From the category archives:

Plants and Wildlife in Charlottesville

Decision Needed for UVa Magnolias

May 7, 2012

It happens all the time.  People plant their favorite tree or bush in the perfect spot to compliment their existing landscaping, without fully anticipating how that plant might look in a few years.  We see homes with shrubbery leaning heavily on the walls of the home or covering the walkways.  Some of the plants that make southern [...]

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Charlottesville Dogwood Festival

March 24, 2012

The 63rd Annual Charlottesville Dogwood Festival starts on March 30 with the Dogwood tree sale at Barracks Road Shopping Center.   The pageant will be held on March 31 and the carnival will open April 11, 2012.  The Grand parade and ball will close the festival on April 28. Please visit their calendar page for many [...]

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USDA Offers New Guide to Planting

January 26, 2012

Don’t plant those flowers just before a frost! There’s a great new tool from the U.S. Dep’t of Agriculture.  They have developed a GPS-based site where you can go to investigate the recommended planting dates for gardens in your area.  The last time the USDA developed a plant-hardiness map was in 1990, and this time [...]

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Botanical Garden Planning For Charlottesville

December 10, 2011

The City of Charlottesville is planning its first Botanical Garden at McIntire Park.  As part of the planning process for the park’s design elements, the public is invited to help, and the first meeting is planned at Charlottesville High School on Monday Dec. 12th at 6:30 p.m. Here’s a chance for all of you who like to be gardeners [...]

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Chestnut Season

December 7, 2011

Thanks to our holiday song heritage, most of us have some kind of subliminal knowledge that a chestnut can be prepared by roasting it on an open fire.   And for most of us, that’s about where our knowledge of chestnuts ends. Did you know that chestnuts are about 50% water and that you want to [...]

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5 Things About Autumn Color

October 29, 2011

Autumn is so gorgeous around Charlottesville in central Virginia.   Our hillsides and mountains tip the colorful displays into eye-popping distractions.  Each year the colors are different … different timing, different intensity, different locations.   Here are 5  things we need to know about fall colors. 1. Despite the many theories about why leaves change color … temperature, [...]

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Features of Charlottesville’s Parks

September 22, 2011

Periodically we like to remind our readers about the amazing natural beauty of the Charlottesville area parks and natural areas.  In case you missed it, here is a LINK TO A SUMMARY of the features of the Charlottesville area parks.  If you just want to know about specific features like fishing … or trails … THIS LINK will give you [...]

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Bamboo Bikes – Environmentally Friendly

August 6, 2011

The Blue Ridge Eco Shop in Charlottesville is selling bicycles from bamboo.  We’re actually going to talk about Charlottesville bicycles here, but first … some background on the bamboo plant.    Bamboo is a member of the grass family.  Most people know that it’s the food of pandas, but many folks are surprised to know that [...]

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Time to Eat Asparagus

June 26, 2011

Here’s A LINK to an article we just completed…. about how to raise asparagus in Charlottesville and central VA,  as well as links and recipes for preparing asparagus.

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Falconry In Virginia

April 20, 2011

A falcon is a bird that’s a member of the raptor family.  Falconry is the sport of hunting with falcons (a bird-of-prey group that includes red-tailed hawks, Harris hawks and peregrine falcons).   But that name is a bit of a misnomer because falconry is really a way of life for those who are serious about [...]

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