Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Over 40 Years of Growing Gardens and Gardeners
Spring is a season of hope and renewal and yet we find ourselves battling together, in isolation, an unseen enemy–coronavirus or COVID-19. Staying home, does not necessarily mean staying indoors and physically distancing ourselves from one another does not mean distancing ourselves from nature.
Spring is a season of hope and renewal and yet we find ourselves battling together, in isolation, an unseen enemy–coronavirus or COVID-19. Staying home, does not necessarily mean staying indoors and physically distancing ourselves from one another does not mean distancing ourselves from nature.
As a supplement to the Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid- Atlantic fact sheets, the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia updated the Best Bets: Plants for Particular Uses in the Mid-Atlantic (found under Resources on the menu bar). The Best Bets recommend groups of plants that can help you address specific issues or a distinct set of growing conditions on your property. Although the plant lists are not exhaustive, they do reflect the local experience of Master Gardeners.
Gifts of Fragrance in the Early Spring Garden
How often do we miss things because we are just too busy to “slow down and smell the flowers?”
Master Gardeners’ Bookshelf
What Have Plants Ever Done for Us? Western Civilization in Fifty Plants, by Stephen Harris.
Book Review by Nancy Brooks, Extension Master Gardener
Invasive Plants in Northern Virginia: Japanese Knotwood
Japanese knotweed is a particularly aggressive buckwheat family member found throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. The plant was introduced to the United States from Japan in the early 1800s as an ornamental and erosion-control plant and has been considered as invasive, especially in riparian areas, since it escaped cultivation in the 1930s.
