Chapters in Virginia

Can you reliably identify some of our common native trees? It can be an overwhelming task with so many different sources - field guides, phone apps, Google images, your friends' opinions! Each method is different and has varying levels of reliability.  In Part I of a two-part program, Professor Heather Butler will teach us how to apply some basic steps and tips for identifying the trees that surround us. You'll never look at the trees on your walks in the same way you did before.

 Prof. Butler is  an Assistant Professor of Biology and Program Head of Science at the School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, Virginia Western Community College. She teaches Dendrology, Biology, and other subjects, and is the committee chair of the Bee Campus Committee.

Part I is open to everyone. Part II will include a field walk for members only to practice these identification skills and techniques, and registration information will be sent to members. 

RESCHEDULED (this presentation was originally scheduled for May  18)

Free, open to the public, and geared to "do it yourself" gardeners. 

In this interactive online presentation, Wild Ones Greater Richmond Virginia Chapter Director Janit Llewellyn and Chapter President Sharon Lamberton will host designer Pete Corbino of District Native Plants, who created the Wild Ones Native Garden Design for Richmond, Virginia. 

Together we'll walk through key elements of Pete's design, introduce design concepts, and conduct some brief exercises with downloadable tools available through the Plant Virginia Natives initiative that you can use to better understand your planting site, consider your design priorities, and find the "sweet spots" where the sample design can best contribute to your own planting goals.  

Wild Ones sample garden designs--including the design for Richmond--are available for download from Wild Ones at https://nativegardendesigns.wildones.org/.

Links to the downloadable resources will be provided to registered participants ahead of the meeting so you can have them handy during the presentation.  The presentation will be recorded and posted later to the chapter's YouTube channel. 

Join us for an exciting talk with Dr. Rachel J. Collins, the Brian H. Thornhill Endowed Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies and Director of the Environment Center at Roanoke College, and local community ecologist.

In this talk she will go through how they installed a native meadow on a landfill site in Salem, turning a degraded invasive species infested area into a vibrant ecosystem supporting native plants and wildlife. Beyond the ecosystem benefits, she will describe how such restoration efforts can multifaceted benefits.

This talk is Part I of a two-part program, and open to all. 

Part II is a field trip listed as a separate event. The field trip will be to the Roanoke College Environmental Center with Dr. Rachel Collins, and is for members-only. (Consider joining today!)

Insects are an essential, yet often underappreciated, part of our ecosystem. They provide numerous ecological and economic services that influence and benefit our daily lives. Despite their crucial importance, their populations are declining rapidly, which could lead to serious consequences. Stream scientist Leah Purdy discusses the services insects provide and the factors contributing to their declining populations. Her presentation emphasizes gardening and land management practices that can enhance insect habitat in the context of ecological restoration and residential landscapes, including the principles of integrated pest management, seasonal garden maintenance, and insect hotels. She also highlights a short list of plants that can offer good insect habitat and nectar resources while serving as vital hosts for insect pollinator species.

Wild Ones Roanoke Region is pleased to partner with the Roanoke Master Gardeners, the Blue Ridge Wildflower Society, and the Mill Mountain Garden Club in presenting the well known landscape architect Preston Montague. Mr. Montague has been featured in online programs, at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Winter Symposium, and most recently at the Piedmont Landscape Association Annual Seminar.

In “Bringing Ecology Home,” Mr.  Montague will share how native plant communities, such as the wilder landscapes of the Piedmont, can inspire residential gardens. Using a recently submitted Wild Ones landscape plan for Greensboro, North Carolina as a case study, he will highlight key decisions, challenges, and lessons learned in applying conservation gardening principles to the home garden. Attendees will gain practical insight into how to translate these ideas into their own landscapes to create spaces that reflect place and support biodiversity.

You can find the Wild Ones native plant landscape design created by Preston Montague for Greensboro, NC,  here. 

Preston Montague is a landscape architect and artist working to strengthen relationships between people and the natural world. His environmental design studio deploys art, horticulture, and landscape architecture in the service of building places that have meaning and ecological depth. In 2025 he served as inaugural artist-in-residence at Dix Park in Raleigh, North Carolina. When not in studio, Preston enjoys teaching landscape architecture at North Carolina A&T State University and hiking the wilder places. For more information on Preston, please visit www.prestonmontague.com