Entries by Janet Quinn

FLAP Pollinator Garden Work Days and Tours

Photo courtesy of FLAP Lake Accotink Park7500 Accotink Park RoadSpringfield, VA Friends of Lake Accotink Park invite you to help with their pollinator garden or learn how to create your own. CARING FOR THE POLLINATOR GARDENWHEN: 2nd Sunday of every month TIME: 10:30amWHERE: Lake Accotink Park Margaret Kinder Pollinator Garden – Adjacent to the Marina.ACTIVITY: […]

Audubon Afternoon: Mt. Cuba Native Plant Trial Gardens, September 26th

Sunday, September 26, 20213-4:30 pmOnlineRegister here. Join Audubon Society of Northern Virginia for their fall Audubon Afternoon! Their guest speaker will be Sam Hoadley, Manager of Horticultural Research at Mt. Cuba Center. You’ll learn about the amazing native plant trial gardens at Mt. Cuba, how they evaluate plants and related cultivars for horticultural and ecological […]

Mini Grants to Beautify Neighborhood Entrances with Native Plants

Water’s Edge planting plan by Hands Dirty; Image and article courtesy of Plant NOVA Natives This spring, Audubon at Home partnered with Plant NOVA Natives to invite homeowners’ and civic associations to apply for funds to beautify their neighborhood entrances using low maintenance native plants. The mini-grant program was funded by Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation’s […]

NVCT’s Changemakers: Today’s Weather, Tomorrow’s Climate, July 28th

Wednesday, July 28, 2021NoonRegister here. Northern Virginia Conservation Trust‘s Changemakers series returns with Jason Samenow of the Washington Posts’ Capital Weather Gang along with NVCT board member John Hopewell as they lead a discussion and Q & A on Today’s Weather, Tomorrow’s Climate.  Join the webinar as these meteorological wizards discuss our region’s unpredictable and increasingly severe weather and how NVCT’s work protecting natural […]

Review of World of Wonders, In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks and other Astonishments, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Review by FMN Janet Quinn A collection of 28 essays on topics ranging from catalpa trees to fireflies, reading this book did indeed fill me with wonder! I Googled a photo of a Southern Cassowary, listened to the call of the Potoo, and researched more about the delightful axoloti. Nezhukumatathil‘s prose is full of fascinating […]

Volunteerism Blooms at Laurel Hill Park

Photos: Susan Laume By FMN Susan Laume A Virginia Master Naturalist led effort, supported by over two dozen amateur gardeners, literally bloomed to fruition this spring in Laurel Hill Park in Lorton. Many of the volunteers had done no gardening of any kind before, and had no knowledge about native versus non-native plant species. However, […]

Hammerhead Worms Found in Fairfax County

Photo: Jill Spohn There have been 41 observations on iNaturalist of  Hammerhead Worms (subfamily bipalinae) in Fairfax County.  There are more than one species, all nonnative and feeding on earthworms.  One recent sighting was a thin, foot-long worm with the distinctive hammer head.  Cutting them or smashing them may result in regeneration.  They also emit […]