Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Over 40 Years of Growing Gardens and Gardeners
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
This native deciduous holly produces prodigious quantities of red, berry-like fruits, which decorate the plant mid-fall into early spring. Female cultivar ‘Red Sprite’ needs male ‘Jim Dandy’ to make fruit. Purchase at least two females and one male for a “berry” good show.
Vegetable gardening information and events for December.
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Common through most of the Mid-Atlantic Region, native Little Bluestem gives a brilliant landscape performance. Tight, erect, spiky bluish-green stems and leaves transition to a sizzling fall display of oranges, reds, yellows and purplish-browns topped by fluffy seed heads that persist into winter.
The Glencarlyn Library Community Garden coordinators have created a new series of short videos about locally invasive plants and native alternatives. This month's post is on Leatherleaf Mahonia (Mahonia bealei).
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Often dominant in the canopy, the State Tree of Maryland supports 80 birds/mammals and about 534 Lepidoptera species. The largest recorded US specimen, the 500-year old Wye Oak, was felled in Maryland in 2002. VNPS honored White Oak as Wildflower of the Year in 2011.
Roots are the “hidden half” of plants, the underground structures that link them to the earth. Every plant seed contains an embryonic root, the radicle, which is the first part of the plant to emerge during germination. It burrows into the ground, becoming the primary root, which anchors the seedling.
