October is American Archives Month and we are sharing our treasures all month long. Sometimes you have to search for historic items, and sometimes they just fall into your hands. One day a visitor came into the Robins Visitor Center and presented us with this map and then disappeared. He didn’t leave his name or want a […]
Read MoreHow We are Using Mustard Greens to Fight Southern Blight Soil is vital and essential because it sustains life. You cannot have a healthy garden without healthy soil. The rear portion of the Kroger Community Kitchen Garden (KCKG) was hit last year with southern blight, a common soil-borne, plant disease. Southern blight affects all parts of the plant and […]
Read MoreSomething special happens to people when they learn about pawpaws for the first time. Their eyes widen, their brows furrow, and they say things like, “What does it taste like?” or “It grows here? In Virginia?” For many people, this moment turns into an ongoing curiosity, and in some cases even an engrossing obsession. I […]
Read MoreDon’t let invasive species fool you. They look innocent, but don’t behave. Nor do they stop growing, spreading and reproducing. The culprits are certain species of aggressive non-native vines, trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants and grasses. Some look exotic, promising to add pizazz to your landscape. Others serve a purpose, such as ground cover, erosion control […]
Read MoreUrban Greening for the Future: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden – Groundwork RVA Partnership Empowers Youth to Transform Richmond. Urban greening: “I want to make a difference in the community,” said DarQuan, a rising senior at Huguenot High School, about urban greening. DarQuan is one of the nine students participating in the Sustainable Landscape Management Program, a collaborative […]
Read More(Gardeners, don’t quit now!) It’s this time of the year that gardeners August gardens’ towering tomato plants eke out their final harvests. Yellowing cucumber vines wildly wander. Herbs go to seed, while tuckered flowers fade from glory. And all is accompanied by Richmond’s incessant heat, haze, and humidity. No wonder folks want to run from […]
Read MoreOn a recent summer afternoon, staff of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden gathered for a very special presentation. Horticulture research interns Devon Scallan and Kaitlyn Paulchell had been preparing for this day all summer, researching the Garden’s water quality and wanted to share their findings in a meaningful way. This meant not just a regular Power Point presentation, but […]
Read MoreFor this month’s blog I’d like to demonstrate how simple, straight-forward, and fun creating a butterfly garden is. I asked around the horticulturist’s lunch table to find out who among them ranks as a butterfly gardening expert. I’m glad I did, because Senior Horticulturist Shannon Smith is a butterfly gardening pro and plants specifically to support our native pollinators both here at Lewis Ginter […]
Read MoreMeet Jeanne Schlesinger, creator of butterfly books. She is a Garden Member who regularly visits Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden to see the plants and enjoy nature, but also to photograph butterflies up close. Schlesinger visits so often, sometimes 4 to 5 times a week, that she’s well-known to our butterfly curators and other staff. Her aim? To […]
Read MoreDavid Palma-Carias is like many teenagers. At 19, he loves to listen to music, has a wicked sense of humor, and he’s using his time out of school during the summer to build a foundation for his future. David is thinking about career plans and dreaming big (he wants to be a radio personality). When […]
Read MoreFor the past three summers, Lia Bazemore has worked as an intern in the Children’s Garden at Lewis Ginter through a partnership with Partnership for the Future. Bazemore is a recent graduate Henrico High School in the International Baccalaureate Program. In the fall, she will be a freshman at James Madison University. This summer has been very bittersweet. This is the where everything changes […]
Read MoreEach summer since Jacob was 4, he’s spent a week in Richmond, visiting his grandmother who runs our Garden Shop and spent the mornings at Green Adventures Summer Camp exploring nature at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Jacob has participated in all the camps over the years and even some camps that we no longer offer. He’s studied critters, dug […]
Read MoreAre you shopping for a birthday present? Something special for a friend? Or do you just love Butterflies LIVE! and want another way to appreciate butterfly beauty? Look no further. The Garden Shop now features butterfly wing jewelry perfect for expressing your love for a friend or for the Garden. Each butterfly jewel is unique, made […]
Read More“Succulents are not really beautiful. They’re weird. ” Mike Wallace’s candor about succulent plants stems from 40 years of studying and collecting them. A self-taught succulent guru and certified horticulturist, he became fascinated with the ornamentals while living in Tucson, Ariz., where they thrive. The word “succulent” comes from the Latin word “sucus,” which means […]
Read MoreA visitor recently asked me about Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s conservation efforts. It made me stop and think. So many of those efforts are simply part of our everyday activities. For instance as I walk through the Garden, I am surrounded by thousands of them – 5,538, in fact! That’s the total number of “taxa” […]
Read More