Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale

02/27/2026

A big plastic beer cup from a baseball game and a stiff piece of paper also works really well. You hold the cup over the insect or arachnid and steadily lower the cup over it. The insect or arachnid almost never moves because it feels surrounded. Then gently slip the stiff paper (a fallout from a magazine works really well) under the cup. Take it outside your front door and release it to become a participant in the ecological food web in your garden. Cost = $0.

02/27/2026

This looks like a worthwhile program.

Joey Santore spends his time studying plants where they actually live. Vacant lots, roadsides, rail corridors, and disturbed ground. 🌱

In this candid program, he challenges the idea that native plantings need to look tidy to function well and explains what real plant communities reveal about resilience and strength.

Join us on March 18 for Rethinking Horticulture with Real Ecology. 👉 Register here to attend: https://wildones.org/joey-santore

Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't

01/31/2026

Important to remember.

It only takes one teaspoon of road salt to permanently pollute five gallons of water. Winter salt does not just go away. When excess salt is left on the ground, it pollutes our waterways and drinking water, damages our infrastructure and harms our aquatic life.

Winter Salt Week (Jan. 25-30), is a week dedicated to raising awareness around salt pollution and reduction solutions. Every year, during the last week of January, governmental and non-governmental organizations across the United States come together to highlight challenges, showcase successes, and elevate the need for broader policy and societal action.

To see the full list of events and webinars, visit https://wintersaltweek.org/

12/28/2025

How true this is.

There are better ways!

11/17/2025

Food for thought.

10/18/2025

This looks like a video that’s informative.

Design gardens that look intentional, beautiful, and compliant.

09/26/2025

https://mailchi.mp/194b726e2e80/fall-2025-nanps-is-tomorrowrain-or-shine
Rain or shine! The Fall 2025 Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale will gather together 13 native plant vendors from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. The sale will be held at the Church of St. Clement, 1701 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22302 on Saturday, September 27, from 9 AM to 2 PM. More information can be found at the MailChimp link above or on the website at https://NorthernAlexandriaNativePlantSale.org.

09/26/2025

The downloadable vendor list for the Fall 2025 NANPS has been added to the website www.NorthernAlexandriaNativePlantSale.org. Once on the website, go to the "Vendors" page and click the image of the vendor list at the bottom of that page.

09/21/2025

https://mailchi.mp/c34a1f1f3ee7/fall-2025-nanps-is-saturday-september-27
The Fall 2025 Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale will gather together 13 native plant vendors from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts. The sale will be held at the Church of St. Clement, 1701 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22302 on Saturday, September 27, from 9 AM to 2 PM. More information can be found at the MailChimp link above or on the website at https://NorthernAlexandriaNativePlantSale.org.

09/21/2025

Gardeners should know that our fall season is the most optimal time to plant trees and other plants in our region. New plantings will have the most time to establish healthy root systems before the next harsh summer arrives.

Our summer months are much harder for new plantings (with undeveloped roots) to survive than are our winter months. (Spring is a nice time to add an additional few plants to an already established plant community in one’s garden.)

While you can find some native plants at local garden centers, the best selections are at small nurseries in our region that grow native plants exclusively. Here are three "do-not-miss" events:

1. Earth Sangha’s Fall Open House and Native Plant Sale is TODAY, September 21, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. More information about their Wild Plant Nursery is at https://www.earthsangha.org/wpn. The address is 6100 Cloud Drive, Springfield, VA 22150. Directions to their location are at https://goo.gl/maps/J6CRQ.

2. The Fall 2025 Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale will gather together 13 native plant vendors from VA, MD, PA, and MA. The sale will be held at the Church of St. Clement, 1701 N. Quaker Lane (Alexandria, VA 22302) on Saturday, September 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. More information about the event can be found at https://northernalexandrianativeplantsale.org.

3. Our local Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society holds regular sales of plants from its native plant propagation gardens. One can learn more about the chapter and its events at https://vnps.org/potowmack. The next Potowmack Chapter Native Plant Sale will be Wednesday, October 1, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Directions to their location are on the page https://vnps.org/potowmack/plant-sale.

09/05/2025

The greatest risk by far to birds are feral/stray cats. Please keep your cats inside!