Blooms & Gardens

Mar 14th, 2017

Cutting Gardens: Inspiration

Vases and jars brimming with fresh-cut flowers make a house “home.” It can create a dilemma, though – where to find flowers? Florists can be pricey, and commercial growers leave […]

Mar 11th, 2017

Flower Shows are a Rite of Spring at Lewis Ginter

Updated 2/10/22 I still remember my first flower show. It was in 1997, and my husband pointed out that the newly opened Robins Visitor Center at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden was […]

Feb 16th, 2017

Witch Hazel: Winter Wisdom

Witch hazel always rings a mystical note. Blooming in the middle of the winter, those delicate bits of yellow, copper, or red ribbon blow outward from bare branches like sparks […]

Feb 9th, 2017

Beneficial Bugs: Facebook Live!

In case you missed it, here’s a recap of our Facebook Live post with Director of Horticulture Grace Elton and Conservatory Horticulturist Chelsea Mahaffey. In this video, we take you on a brief […]

Dec 8th, 2016

Safeguarding Boxwoods

Editor’s note: This is a timely post on an important topic. We are reprinting it with permission from the authors, noted below. Mind Your Holiday Decorations: Safeguarding Your Boxwoods from […]

Sep 13th, 2016

Fall PlantFest Features Natives

Plant fans in Richmond have been looking forward to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s plant sale since 1987, the year of our first plant sale. This year they are just as excited […]

Aug 29th, 2016

Through the Eye of a Pinhole

James Draper Shares Pinhole Photos of Nature Connects Exhibit Our Nature Connects®: Art with LEGO® Bricks exhibit has been wildly popular, not just with kids and millennials, but with adults of […]

Aug 26th, 2016

Instagram Highlights

Are we friends on Instagram? We should be! As one of the readers of our blog, you are likely one of our biggest fans. You deserve to be among the first to […]

Aug 12th, 2016

Southern Blight in the Garden

Sadly, we recently discovered southern blight on some of the tomatoes and peppers in our Community Kitchen Garden. Since our mission is education, we wanted to take this opportunity to talk […]

Jul 31st, 2016

Folklore in the Healing Garden

Every plant has a story. Long before any humans roamed the planet, the earth was covered with a magnificent variety of plant life. Fields grew wild with flowers and grasses […]

Jul 1st, 2016

Summer is for Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a favorite summer vegetable for many, and for good reason. There is nothing like a sweet juicy tomato fresh off the vine in the middle of July! Tomatoes […]

Jun 25th, 2016

CarMax Cares for Our Garden

CarMax Cares about our Garden What would you do with 295 hours? You could sleep for 16 days straight, or brush your teeth 8,850 times. Or you could help with […]

Jun 25th, 2016

Heritage Plants Are Live History

As heirlooms are cherished, so are heirloom vegetables and heritage herbs of yesteryear. Virginia’s rich lineage of historic perennials, annuals, herbs, shrubs and trees are still available for planting today, including […]

Jun 20th, 2016

National Pollinator Week

Let us tell you about a few of our favorite pollinators! Since National Pollinators Week (June 20-26, 2016) starts today, we thought it would be a great time to raise awareness of […]

Jun 19th, 2016

Our Apiary is for Beelovers

A new apiary is open for visitors to learn about bees. The Bob Stapleton & Keith Tignor Apiary, adjacent to the Community Kitchen Garden, will definitely add some sweetness to your visit […]

Jun 16th, 2016

Million Blooms Contest Winner

And the 2016 A Million Blooms Winner is … I am delighted to announce that the 2016 Million Blooms Instagram Contest winner is Meg Sneed. Sneed drove all the way from […]

Jun 4th, 2016

Philodendrons in Bloom

Philodendrons Bloom in the Conservatory If you want to see a spectacular and interesting bloom, come visit the Conservatory now to visit the majestic philodendron. As you know, plants’ flowers are all about reproduction, […]

Jun 3rd, 2016

A Bed is Born

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Garden Design Give a gardener a new bed, full of fresh soil and unlimited possibility, and stand back. Twice a year at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, in […]

Jun 1st, 2016

Summer Hours at Lewis Ginter

2016 Summer hours: 8 a.m. opening, Thursdays, June 2-Sept. 8 This year, summer hours at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden are going to change a bit, for the better of course. […]

May 25th, 2016

Peace for Pitcher Plants

Pitcher plants are hungry for change. If you venture out to the West Island Garden, chances are that you will run into some spectacular-looking Sarracenia, commonly known as pitcher plants. To me, they […]

May 23rd, 2016

Black Bat Flower Inspiration

The Mysterious Black Bat Flower Inspires Visitors & Artists A few days ago, Conservatory Horticulturist Chelsea Mahaffey sent me an excited email that our Tacca chantrieri or black bat flower was blooming. […]

May 2nd, 2016

Poeticus Daffodil Inspiration

Poeticus Daffodils: A Tale of Two Women Just when I thought all the daffodils had already bloomed, I was surprised to see some jolly miniature daffodils rising delicately, along a […]

Apr 19th, 2016

Amazing Pink Lady’s Slipper

Pink Lady’s Slippers are a native wildflower. But this fascinating plant attracts quite a bit of attention, more so than most wildflowers. In addition to its striking appearance, it is endangered […]

Apr 15th, 2016

Peony: Precious and Prime

April is the Perfect Time for Peony Watching *PLEASE NOTE: This is an archived blog post we are sharing with you while the Garden is closed due to the COVID-19 […]

Apr 8th, 2016

Garden Explorer Website Brings the Garden to You Online

With the newly introduced Garden Explorer website, you can explore the Garden in depth — on-site or virtually from anywhere in the world! Using a web browser on a PC, tablet […]