annuals, vegetables or fruits—you can join the growing movement of “soil gardeners” who care for their soil in order to grow better, more successful gardens. Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Public Education
Tagged mulch, soil
Grasses vs. Sedges
Grasses and sedges are both classified as monocots. These are plants whose seeds have one cotyledon (the part that will grow into embryonic leaves), and which possess flower parts in multiples of three, leaves with parallel veins, and scattered vascular bundles. While they resemble each other superficially, grasses are members of the Poaceae family and sedges belong to the Cyperaceae family. Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Public Education
Tagged bottlebrush grass, Carex pensylvanica, Carex plantaginea, Chasmanthium latifolium, Elymus hystrix, grasses, Indian grass, Indian woodoats, Little Bluestem, Muhlengergia capillaris, Native grasses and sedges, Panicum virgatum, Pennsylvania sedge, Plaintainleaf sedge, Schizachyrium scoparium, sedges, Sorghastrum nutans, Switchgrass
Native Sedges for the Home Garden
As local plant sales and nurseries carry more straight species and cultivars of some Mid-Atlantic native grasses, commercial and residential landscapers are beginning to recognize both the ornamental characteristics and value to wildlife of these native plants. Continue reading
Planting Dates for Arlington and Alexandria
Check out this chart for 2018 Planting Dates for Arlington and Alexandria! Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Public Education
Tagged gardening, Planting, spring
Five Annuals for a Pollinator Garden
Pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds gravitate to gardens that bloom throughout the growing season and that contain an abundance of the same plant species as well as a diversity of species of like colors arranged together. Annuals, with their extended bloom period, ensure a continual nectar source for pollinators when perennials have yet to flower or are in decline. Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Pollinators, Public Education
