Join Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy for a walk through the beautiful fall foliage of a local Willowsford Conservancy trail, led by the Virginia Native Plant Society’s Carrie Blair. Observe the brilliant hues of fall and take in the sounds and sights as the forest inhabitants prepare for winter. Recommended for adults. Registration required. Questions: Contact info@loudounwildlife.org.

Vol. 16 Issue 2, Summer 2011 By Nicole Hamilton The trees were cleared. The wetlands were filled and graded as if they never existed. The houses went up. Fescue, oh, sorry, lawns were rolled out. Two trees and seven bushes per lot — species that had genes of Asia pumping through their veins —were planted. […]

While different states celebrate Arbor Day on different dates based on tree-planting weather, here in Virginia, it falls on the last friday in April (today!) The Arbor Day Foundation has some great information on the history of Arbor Day – including an interactive history book – as well as educational materials that can be used […]

Cathy Mayes, Virginia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, provided us with a great talk on the American Chestnut Tree last night. I posted a few photos to our Facebook album. Did you know that up until the 1930s, the American Chestnut was the dominant tree in our forests? and because of it’s towering height, […]

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) was one of the first native shrubs that I learned when I moved to Loudoun.  We have it in various places just growing wild through our back yard area and I was curious about their bright red berries. It turns out, Spicebush is a wetland plant that often grows alongside Sassafras in moist […]

No, I’m not talking about the pulls you get in sweaters or problems that crop up in your plans….no no, this is a snag of a different type…… A good kind of snag is a dead tree that’s been left standing.  I’m not sure where that term came from, but I first learned about snags […]

Yup, there’s a new identification book out by David Sibley but it’s not a bird book…this time it’s on Trees! As far as I know, this is the first non-bird book that David has written and indeed, I think it will be really useful. Sure, there are pros and cons to the guide, as there […]

It’s cold, quiet, a few birds are singing but the woods and fields are pretty silent. Colors of spring and summer have gone dormant and the earth seems to be at rest. Winter, the time of rejuvenation, the growing of roots rather than leaves. Stan Shetler wrote a great article on Plant Life in the […]

By all accounts, the tree planting along the Town Branch stream on Saturday was a great success!  Gem Bingol from Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) kicked off the event with an overview of the project, talking about the stream and how the riparian buffer will help improve water quality and describing the task that we would […]