My friend Carla knows a lot about plants. Ever since the day her mother found dirt in her diaper, she’s been a gardener. When she told me she couldn’t figure out why her Christmas cactus bloomed at Thanksgiving every year, I knew something was up. “Maybe it’s a Thanksgiving cactus,” someone suggested. She thought they […]
Read MoreThe yaupon holly shrub looks commonplace. It is not flashy or fancy. It doesn’t even have the prickly leaves we normally associate with hollies. If you walk by it without noticing it, like many of our visitors do, you would be in good company. It is often used as shrubs in residential areas and it’s […]
Read MoreWhat better way to celebrate nature than with a beautiful scene from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden as your Zoom background at your next work meeting! We all need a bit more beauty and peace and this is a simple way to bring it into your world while supporting Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. During this unprecedented […]
Read MoreWe’re bringing you a Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Zoom background gallery to kick off National Public Gardens Week. Why not use a custom virtual Zoom background in your next meeting to show your love of gardens and to highlight the importance of gardens in our lives. Our favorite way to celebrate National Public Gardens Weeks is, […]
Read MoreNeed some tips for starting your vegetable garden? We have them here! Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s Senior Horticulturist Laurel Matthew recently shared some of her insight on Facebook Live and and we posted it to YouTube as well. Laurel was kind to provide some helpful information she’s learned over the years (below). Laurel works hard […]
Read MoreRevival, social justice and defiant compassion marked the pleas of Benjamin Vogt, owner of Monarch Gardens, a prairie-inspired garden design firm in Lincoln, NE. During Lewis Ginter’s Winter Symposium in Richmond, Vogt passionately advocated for the voiceless: plants and their extended communities around the globe. “The greatest injustice of our time may be the eradication […]
Read MoreWhat are natives? What nature intended: Natives are the plants that grow naturally in a region — as in, they generally occurred here before European settlement. They also are the grassroots for co-survival of other native species, including insects, birds and wildlife. More for less: Native plants sometimes are more resistant to drought, insects and […]
Read MoreYou can find a rare beauty, Magnolia amoena, right here in Richmond, blooming now at the north end of Sydnor Lake at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. With plants, like people, I try not to have favorites, but when you are in love, you are in love. And the striking form of this magnolia — the […]
Read MoreHave you ever walked into a grocery store, spotted a tropical fruit and said, “I’m going to try to grow one of those!”? You’d have to be a bit of a visionary to think that you could, but you never know what is possible until you try. For Craig O’Der, Sr., it was a pineapple […]
Read MoreThe iconic view of the Conservatory and the Central Garden leading up to it immediately draw in visitors. However, hidden behind the Conservatory, an oft-overlooked treasure awaits. The Kroger Community Kitchen Garden and the Bob Stapleton and Keith Tignor Apiary are two of my favorite places to show visitors. Although the Kitchen Garden has been […]
Read MoreRecently I had the pleasure of attending Dr. Doug Tallamy’s lecture, Restoring Nature’s Relationships at Home. It was hosted by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s education department and I was moved to see it was sold out, with 245 people signed up to attend. It is encouraging to see so many people are aware there are […]
Read MorePurple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), both handsome and hardy, is a native that frequents fields and fencerows across our state. A day in the sun The sun-loving perennial vine produces showy, exotic flowers during summer–but look fast! Each lavender bloom lasts less than a day before it shrivels and sets fruit over the course of several […]
Read MoreThe Garden is full of beautiful landscapes, blossoming flowers, art installations and small wildlife. It is beautiful year round and always offers something new to engage with. However, one of the most amazing areas of the Garden is the Kroger Community Kitchen Garden. This time of the year it’s bustling with visitors, horticulturists, volunteers and school […]
Read MoreThe passenger platforms for PULSE, the GRTC bus rapid transit system, have been touted for their innovative architecture. Their landscape designs merit kudos, too. The largest planting is little more than 6 to 10 feet wide. However, the 26 stations are situated along a high-profile corridor between Willow Lawn and Rocketts Landing. Creating each station’s […]
Read MoreAwake! This woodland rambler is an early riser from winter’s slumber. Consider mayapple a welcome harbinger of spring. State of popularity: Virginia is for Lovers … of mayapples! The native perennial (Podophyllum peltatum) can be found in almost every part of the state. What’s in a name: The moniker suggests May beauty, but Richmond’s mayapple blooms often […]
Read MoreScientific curiosity. That is what sparked Dr. Arthur Burke ’s passion for orchids. Though he acknowledges blooming orchids are beautiful, Dr. Burke tends to view them as science in living form. “Orchids are an intellectual challenge because they have very exacting needs,” he said. “I also embraced the bi-lateral symmetry of the orchid flower. If you […]
Read MoreThis native tree (Cercis canadensis) parades profuse blooms in early spring, but don’t let the name color your thinking. Red herring: The joke’s on you if you think the eastern redbud produces red blooms. Virginia’s varieties actually present lush flowers from lavender to fuchsia, and they resemble miniature hummingbirds. (Thinking of wings, the flowers of this […]
Read MoreTrees. They provide shade on a summer’s day. Brilliant bursts of color in fall. The stark beauty of naked bark against an overcast winter sky. And the hope of rebirth as green leaf shoots sprout from seemingly out of nowhere in spring. We sometimes take trees for granted, but we shouldn’t. They are vital to […]
Read MoreTropical plants are magical. Extraordinarily lush foliage, pungent fragrances, and remarkable blooms mesmerize our senses, while their quirky features and minuscule to mega sizes tantalize our imagination. One tropical wonder that’s long been a fascinating subject for writers, artists and photographers is the Victoria waterlily, botanically classified as Nymphaeaceae Victoria amazonica. This intriguing tropical specimen, […]
Read MoreWe wish we could give each person who visits Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden their own personal guided summer blooms highlights tour. But since that’s not practical we try to do the next best thing — we give visitors you a resource so they can make sure they see our most interesting plants and blooms while […]
Read MorePeople right here in Central Virginia struggle with hunger every day. The populations most likely to be affected by hunger, children and the elderly, may have trouble not only getting enough food but getting the right kind of food — fresh locally grown vegetables and fruits. The Kroger Community Kitchen Garden is working to change that. […]
Read MoreProfile of Asclepias tuberosa: a native plant beloved by butterflies and gardeners alike … Clusters of color. Crown-shaped flowers blaze with bold orange or yellow vibrancy in the summertime. Nectar and pollen. Butterflies, monarchs, and hummingbirds greedily guzzle its nectar, while only wasps pollinate its flowers. Weedy or worthy? Butterfly weed may be persistent as […]
Read MoreAs you walk around our garden enjoying the beautiful plants, you might not realize that they have complicated personal lives. All those beautiful colors and structures have a purpose. Often the purpose has to do with eating and reproducing, and nothing to do with your enjoyment. According to the PBS video Plant Behaving Badly, scientists […]
Read MoreMeet this year’s #MillionBlooms Instagram Contest winner, Garden Member Kelly Randall (@falco_kapowski on Instagram). We love this story! “Mara and I go to Lewis Ginter two or three times a week. My grandparents got us a membership for Christmas and we have definitely been getting our money’s worth! Mara loves to practice her walking and […]
Read MoreAs you move down the Main Garden Path this summer, you’ll notice the rainbow of flowers — each one part of a group of pollinator plantings–stretching at its side. You’ll see a variety of specimens, including annuals, perennials, and native plants. These blooms aren’t just attractive to the eye, but help to attract useful pollinators […]
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