Each year, it becomes more and more difficult to choose our Bflies Instagram winner. Is it possible that you guys get better and better each year? Indeed, I think it is. Of all our Instagram contests, our #Bflies Instagram contest always has the most entries and interest. I don’t know if it’s the great prize […]
Read MorePlant fans in Richmond have been looking forward to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s plant sale since 1987, the year of our first plant sale. This year they are just as excited as ever, 29 years later we are still one of the most popular plant sales in Central Virginia. Our plant sale is still volunteer-run with […]
Read MoreJames Draper Shares Pinhole Photos of Nature Connects Exhibit Our Nature Connects®: Art with LEGO® Bricks exhibit has been wildly popular, not just with kids and millennials, but with adults of all ages. Each age group seems just as excited about it as the next. For young children, often it’s the enormity of the sculpture or […]
Read MoreAre we friends on Instagram? We should be! As one of the readers of our blog, you are likely one of our biggest fans. You deserve to be among the first to see new blooms at the Garden too! We also post highlights of the day, sweet moments, videos and even Instagram Stories, all in real time. Plus you […]
Read MoreSadly, we recently discovered southern blight on some of the tomatoes and peppers in our Community Kitchen Garden. Since our mission is education, we wanted to take this opportunity to talk about the causes and symptoms of southern blight and what can be done about it. Also, it’s a chance to show that everyone — even […]
Read MoreEvery plant has a story. Long before any humans roamed the planet, the earth was covered with a magnificent variety of plant life. Fields grew wild with flowers and grasses in their native lands and climates. Only natural processes, such as wind or animals were around to help them spread to new places. Now, many […]
Read MoreTomatoes are a favorite summer vegetable for many, and for good reason. There is nothing like a sweet juicy tomato fresh off the vine in the middle of July! Tomatoes are a perfect vegetable for beginner gardeners because they are so easy to grow, and there are so many types and varieties to choose from. […]
Read MoreCarMax Cares about our Garden What would you do with 295 hours? You could sleep for 16 days straight, or brush your teeth 8,850 times. Or you could help with community-improving projects by volunteering all of those hours with Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. That’s exactly what the CarMax Foundation is doing during the month of June. […]
Read MoreAs heirlooms are cherished, so are heirloom vegetables and heritage herbs of yesteryear. Virginia’s rich lineage of historic perennials, annuals, herbs, shrubs and trees are still available for planting today, including some that grew under the watch-care of President Thomas Jefferson. Seeds from plant varieties grown or documented by Jefferson are collected and preserved by the […]
Read MoreLet us tell you about a few of our favorite pollinators! Since National Pollinators Week (June 20-26, 2016) starts today, we thought it would be a great time to raise awareness of and appreciation for those “behind-the-scenes workers” that do so much to maintain our environment, provide us with natural beauty, and put food on our tables. […]
Read MoreA new apiary is open for visitors to learn about bees. The Bob Stapleton & Keith Tignor Apiary, adjacent to the Community Kitchen Garden, will definitely add some sweetness to your visit at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this summer. The apiary will feature a 10-frame observation hive, traditional Langstroth-style hives, and a top-bar hive, which, by its design, is wheelchair […]
Read MoreAnd the 2016 A Million Blooms Winner is … I am delighted to announce that the 2016 Million Blooms Instagram Contest winner is Meg Sneed. Sneed drove all the way from Fredericksburg, Va. to visit our Garden for the first time the day she took this photo. It was a field trip for her home-school kids […]
Read MorePhilodendrons Bloom in the Conservatory If you want to see a spectacular and interesting bloom, come visit the Conservatory now to visit the majestic philodendron. As you know, plants’ flowers are all about reproduction, and perhaps the most incredible characteristic of split-leaf philodendrons is their unique way of reproducing. A philodendron must be mature before it can begin flowering, which […]
Read MoreA Behind-the-Scenes Look at Garden Design Give a gardener a new bed, full of fresh soil and unlimited possibility, and stand back. Twice a year at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, in early spring and again in early fall, horticulture staff and volunteers pull spent bulbs and weary annuals out of their beds and replace them with […]
Read More2016 Summer hours: 8 a.m. opening, Thursdays, June 2-Sept. 8 This year, summer hours at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden are going to change a bit, for the better of course. Memorial Day weekend and the opening of the Nature Connects®: Art with LEGO® Bricks exhibit unofficially marked the beginning of summer. If you rise with the sun […]
Read MorePitcher plants are hungry for change. If you venture out to the West Island Garden, chances are that you will run into some spectacular-looking Sarracenia, commonly known as pitcher plants. To me, they are utterly fascinating–from their deeply-folded leaves and colorful veins to perching lids and pinwheel flowers (Yes, they do flower and flower beautifully). Sarracenia look to […]
Read MoreThe Mysterious Black Bat Flower Inspires Visitors & Artists A few days ago, Conservatory Horticulturist Chelsea Mahaffey sent me an excited email that our Tacca chantrieri or black bat flower was blooming. When I posted the photo of the flower on Facebook people became really excited. We had several questions from fans about how to grow them, and sweetly, one […]
Read MorePoeticus Daffodils: A Tale of Two Women Just when I thought all the daffodils had already bloomed, I was surprised to see some jolly miniature daffodils rising delicately, along a Flagler Garden pathway, not far from historic Bloemendaal House. With white petals and dainty cups a striking blend of lime green, golden yellow, crimson red […]
Read MorePink Lady’s Slippers are a native wildflower. But this fascinating plant attracts quite a bit of attention, more so than most wildflowers. In addition to its striking appearance, it is endangered in some areas of the country. So this is a special plant indeed. If the appearance of this beauty doesn’t convince you of nature’s amazing feat, […]
Read MoreApril at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is the Perfect Time for Peony Watching Peony embraces the kind of staggering beauty that always melts my heart and takes my breath away. For me, spring would only and truly come when the first peonies blazingly open, with their sweet, mysterious curls stroked by the sun’s buttery fingers. […]
Read MoreWith the newly introduced Garden Explorer website, you can explore the Garden in depth — on-site or virtually from anywhere in the world! Using a web browser on a PC, tablet computer or smartphone, a virtual visitor can access: • Satellite maps of the property • A database of detailed information about our plants and collections • […]
Read MoreWalking around Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden on this early day of spring is like getting lost in a fantasy world where everything is fair and lovely. One would easily be enchanted by sun-kissed daffodils in bright yellow and white, captured by blushing camellias in robust red and pink, and simply mesmerized by the sight of […]
Read MoreThanks to YOU we were voted the one of the nations best botanical gardens by USATODAY’s 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden came in at No. 4 , just behind No. 1 Longwood Gardens, No. 2 New York Botanical Garden and No. 3 Missouri Botanical Garden. Wow, what great company to be in! Experts picked the initial […]
Read MoreIf ever there was a plant with a fandom in Virginia, it would be the Virginia bluebell. Mertensia virginica makes fast friends with anyone new she meets. A native wildflower, you are just as likely to find her at Pony Pasture in the James River Park System as you are to find her here at Lewis Ginter Botanical […]
Read MoreIt’s that time again! It’s time to come out of winter hibernation and get the garden ready for spring planting! If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting for the warmer weather and are itching to get outside again. The winter months give us the opportunity to rest a bit and plan for the next year, but […]
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