Brandywine Conservancy

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Brandywine Conservancy

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Preserving art and the environment in the Brandywine Valley since 1967. The Brandywine Conservancy protects water, conserves land and engages communities.

For over 50 years, the Conservancy’s unique approach to conservation has been to establish models and provide technical assistance to municipalities while also providing direct land conservation and stewardship services to landowners. The Conservancy currently holds over 485 conservation and agricultural easements and has contributed to the permanent preservation of more than 66,000 acres of farmland, forests, water resources, historic sites and scenic vistas in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware. The Conservancy is a program of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.

10/16/2026

Today's Native Plant Friday is commonly known as New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). No fall color display in our area can be complete without some Asters included! Flower heads are actually made up of two flower types: disc flowers appear in the center and are comprised of many thin, upright tubes; ray flowers are those that are strap-like and radiate outward like a corona, or star (aster is Latin for star).

Disc flowers are consistently yellow (when young); ray flowers range from dark purple to light pink and, occasionally, white. Flower heads become hairy “puff balls” when the seeds are ripe, and are routinely eaten by small birds, rodents, caterpillars and other insects. Easy to grow in many soil types and sunlight conditions, these plants can be trimmed back once or twice during the growing season to make them lower and bushier. This native is gorgeous to look at and an outstanding late-in-the-season pollinator plant!

🌱 Looking to incorporate native plants into your home landscape? Check out the Brandywine Native Garden Hub, our new go-to guide for getting started with native plants! Learn more at www.nativegardenhub.org

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📸: Mark Gormel

10/15/2026

Celebrating National Mushroom Day with a few of our favorite fungi recently seen sprouting in the Laurels! 🍄

📸: N. Roth-Moore

10/14/2026

This cutie is ready for their close-up! 🦊

This curious fox was recently caught on a trail cam in Brandywine's Laurels Preserve, giving us a peek at one of the wild neighbors that call our protected lands home.

10/13/2026

Sending you a bit of beauty from our campus gardens.

📸: Diana Kenis-Reilly

10/12/2026

Winding down the day with this peak fall sunset view of Brandywine's Penguin Court Preserve in Westmoreland County, PA. 🍃😍🍂

📸: Melissa Reckner

10/11/2026

Starting the day with a moment of zen from Brandywine's Laurels Preserve.

10/10/2026

Sending you a sunny spin from the pond at Brandywine's Penguin Court Preserve in Westmoreland County, PA.

10/09/2026

Today's Native Plant Friday is commonly known as Rough Stemmed Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’).

Out of the 70+ species of goldenrod that live in the eastern U.S., this is one of the relatively few that has been admired and propagated as a cultivar and marketed for garden use (cultivars—or cv, for short—are always designated by a name that appears after the botanical name and is set off by single quotation marks). In this case ‘Fireworks’ derives its name for the explosive spray of brilliant yellow flowers along its long-arching stems—all reminiscent of a trail of fireworks. This makes an equally spectacular display in wild, naturalistic gardens, as well as carefully structured formal gardens.

As a group, Goldenrods are exceptionally important in the matrix of ecological relationships that exist: they are among the very best herbaceous host plants for the caterpillars of butterflies, beetles and moths, which are an enormously important protein for baby songbirds; flowers provide late season food sources for bees and butterflies (think about migrating Monarch butterflies!); and seeds feed many small songbirds. In addition, flowers have long been used to make dye and all above ground parts of the plant are safely edible for humans and have historically been used in a multitude of ways. Deer, essentially, do not care for them.

Contrary to long-held belief, Goldenrods are not the cause of sinus or eye irritations—their pollen is comparatively heavy and only insect-carried from plant to plant, not airborne from plant to plant or to eyes/noses.

🌱 Looking to incorporate native plants into your home landscape? Check out the Brandywine Native Garden Hub, our new go-to guide for getting started with native plants! Learn more at www.nativegardenhub.org

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📸: Mark Gormel

10/08/2026

Sending you a perfect slice of fall in the Laurels. 🍁

10/07/2026

After a nearly six-year effort led by the Brandywine Conservancy, Hoffman's Mill dam has finally been removed, restoring the Brandywine Creek to a free-flowing state in the Chadds Ford area for the first time in more than a century!

Originally built to power Hoffman’s Mill—now part of the Brandywine Museum of Art—the dam supported an active sawmill until the mid-20th century. In recent decades, it served no functional purpose and was breached on its western side. The dam removal will improve safety and recreation along the Creek, restore aquatic habitat and fish migration, and help reduce flooding in the Chadds Ford area.

A special thanks to our funders and partners on this project, including our engineering consultant Ramboll—who provided design services, guided the extensive permitting process in partnership with Conservancy staff, and oversaw the construction work—and to Stonewood Landshaping, Inc., a firm experienced in stream restoration and stormwater projects, who conducted the dam removal. Funding for the removal came from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Chadds Ford and Pennsbury Townships.

Learn more about this project at www.brandywine.org/dam-removal

🎥: Brandywine Conservancy staff and Craig Thomas (Chester County Water Resources Authority)

Address

1 Hoffman's Mill Road
Chadds Ford, PA
19317

Website

https://www.brandywine.org/conservancy

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