Virginia Home Grown

Get a close-up view of the microbial life inside of plants and soil at a Cooperative Extension laboratory. Visit a colonial style garden to learn about flowers and herbs grown to make colorful dyes for fabric.

If you mention plants for the shade garden, one of the first plants that comes to my mind is hosta. This wonderful plant is one of the first plants that got me to become the “plant nerd” I am today. So even as I balance my garden with more native plantings, hosta will be part of my 30%. These plants come in an array of sizes, colors, variegation, leaf shapes and textures. There are even dwarf cultivars, yes, dwarf! Tiny versions of hosta are growing in popularity and as their larger cousins, they have a special place in my heart.

Once a year the Virginia Home Grown Team is at the RVA Big Market in Richmond’s Bryan Park. We have a wonderful time interacting with everyone who stops by. I particularly enjoy answering gardening questions, and this year a common question was about rain gardens.

Discover popular houseplant varieties and learn about their care. Visit a garden featuring unique herbs and discuss their uses beyond the kitchen.

I am looking forward to consistently warmer weather so we can plant our heat-loving crops such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, cucumbers and melons. However, what I am not excited about are the increased number of pests and diseases that come along with the warm weather.

We all know the heat is coming; it’s only a few weeks away. Rather than react, I act now by taking a few simple steps to keep the landscape green, growing and resilient.

Explore state and national champion trees at Richmond’s historic Maymont park. Tour Dragon Run on the Middle Peninsula to learn about bald cypress and the old growth forest network.

Is your soil ready for your plants? This is a great question and most of us might just look at the soil to say yes — it looks loamy and has that black, rich color, or no — it looks like red Virginia clay to me! There is so much more to soil than meets the eye, and I want to introduce the best way to know more about what is in your dirt: the soil test.

I garden with deer, where more than a dozen think my gardens are their personal restaurant to browse through. I have gardened with deer for many years, and through research backed by expensive trial and error on my part, I now only buy plants with specific traits.

As gardeners, during the winter months we start missing our time in the garden. We spend so much time in our gardens during the warm season, that when we are forced to slow down due to frozen ground or uncomfortable cold, we can start feeling depressed and eager to get back to playing in the soil.