Beating the Cold: Four Fascinating Winter-Blooming Plants
Emily Ellis
Read about several especially interesting winter-interest plants, and the amazing ways they survive plummeting temperatures.
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Filtering by Tag: FantasticFlora
Comforting Crops for the Cold Months
Emily Ellis
Eating foods with long histories in Appalachia is a great way to learn about how people have cultivated, harvested, and cooked with them for many centuries, support local farmers, chefs and growers, and connect to the land we live on. Read about several comforting crops our BCCF farmers grow and cook with.
Read MoreFour Rediscovered Plants
Emily Ellis
To celebrate our upcoming “Treasures of the Oak Spring Garden Library” lecture on the rediscovery of the lilac and the horse chestnut in the eighteenth century, we’re sharing several modern-day tales of rediscovered plants.
Read MoreA Divine Fruit: The American Persimmon
Emily Ellis
Excruciatingly astringent when unripe, the American Persimmon is a treat for people and wildlife alike when eaten at just the right time of year. Read all about the history of one of our most fascinating native fruit trees.
Read MoreThe World's Most Magical Plants
Emily Ellis
All plants are magical, but certain plants have made far more appearances in potions, spell books, and ceremonies than others - for purposes both good and nefarious. To celebrate Halloween this year, read our list of the most magical plants!
Grow the Rainbow: Five Easy Plants for your Natural Dye Garden
Emily Ellis
Read about five easy-to-grow, multi-use plants grown in the Biocultural Conservation Farm’s walled garden that produce beautiful natural dyes.
Read MoreLost and Found: Four Rediscovered Apple Varieties
Emily Ellis
Read the stories of several fascinating heirloom apples that were lost and found.
Read MoreThe Pawpaw: Forgotten and Remembered
Emily Ellis
September is pawpaw season at Oak Spring! Read all about North America’s largest - and perhaps, most fascinating! - edible fruit.
Read More7 Plants that Pests Hate
Emily Ellis
Summer means long and sultry days, bushy and verdant landscapes, and lots of insect pests. Read our list of several plants that can help keep the (bad) bugs at bay.
Read MoreWondrous Weeds
Emily Ellis
In celebration of National Herb Week, we’re featuring five weeds - mullein, yarrow, dandelion, plantain, and pokeweed- that grow abundantly around Oak Spring and have been used in herbal medicine throughout history.
Read MoreThe World's Most Poetic Plants
Emily Ellis
Plants like roses, ferns, and orchids have held far more attraction for history’s poets than other species, appearing time and again in verse. In celebration of National Poetry Month, explore our list of some of the world’s most poetic plants.
Read MoreThe World's Sexiest Plants (Part II)
Emily Ellis
From aphrodisiacs, to deceptive orchids, to flowers that have an uncanny resemblance to our anatomy, plants have an undeniable allure. Celebrate Valentine’s Day by reading our 2021 list of the World's Sexiest Plants.
Read MoreFantastic Orchids
Emily Ellis
To celebrate the opening of “Orchids: Attraction and Deception” at the Barry Art Museum, we wrote about several fascinating orchids species that are featured in the illustrations we loaned to the exhibition.
Read MoreImmune-Boosting Plants
OSGF
Looking to give your immune system a boost this cold and flu season? In this blogpost, we explore the histories and uses of several amazing immune-boosting plants grown at our Biocultural Conservation Farm (recipes included!)
Read MoreForaging for Holiday Décor
Emily Ellis
Gathering winter greenery to use in holiday decorations is a longstanding tradition at Oak Spring. Read the stories behind some of the plants we use in our traditional wreaths.
Read MoreFour Native North American Crops to Try This Season
Emily Ellis
Read about four indigenous North American crops growing at Oak Spring’s Biocultural Conservation Farm.
Read MorePoppies and Remembrance
Emily Ellis
Read the story of how the common poppy (papaver rhoeas) came to be a symbol of military remembrance.
Read MoreThe plants that help us say good-bye
Emily Ellis
Read about some of the plants used around the world in ceremonies and celebrations for the dead.
Read MoreThe World’s Most Monstrous Plants (Part II)
Emily Ellis
You likely won’t have to stray from your garden this Halloween to find monsters more gruesome, destructive and terrifying than anything conjured up in Hollywood. Scroll through our list of the world’s 10 most monstrous plants - if you dare.
Read MoreCelebrating World Food Day: Cooking with Saved Sorghum
OSGF
To celebrate World Food Day, we’re talking about sorghum, an heirloom multi-use Appalachian crop grown in the BCCF’s seed saving garden.
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