Winter Symposium & Central Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association Short Course Homes and Habitats, February 12th and 13th

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Image: Courtesy of the Winter Symposium & CVNLA Short Course

 

Wednesday, February 12 & Thursday, February 13, 2025
9:00 am – 3:55 pm

In-Person OR Virtually, via Zoom

Click here for more session information and ticket/registration details.

Presented by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Central Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association, and Virginia Cooperative Extension

Explore the intricate relationships that exist between ecosystems, communities, and humankind, focusing on the importance of the reciprocal relationships between plants, animals, and humans. Learn how, as gardeners and landscape professionals, can steward the land to support our natural ecosystems, foster biodiversity and build resiliency in our changing climate.

Join the sessions on Wednesday, February 12 and Thursday, February 13 to hear a variety of engaging experts including Silvermoon LaRose (Assistant Director of the Tomaquag Museum), Jared Rosenbaum (author of Wild Plant Culture: A Guide to Restoring Native Edible and Medicinal Plant Communities), James Golden (author of The View from Federal Twist: a New Way of Thinking about Gardens, Nature and Ourselves), Jared Barnes, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Horticulture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX), Robert Shaut (Casey Trees), Kasey Yturralde (USDA Forest Service), Jessie Ward (Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories) and many more.

 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12 SESSIONS

OHKEHTEAU UNNEHTONGQUATASH, PLANT STORIES
Silvermoon LaRose, Tomaguag Museum

WILD PLANT CULUTRE: RESTORING NATIVE EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL PLANT COMMUNITIES

Jared Rosenbaum,Wild Ridge Plants, LLC

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: MICRO PLANTINGS FOR MACRO IMPACT

Dr. Jared Barnes, Stephen F Austin State University

PLANTING TREES IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: ADAPTING TO SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SHIFTS
Robert Shaut, Casey Trees

THE VIEWFROM FEDERAL TWIST: A NEWWAY OF THINKING ABOUT GARDENS, NATURE, AND OURSELVES

James Golden, Author

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13 SESSIONS

CULTURAL CONTROL: AN IPM TOOL FOR PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT
Jessie Ward, Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories

SUPPORTING RESILIENT FORESTS AND COMMUNITIES IN A TIME OF CHANGE
Kasey Yturralde, USDA Forest Service

A CELEBRATION OF ECCENTRICITIES – FAMOUS PLANT PEOPLE AND THEIR PLANTS
Tony Avent, Juniper Level Botanic Garden and Plant Delights Nursery

TINY HOMES FOR TINY INSECTS – ADVANCES IN INSECT GALL DEVELOPMENT
Sarah Melissa Witiak, Virginia State Universit

CHASING THE BLOOM IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

Don Hyatt, American Rhododendron Society

 

The Phenomenon of Tree Suds

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Photo: Suds ring on exposed tree root.

Photos and article by FMN Stephen Tzikas

Recently I noticed my Hornbeam tree was oozing suds.  These bubbles appeared near the base of the tree while it was raining.

Foamy suds at tree base.

The chemical reactions occurring in a tree that “foams” is very similar to what occurs when creating soap.  A few factors can account for this.  Sometimes tree sap can be soap-like, and hence the bubbles.  In other cases, previously settled air pollutants and plant materials interact forming a soap. These air pollutants and other nearby contaminants, might be a mix of ingredients that include salts, chemicals, and acids.  When wetted with rain water, they can combine forming rudimentary soaps.

Yet other times the foam seems to ooze from a specific spot on the trunk.  This could be an indication of a bacterial disease called slime flux or foamy canker.  If a tree had been infected, the bacteria could break down the tree tissue forming alcohol and carbon dioxide.  As the carbon dioxide escapes, it forms bubbles.

Tree suds are not restricted to Hornbeam trees.  They can form on any tree if the conditions are right.  Often oak, hickory, and poplar trees exhibit suds more frequently because of their large diameters and deep bark ridges.  These suds are harmless.

 

Five Lessons We Can Learn from Plants, March 13th

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Image: Courtesy of the Clifton Institute

Thursday, March 13, 2025
7:00 – 8:00 PM

This is a virtual event

This is a free seminar.

Registration is required. Click here for registration details.

A Clifton Institue Presentation

As pet owners, bird watchers, and animals ourselves, we are very familiar with how animal bodies work and what animals need to survive. It’s easy to overlook the plants that are quietly living their lives around us all the time. But there’s a lot we can learn by paying attention to plants. In this Zoom presentation, Co-Director and plant enthusiast Eleanor Harris, Ph.D., will share some of the life lessons we can learn from plants, some of the mind-boggling ways they are different from animals, and some things we all have in common. Consider this a little Botany 101 to kickstart your relationship with plants before the growing season really gets going.

A BFF to the ‘Friends of Trees’

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The Fairfax County Tree Commission’s “Friends of Trees Awards” are awarded annually to recognize exceptional and innovative conservation-based tree activities in Fairfax County and the people behind them.
FMN Maryam Dadkhah, received the 2024 award in the ‘Individual’ category for providing extraordinary unpaid leadership in conceiving and implementing various tree-related projects throughout the year.

FMN Maryam Dadkhah – photo courtesy C. Wolter

She first volunteered as a Fairfax Master Naturalist in 2022. The award announcement mentions that Maryam has worked as a community leader to educate the public and local agencies about native trees and plants since 2021.

Highlights from her array of 2024 stewardship activities include:
* volunteer Project Manager for Fairfax ReLeaf
* volunteered with the Town of Vienna’s Parks superintendent to improve area parks through native tree and shrub seedling planting and protection
* partnered with Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District and

Maryam’s rain barrels – photo William Mayhew

Fairfax Releaf to plant 337+ native trees and shrubs in the Vienna public parks of Wildwood, Glyndon, and Southside
* served her third year as a group leader from Navy Federal, instructing employee volunteers on invasive removal and native tree and shrub planting
* worked with Fairfax County Park Authority’s Invasive Management Areas Program to cage active tree seedlings in Middleridge and Woodglen Lake Parks
* Encouraged and educated local friends and family to plant and maintain native areas on their personal property in an organized, tidy, compliant manner – planting 146 trees and shrubs in county neighborhoods including her own.

Maryam also engages in “passive” education with a highly visible little book and seed library on her property. Anyone walking by can peruse or borrow

Maryam’s Little Seed and Book Library – photo William Mayhew

books describing native plants and their benefits. Small drawers hold a collection of free seed packets. She also makes native plant magnets for this unique neighborhood library. From one seed packet for one person, to hundreds of trees planted by family, friends or volunteers, Maryam makes it happen.

 

Acknowledgements:

– Fairfax County Tree Commission – content and photo
– FMN Sarah Mayhew and William Mayhew – content and photos

– FMN Janet Quinn – research

– FMN Jerry Nissley – cover photo