Spring is finally here, and our yards are beckoning us outside. Here’s a list of April events that are sure to get you in the planting mood.
April 12-13
8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Everything will be 20 percent off at
Colesville Nursery, 14011 Nursery Road, Ashland, Va. Lines get long at this annual sale, so arrive early and bring a plant wish list. Enter to win one of two Japanese maples.
April 13
11 a.m.
Children between the ages of 4 and 10 can sign up for the Sneed’s Seeds Club at
Sneed’s Nursery and Garden Center, 8756 Huguenot Road, Richmond, Va. Club members get to make a monthly garden craft, receive a birthday gift and, most importantly, foster an early love for plants.
April 14
11 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Nearly 150 species of native plants will be for sale at
Herring Run Nursery, 6131 Hillen Road, Baltimore, Md. Spend $30 or more and receive a free woodland poppy (redeem the poppy coupon at the nursery’s
Facebook page). This nonprofit nursery is an affiliate of Blue Water Baltimore.
April 20
11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Water your plants for free. Make a rain barrel at the Christopher Newport University Garden Symposium in Newport News. Contact Newport News Cooperative Extension at 757-591-4838 to register for one of two workshops. Cost is $50 per barrel.
2 p.m.
Rich Poulin of The Perennial Farm will give a primer on new and underused perennials at
Countryside Gardens, 220 E. Mercury Blvd., Hampton, Va.
April 21
11 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Natural Art Garden Center, 27358 Old Valley Pike, Toms Brook, Va., celebrates five years in business with an open house in conjunction with the Shenandoah County Gardens, Galleries and Grapes Tour. Make a day of it finding plants for the yard and sampling local ciders.
1 p.m.
Merrifield Garden Center founder Bob Warhurst (a.k.a., The Plant Whisperer) discusses how to be a successful gardener in a program at the Gainesville location, 6895 Wellington Road, Gainesville, Va. Self-proclaimed “brown thumbs” should attend.
April 21 and 26
April 27
10:30 a.m.
This is by no means an all-inclusive list. Add events we left off in the comments section below.
Some of us soon might be gazing wistfully at snow out our
windows, but the truth is spring is not far away. What better way is there to beat the
winter doldrums than to gear up for spring planting?
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Selecting gifts for your Chesapeake Bay-loving friends need not be difficult! Here are our top 10 bay-centric gifts:
1) “Lynnhaven River, Restoring a Legend” — This new book by the folks at
Lynnhaven River Now tells the story of the cherished river through photos and personal narratives. It’s a coffee table book that surely won’t collect dust on the coffee table. Click
here for purchase information.
This entry was posted in Chesapeake Bay, Gardens, Plant More Plants and tagged in gifts, plant lovers, colesville nursery, irvine nature center, james river association, h2o collect, lynnhaven river now, blanchard's, merrifield garden center, be the bay, flora of virginia | Leave a comment.
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You may have heard the slogan, “Fall is for Planting.” It isn’t just a marketing gimmick invented by the landscape or nursery industries. Fall really is the best time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. One reason is that soils are still warm and will promote strong root growth even through winter. Fall also is cooler, so the need to water isn’t as great.
When I was a kid, I proclaimed to be all about the Earth. It was the early 90s. Recycling, spotted owls and a certain superhero named Captain Planet were among my chief obsessions. Fully aware of this, my parents — bless their hearts — chauffeured me to all variety of environment-themed activities. There were tree plantings and litter cleanups and ecology club meetings and, of course, Earth Day celebrations.
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The idea couldn’t be simpler. You have seeds left over from last year’s garden but, this year, would like to try some new plants. Somewhere nearby, a fellow gardener is in the same boat. The two of you attend a neighborhood seed swap organized by one very ambitious person or group and — voilà — you both have new seeds to plant.
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For most people, gardening is an at-home activity, a hobby for the weekend or a way to unwind after a day spent sitting behind a desk.
But for several employees with the Virginia Department of Health, the joys of gardening are part of the daily work routine. They participate in a program called Plaza Planter Adopt-a-Box at their department’s headquarters — the Madison Building in downtown Richmond.
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I'm not ashamed to admit I haven't thrown away a single plastic pot from this year's spring planting. Right now, my porch is a sort of plastic pot graveyard, where old pots have found (seemingly) eternal resting places over in a far corner.
I imagine lots of gardeners experience this, um, "attachment" to their plastic pots and flats. Most curbside recycling programs won't accept them, so what's an eco-conscious gardener to do? There's got to be a clever way to reuse them, but I haven't figured that out yet.
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June 20-26 was Virginia Pollinator Week, a time when we focus with others across the United States on the irreplaceable value of bees, butterflies, moths and nature's other pollinators.
There is an alarming and discernible decline in the population of these fascinating creatures that make seeds and fruits magically appear on plants, shrubs and trees. While this decline is not news for those of us interested in gardening and farming, the week reminds us how much we need to ramp up our efforts to reverse this trend and educate everyone about the far-reaching effects a loss of our pollinators will have on everyday life.
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This entry was posted in Bayscaping, Gardens, Native Plants, Plant More Plants, Tips, Wildlife and tagged in bees, colony collapse disorder, mary walker, plant es natives, pollinators, virginia pollinator week | 1 Comment.
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Who doesn't enjoy hearing a songbird or catching a glimpse of their bright colors in the backyard? Some people garden specifically for wildlife, including birds, by choosing all of their plantings based on how they function for wildlife in the landscape. While you don't have to replace everything you have, certain additions can help attract our feathered friends.
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This entry was posted in Gardens, Native Plants, Plant More Plants, Tips, Wildlife and tagged in birds, bringing nature home, chesterfield cooperative extension, lady bird johnson wildflower center, national wildlife federation, native plants, songbirds, susan edwards | Leave a comment.
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