by Albert Brian Vick Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator It’s time to plant the “cole” crops: Brassica (Cruciferae) family members like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Five intrepid volunteers joined us for Fall planting day at the Lewis Ginter Community Kitchen Garden. “Intrepid” because they had no idea of the task before us: […]
Read Moreby Janet Woody, Librarian, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden We received a new book in the library just in time for fall garden planning. Attracting Native Pollinators, by Eric Mader and colleagues at The Xerces Society, is the book you need as you get ready for next spring and summer’s growing seasons. And what could be more […]
Read Moreby Albert Brian Vick Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator We’ve allowed this Amaranth plant to mature – so far – in the Lewis Ginter Community Kitchen Garden, adjacent to the cucumber patch. We wanted to determine exactly which variety we had – a “grain” amaranth or just the “weedy” variety. In the U.S., […]
Read Moreby Albert Brian Vick Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator It almost seems counter-intuitive for the idea of growing tomatoes, but sunshine is a double-edged sword. Tomato fruits actually need to be shaded somewhat by foliage, otherwise the result is the yellowing shown here, or even outright sun-scald, which has a bruising, destructive […]
Read Moreby Albert Brian Vick Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator Always a provocative title, but here’s the thing. You’ve seen the pie tins hung in gardens to keep birds away, right? Well, this is the modern version. It’s too long a story to describe where I first saw this idea, but it’s been […]
Read Moreby Albert Brian Vick Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator This post is course number “102″, following the Entomology 101 course recently experienced in-depth with the Squash Bugs. After the Squash Bug assault, to put it mildly I’ve become more attuned to the presence of insects in the vegetable garden. Normally I completely […]
Read Moreby Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden A few months ago, a friend introduced me to a new tree. He showed me a painting that looked a bit like this photo below, and told me it was a wingnut. I must have looked at him like he was crazy. Indeed that seemed […]
Read Moreby Albert Brian Vick Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator In 2008 the European Union relaxed its previously strict rules against the marketing of “imperfect” fruits and vegetables, but only on 26 varieties – not including tomatoes. At the time of the announcement, European Commission spokesman Michael Mann said “This is a happy […]
Read Moreby Janet Woody, Librarian, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden After reading about James Madison in Andrea Wulf’s book Founding Gardeners, I added a trip to his Montpelier to my to-do list. My husband and I recently spent a pleasant day touring his restored home and grounds, which both appear very similar to the way he left them […]
Read Moreby Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Recently, NBC12’s Gene Cox reported on the Richmond Region’s “food deserts.” A food desert, Cox explains, is an area where there is no grocery store located within a mile in urban areas, or within 10 miles in rural areas. Cox reports, often when a grocery […]
Read Moreby Janet Woody, Librarian, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden It’s the time of year when we turn our garden attention to container gardening. And why is that you ask? Because we’ve completely planted out all of our beds and have decided, once again, there is no more space for plants. But there are always containers. They will […]
Read Moreby Michelle Smith, Intern, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden It’s high energy these days at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden as the “Meadowmorphosis” stick sculpture unfolds. While there have been many dedicated volunteers providing support to sculptor-in-residence, Patrick Dougherty, and his assistant, Andy Lynch, there are two volunteers that stand out. As a Public Relations & Marketing summer […]
Read Moreby Janet Woody, Librarian, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Some days I think I have gone around the bend over plants. I’d rather tinker with plants in my yard than do just about anything else. I just finished reading Founding Gardeners and boy, these guys were truly over the top when it came to their love for […]
Read Moreby Cathy Butler, guest blogger & instructor at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Cathy Butler is a certified Feldenkrais Method® instructor, who will be teaching a class on Effortless Gardening™ at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden on May 14th -15 (10 am – 3 p.m. Saturday, Sunday 1 – 4 p.m.) We’ve asked her to share a bit about her […]
Read MoreNote: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is working in concert with the Virginia Department of Forestry to harvest young red maple saplings in Chesterfield County and sweet gum saplings from Hanover County for “Meadowmorphosis” a stick sculpture installation at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden that will be created May 2-22 and here to be enjoyed for years to […]
Read Moreby Brenda Brown, PR & Marketing Intern, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden It’s never just another day at the Garden — we’re always working on another way to help you enjoy plants. Wondering what’s up next? Our annual Spring Plant Sale! Our volunteers and staff have been preparing for months growing the plants we’ll sell, organizing enriching […]
Read MoreHenrico County residents can pick up a few free trees (up to 10) tomorrow or Friday at Dorey Park or Hermitage High School, respectively, courtesy of the Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation District. Trees are beautiful, add shade, increase property values, help save energy, and protect our watershed. Do your part and plant a tree! […]
Read Moreby Brenda Brown, PR & Marketing Intern, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Visit the Garden this week and you will most likely see rose beds that are being prepared for this spring. You might be wondering why roses are being pruned so early and you may be thinking that fluctuating weather should be a deterrent for […]
Read Moreby Janet Woody, Librarian, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Those of us with lawns can’t wait for them to green up. Winter has been dreary and we need a good dose of green right about now. It so sad to look at a broad expanse of flattened, brown, dormant grass. If you’ve never had your soil […]
Read Moreby Janet Woody, librarian, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Hawthorne trees have something to offer all year round, but right now, the ‘Winter King’ is one of the showiest trees in the garden. We have three planted together in a striking display on the edge of the west parking lot (outside of the Garden Shop/westside Visitor […]
Read Moreby Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden One of our wonderful volunteers, Linda Miller, was talking about the dawn redwoods planted on Monument Avenue in the median strip near her home. She had enjoyed watching the young trees grow and develop their graceful feathery foliage. But towards late October the leaves […]
Read Moreby Frank Robinson, Executive Director, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden I recently had the privilege of visiting the Botanical Garden and the Technical University at Delft, (TU for short), in the Netherlands. TU has one of the world’s leading initiatives in applied botanical research with a focus on solving modern-day problems. The Delft Botanical Garden has […]
Read Moreby Frank Robinson, Executive Director, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden I write the following to document and interpret the impact of our weather on the Garden, but more so to commend the horticultural, operations, maintenance and volunteer staff for the superb job you have done under really difficult conditions in recent weeks, with special thanks to […]
Read Moreby Frankie Geouge, Conservatory Volunteer, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden The Lewis Ginter Conservatory is full of botanical surprises, even for a seasoned gardener. One of these is the delightful Jaboticaba Plinia Cauliflora, of the family Myrtaceae. Also called the “Brazilian grape,” this slow-growing evergreen is widely cultivated in its native country. What I find most […]
Read Moreby Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Lewis Ginter’s Spring Plant Sale is almost here! I just talked to the Garden’s Volunteer Coordinator, Darlene VanLaan, and she reminded me — this is a hugely popular event! Plant enthusiasts line up long before the sale starts to be the first to get […]
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