Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Over 40 Years of Growing Gardens and Gardeners
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Nothing sings spring like drifts of pink and blue Mertensia virginica carpeting the woodlands. Buds, coiled like scorpions' tails, open into nodding, bell-shaped flowers. Enjoy these ephemerals, which the Virginia Native Plant Society named Wildflower of the Year in 1989, before they fade away.
Learn about Square Foot Gardening™, a method of intensive gardening where vegetables, flowers and herbs grow in raised bed boxes divided into square foot sections by a grid that lies on top of the box.
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
This ornamental shrub, which is common throughout most of the Mid-Atlantic Region, produces small, fragrant yellow flowers that cluster at the nodes of bare stems before leaves appear in early spring. The Virginia Native Plant Society named Spicebush as Wildflower of the Year in 2006.
Our newest resource covers gardening techniques with a focus on gardens with native plants. Find information on tasks appropriate to the spring season and learn about year-long practices to encourage and support local wildlife.
Vegetable Gardening information and events for March.
Tried and True Native Plant Selection for the Mid-Atlantic
Native mostly in the northern Mid-Atlantic Region, Ostrich Fern is indigenous in only four areas in Virginia, including along the Potomac River in Arlington and Fairfax counties. It requires a large landscape to show off its long, finely dissected fronds, suggestive of ostrich plumes.
