Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s Spring Native Plant Sale 2024 promises to be a memorable event. In addition to our four native plant nurseries, we’re excited to host the following community partners: Wild Ones NoVA; Loudoun Master Gardeners; Virginia Master Naturalists, Banshee Reeks Chapter; Virginia Native Plant Society, Piedmont Chapter; American Chestnut Society, Virginia Chapter; and, venue host Morven Park.
Read about these community partners below and learn more by visiting their booths at the Native Plant Sale. They will all be on hand to answer your questions and tell you more about how you might connect with their work.
Wild Ones NoVA Chapter
Wild Ones NoVA Chapter (Seedling) is based in Centreville and serves residents of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park, and communities in Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties. Wild Ones promotes environmentally friendly, sound landscaping to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities across the United States. Wild Ones chapters are a space where like-minded people gather to support each other in learning about landscaping with native plants and to share with others in their communities and networks about why it’s important to reintroduce native plants into public and private gardens and how to go about doing it.
Loudoun Master Gardeners
Loudoun Master Gardeners are trained volunteer educators. Working with Loudoun County communities, their mission is to encourage and promote environmentally sound horticulture practices through sustainable landscape management education and training. Volunteers receive extensive training under the auspices of Virginia Tech and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Loudoun office to provide unbiased research-based horticultural information to the community. From tree care and lawn care to vegetable gardens, flowers, shrubs and native plants they serve the community through Help Desk Support, Garden Clinic, Healthy VA Lawns, a Demonstration Garden and additional programs.
Virginia Master Naturalist, Banshee Reeks Chapter
The Virginia Master Naturalist Banshee Reeks Chapter is a corps of volunteers providing education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within Loudoun County. They offer an eight-month training course for community members interested in certification as a Virginia Master Naturalist. The course covers topics in biogeography, botany, ecology, ornithology, management and conservation of ecological systems such as wetlands, forest and urban/suburban settings, as well as teaching and interpretive skills in citizen science
Virginia Native Plant Society, Piedmont Chapter
The Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS), founded in 1982 as the Virginia Wildflower Preservation Society, is a nonprofit organization of individuals who share an interest in Virginia’s native plants and habitats. The Society and its chapters seek to further the appreciation and conservation of this priceless heritage. The Piedmont Chapter serves the counties of Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun, Rappahannock, and Warren. The Chapter was chartered on July 18, 1984 and supports a variety of VNPS programs including the Wildflower of the Year, the Native Plant Site Registry, Spring Wildflower Celebration and the Invasive Alien Plant program.
Virginia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation
The Virginia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation is actively engaged in efforts to bring the American Chestnut back to Virginia’s forests. The mission of the chapter is to restore the American chestnut tree to Virginia’s woodlands to benefit our environment, our wildlife and our society. Virginia is in the heart of chestnut country and has been at the center of the restoration effort from the beginning. The national research facility is located in Meadowview in southwest Virginia, and scientists at Virginia Tech have been involved in chestnut research since long before there was a state chapter. The formation of the Virginia Chapter kicked off the effort to develop a tree specifically adapted to the climates and soils of the northern part of the Commonwealth.
Morven Park
Morven Park, the venue for the Native Plant Sale, is a 1,000 acre historic estate located in Leesburg, Virginia. Owned and operated by the Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization, Morven Park first opened to the public in 1967. Known as the “Central Park” of Loudoun County, Morven Park welcomes 250,000 visitors each year who come to enjoy exquisite scenery, formal boxwood gardens, the Morven Park International Equestrian Center, the iconic Greek Revival mansion, museums and hiking trails.