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Why Virginia Natives Are the Best Choice – What to Plant Where for the Best Results
Virginia native plants provide visual beauty year-round. Unique flowers, vibrant fall colors of leaves and stems, fruit shapes and colors and bark textures are all reasons to purchase native plants. Native plants also attract specific insect species, most importantly pollinators such as bees, wasps, butterflies, and moths. Native plants, trees, shrubs and vines that feed…
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ESMN at the Exmore Fall Festival
ESMN would like to thank Mimi Stitt, Laurie Jones, Audrey Shirif, Tiara Tracy, Nancy Biegel, Karen Morris, Suzanne Noseworthy, Debbie Pocock, Maggie Long, Wayne Poist and Brenda Poist for spending the day at the Exmore Fall Festival. They shared the message of Plant Virginia Natives along with the ideas that our species need native plants…
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Plant Eastern Shore Natives
In an effort to reinvigorate the Plant Eastern Shore Natives initiative, we have scheduled three meetings in July for interested members of the public to attend. Registration is encouraged. These meetings will be almost identical and provide a brief overview of the history and purpose of the initiative, both locally and statewide. Members of the…
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Laurels for Martina Coker
In 2019, Eastern Shore Master Naturalist Martina Coker joined with a small group to establish the Edward S. Brinkley Nature Preserve, on land once slated to become a golf course. Since then she has been instrumental in developing the preserve into a rich and varied habitat that is visitor friendly for humans and wildlife alike.…
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ESMNs Training to be Flora of Virginia Ambassadors
The Flora of Virginia (FOV) and the Flora App, developed based on research by the Virginia Division of Natural Heritage and the Virginia Botanical Associates, are the definitive botanical catalogs and reference manuals for the state’s native, naturalized, and invasive plants. Virginia Master Naturalists and other organizations have partnered with the Flora Board on an …
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ESMN Education and Outreach Committee Supports Earth and Arbor Day Events
The Eastern Shore Master Naturalist’s Education and Outreach Team has been out and about during the month of April. They set up tables at the Exmore: Return to Our Roots festival and the ANEC’s Arbor Day and customer celebration. Chapter members volunteered at the Plant Eastern Shore Natives, Eastern Shore Bird Club, and ESMN tables. All conveyed the importance…
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Planting Natives at Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve
On Wednesday, April 10th, eight ESMN volunteers and four DCR Coastal Region stewardship staff planted an assortment of 163 native forbs, ferns, and shrubs and 48 plugs of American Beachgrass Calamagrostis breviligulata at Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve. Three weeks previously, invasive species were removed for threeconsecutive days, and this area was the focus of…
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Planting Beachgrass at Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve
With 24 flats of American Beachgrass (Calamagrostis breviligulata) to plant we formed a circle as our leader Eastern Shore Master Naturalist Chapter Advisor and Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Coastal Region Steward and Regional Supervisor, Shannon Alexander, had us briefly introduce ourselves and described both the best beachgrass planting techniques as well as why we were all there in the first place. Our goal was to help with dune restoration…
Eastern Shore Master Naturalists
Managing and preserving the Eastern Shore of Virginia’s natural resources and natural areas through education, outreach, citizen science, and stewardship.