Columns
The Canada Lily: a striking native
Brave the heat for a walk in a moist meadow or along the edge of a wooded area ... Read more
Author: Dr. Cynthia Wood - Page 8 | The Farmville Herald
Columns
Whimsy in the garden
A few years ago, I added a bottle tree to a perennial border in the back garden. The ... Read more
Columns
The good and the bad in Mother Nature’s garden
Wa kid, I couldn’t wait for school to be over in mid-June so that I could spend time ... Read more
Columns
Rose pogonia: an uncommon orchid in our area
Robert Frost wrote about a meadow saturated with them and hoped that the meadow wouldn’t be mowed while ... Read more
Columns
Making the most of what you have
May was all about taking a break from garden maintenance and enjoying the parade of azaleas, rhododendrons, peonies ... Read more
Columns
New trails and a new plant
Several weeks ago, friends forced me out of my trail walking comfort zone and insisted that I try ... Read more
Columns
Unconventional containers for plants
Our weather has been very erratic this spring. In the 80s one week and then below freezing the ... Read more
Columns
Gardening with a little help from my friends
Gardening can be a wonderful solitary pursuit. There’s no better meditation for me than methodically weeding or putting ... Read more
Columns
Friend or thug — it’s all relative
I walked several trails at Powhatan State Park last week and just didn’t find much of interest. Some ... Read more
Columns
Signs of Spring
Spring won’t officially be here for a few more days, but it’s definitely time to hit the trails. ... Read more
Columns
Gardening outside the box
Well, I survived that frigid spell we had in mid-February and all the back- and-forth weather that followed. ... Read more
Church & Community
Native plants resources
Warrives, I always figure that spring is almost here and get ready to head back outside. So while ... Read more
Columns
Heuchera: Near-perfect shade plant
In a recent interview, Grace Chapman, director of horticulture at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, extolled the virtues of ... Read more
Columns
Amazing things that plants do
Even though we need plants for survival, we tend to take them for granted. Unfortunately, plants aren’t cuddly. ... Read more
Columns
Lost Gardens of Heligan: treasures and delights
If you read Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel “The Secret Garden” when you were a child, then you know ... Read more
Columns
A tale of old rectory gardens and corn
At the end of September I went to England to visit friends in Devon. They’re avid gardeners and ... Read more
Columns
Greenbrier: a Smilax kind of week
It’s been a greenbrier (Smilax spp.) kind of week. First, I went hiking with my favorite state naturalist, ... Read more
Columns
Selecting the right tree
As gardeners, we all have favorite trees, ones that we love better than all the others and just ... Read more
Columns
Kudzu: the vine that didn’t eat the South
Kudzu (Pueraria montana) has been getting lots of press this fall. The September issue of “Smithsonian Magazine” had ... Read more
Church & Community
Growing Native Plants in Containers
Most of us gardeners do a fair amount of container gardening — those old favorites, petunias and geraniums, ... Read more
Lifestyles
Highland treasures
One of the pleasures of wandering around in the woods is the discovery of new and unusual plants. ... Read more
Columns
Mulberry-weed is a nasty invasive
Several weeks ago, a friend sent me a photo of a plant and asked what it was. I ... Read more
Columns
Other people’s gardens
Foodies delight in dining at new restaurants, visiting much admired chefs in their kitchens, and trying whatever new, ... Read more
Church & Community
The Whale’s Tongue
Have you driven by the Farmville fire station recently? More importantly, did you see that wild child plant ... Read more
Columns
Help! There’s frog spit on that plant
When I was a kid, I loved to look for frog spit, those bubbly blobs of foam found ... Read more
Columns
Magnolias: the Essence of Summer
Some of my earliest childhood memories involve the intense fragrances of flowers – lilacs, my grandmother’s old roses, ... Read more
Columns
Drama in the Milkweed Patch
The common and swamp milkweeds bloomed last month. We all know that milkweed leaves are essential for the ... Read more