Our Master Gardener class recently took a plant-ID field trip to Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce, Virginia. The field trip was lead by Mary Stickley-Godinez of Countryside Nurseries.
If you haven’t been, you need to add it to your “things to do” list. It is a beautiful place, and that’s with only one wildflower (that I saw) blooming! Tim has promised to take me back as spring moves ahead, and I hope to spend a lot of time there over the years.
This time of year the evergreens take center stage, and their diversity is awe inspiring! I’ve included a few pictures of some of the more interesting (to me) features of the trees and plants we identified, but they don’t do the place justice. As the flowers bloom, pack up the car and head out for a picnic. You’ll be glad you did.
sweet gum wings
prickly pear cactus
japanese cedar
carnelian dogwood blooms
chinese fir
chinese juniper
contorted hazelnut catkins
cypress cones
bloodroot
red twig dogwood
arborvitae trunk
american boxwood buds
juniper berries
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