Columns
Rose pogonia: an uncommon orchid in our area
Robert Frost wrote about a meadow saturated with them and hoped that the meadow wouldn’t be mowed while they were blooming. Frost had found a ...
Dr. Cynthia Wood, Author at Farmville - Page 8 of 8
Columns
Making the most of what you have
May was all about taking a break from garden maintenance and enjoying the parade of azaleas, rhododendrons, peonies and irises. Thanks to the copious amount ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, June 2, 2016 1:40 pm
Columns
New trails and a new plant
Several weeks ago, friends forced me out of my trail walking comfort zone and insisted that I try two new areas. I wasn’t happy about ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, May 19, 2016 5:16 am
Columns
Unconventional containers for plants
Our weather has been very erratic this spring. In the 80s one week and then below freezing the next followed by, well, even more fluctuations. ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, May 5, 2016 4:47 am
Columns
Gardening with a little help from my friends
Gardening can be a wonderful solitary pursuit. There’s no better meditation for me than methodically weeding or putting in new plants. It’s calming and provides ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, April 21, 2016 6:27 am
Columns
Friend or thug — it’s all relative
I walked several trails at Powhatan State Park last week and just didn’t find much of interest. Some large patches of spring beauties in low ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, March 31, 2016 5:16 am
Columns
Signs of Spring
Spring won’t officially be here for a few more days, but it’s definitely time to hit the trails. There’s so much to see this time ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, March 17, 2016 4:35 am
Columns
Gardening outside the box
Well, I survived that frigid spell we had in mid-February and all the back- and-forth weather that followed. Eventually, however, I got so desperate to ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, March 10, 2016 10:19 am
Church & Community
Native plants resources
Warrives, I always figure that spring is almost here and get ready to head back outside. So while we’re all waiting for the appearance of ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, March 3, 2016 5:06 am
Columns
Heuchera: Near-perfect shade plant
In a recent interview, Grace Chapman, director of horticulture at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, extolled the virtues of heuchera, or coral bells. At the botanical ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, February 4, 2016 2:54 pm
Columns
Amazing things that plants do
Even though we need plants for survival, we tend to take them for granted. Unfortunately, plants aren’t cuddly. They don’t greet us at the front ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, January 14, 2016 12:23 pm
Columns
Lost Gardens of Heligan: treasures and delights
If you read Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel “The Secret Garden” when you were a child, then you know all about the power and magic of ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Wednesday, December 30, 2015 12:52 pm
Columns
A tale of old rectory gardens and corn
At the end of September I went to England to visit friends in Devon. They’re avid gardeners and restorers of old houses. A few years ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, December 17, 2015 1:47 pm
Columns
Greenbrier: a Smilax kind of week
It’s been a greenbrier (Smilax spp.) kind of week. First, I went hiking with my favorite state naturalist, and she decided to go off trail ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, December 3, 2015 2:22 pm
Columns
Selecting the right tree
As gardeners, we all have favorite trees, ones that we love better than all the others and just must have in our home gardens. For ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Friday, November 27, 2015 8:46 am
Columns
Kudzu: the vine that didn’t eat the South
Kudzu (Pueraria montana) has been getting lots of press this fall. The September issue of “Smithsonian Magazine” had a feature article debunking the legend of ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, November 5, 2015 12:20 pm
Church & Community
Growing Native Plants in Containers
Most of us gardeners do a fair amount of container gardening — those old favorites, petunias and geraniums, on the patio; perhaps some grape tomatoes ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, October 15, 2015 3:03 pm
Lifestyles
Highland treasures
One of the pleasures of wandering around in the woods is the discovery of new and unusual plants. You know the ones I mean; those ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, October 8, 2015 12:19 pm
Columns
Mulberry-weed is a nasty invasive
Several weeks ago, a friend sent me a photo of a plant and asked what it was. I don’t always know the answer when I ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, September 17, 2015 10:43 am
Columns
Other people’s gardens
Foodies delight in dining at new restaurants, visiting much admired chefs in their kitchens, and trying whatever new, esoteric ingredient they can find. Gardeners are ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, September 10, 2015 9:09 am
Church & Community
The Whale’s Tongue
Have you driven by the Farmville fire station recently? More importantly, did you see that wild child plant blooming there in late June through early ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, August 20, 2015 8:40 am
Columns
Help! There’s frog spit on that plant
When I was a kid, I loved to look for frog spit, those bubbly blobs of foam found on the stems of many plants. I ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, August 13, 2015 1:13 pm
Columns
Magnolias: the Essence of Summer
Some of my earliest childhood memories involve the intense fragrances of flowers – lilacs, my grandmother’s old roses, and magnolias. Especially magnolias. The perfume of ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, July 23, 2015 4:44 pm
Columns
Drama in the Milkweed Patch
The common and swamp milkweeds bloomed last month. We all know that milkweed leaves are essential for the survival of monarch larvae — that’s all ...
by Dr. Cynthia Wood, Thursday, July 16, 2015 11:22 am
Columns
The Pleasure of Other People’s Gardens
I worked in my garden just about every day last week. As usual, neighbors stopped to chat and comment on this year’s plants – the ...