January 2026 Update
- 1margaretefisher
- Jan 2
- 6 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
January is for planning and preparing. Please see the article at the bottom of this update and share as widely as possible.
Plant NOVA Natives is recommitting! Will you help?
We have come to an important conclusion: any project we take on should be managed by a whole team of people working together. It is much more fun that way, and putting any project all on one person limits how much we can get done.
Would you like to join one of these teams, committing as best you can to active participation for the next year? You are almost guaranteed to find that those who work in this space are good humored, generous, and dedicated to saving our ecosystem. Please indicate your preferences on this form.
Website/tech
Social media
Site strategy and management
Content creation
Point-of-Sale
Native plant vendors
Labeling native plants (red sticker program)
Plant packages
Big box stores
General outreach
Native plant Guide
Pollinator Pathways
Monthly update
Presentations and tabling
HOAs/Condo Associations
Property and community managers
Faith Communities
Schools
Landscape professionals
Conferences - English and Spanish
Other outreach
The steering committee will continue to manage
Liaisoning with partners, annual meeting
Government liaisoning
Overall coordination and strategy
Book Discussion of "The Light Eaters" by Zoe Schlanger
Plant NOVA Natives is planning a live book discussion on the evening of February 18th of "The Light Eaters - How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth" by Zoe Schlanger. Depending on level of interest, the discussion will either be by zoom or in person at a location yet to be determined. If you're interested in joining us, please send an email to Eileen Ellsworth at eileen.ellsworth@gmail.com by January 15 that says "Yes, I'd love to read and discuss The Light Eaters with you." You will have to procure a copy of the book at your own expense or from the library. Eileen will follow up on January 29 with meeting details.
Fairfax/Falls Church Spring Extravaganza - March 21-April 12
Do the trees on your organization’s property need rescuing from invasive species? How about holding a volunteer event during the Spring Extravaganza? Building on the success of our November Week of Action in Fairfax/Falls Church, we hope to rescue even more trees this spring. If you are doing an event on your HOA or faith community common land, commercial property, or a neighboring park, and you would like to welcome the public to your event, let us know so we can put it on our calendar. fairfaxprism@fairfaxprism.org.
Master Naturalist training - Applications are now open for
Awesome Maryland native plant guide
The folks in Maryland have just completed the first of three native plant guides for that state. It is available online and soon will be available in print.
Upcoming events
Jan 8: Light Eaters and the Mother Tree (virtual)
Winter conservation series (virtual) - Register online at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes or call Green Spring Gardens at 703-642-5173.
Jan 11: Growing a Bird Safe Garden. Code AIP.ALEQ
January 25: Conservation Detection Dogs Code HR9.OO4J
February 22: Native Roots & Stories. Code T1I.XP9E
Feb 13: GreenScapes conference (virtual)
Feb 14: Prince William Native Plant Symposium (In person and virtual)
Report your native tree and shrub plantings
Please help Northern Virginia meet its tree-planting obligations by reporting your tree and shrub plantings here. So far 20,341 have been reported!
Report your tree rescues
Millions of trees in Northern Virginia are at risk from invasive non-native vines. You can help by saving them on your own land or by volunteering on public land. (Plant NOVA Natives/Plant NOVA Trees only does educational outreach, so all this work is done under the auspices of our partnering organizations or other landowners.). So far, 21,496 tree rescues have been reported in Northern Virginia. Please add your report here.
Next Steering Committee meeting – January 22, 10am-noon via videoconferencing. All are welcome. Check our Event Calendar for future meetings.
Support Plant NOVA Natives
Would you like to support the campaign? Give a Gift of Trees. All proceeds will go to Plant NOVA Natives. Straight donations are more than welcome, too! :)
This month’s newsletter articles to share. For social media, please use this link.
January: What’s a Gardener to Do?
By Eileen Ellsworth
January is a daunting, cold month for sure. But winter dormancy is for plants, not humans, and January can be the perfect time to plan additions to your native plant garden. It is also a great time to remove some invasive non-native species.
First, planning the spring garden. Native plants can be expensive, especially if you’re looking to cover a large area. Starting plants from seed has probably occurred to you, but it won’t happen without some advanced planning. It isn’t easy to grow native plants by sowing seeds directly in the ground, as explained more fully on the Plant NOVA Natives website. Growing them first in pots may be advisable. Also, many seeds require cold-stratification, or exposure to cooler temperatures for a specific period, before they can germinate. A popular alternative is to buy flats of small landscape plugs, which are easy to handle and cost-efficient.
Supplies are high and demand is low for both seeds and plugs at the moment. Here is a handy list of local and somewhat-local sellers. Not all of them accept orders in January, but their websites provide contact information for direct inquiries.
Plug Sellers
Seed Sellers
Next, removing invasives. If you were determined to remove some invasives this fall but never got to it, there is good reason to do it now when there are no leaves, no ticks, cooler temperatures, and less poison ivy. The Plant NOVA Natives website can help you prioritize your efforts. Here are a few examples of invasive species that are found in many people’s yards.
· Amur Honeysuckle: This woody, non-native invasive degrades native environments by rapidly forming dense thickets that shade and choke out native plants. Here is a link to a YouTube video on how to identify it in winter. Smaller specimens are easy to dig or pull up at the root, but larger ones require a more heavy-duty tool, like a weed wrench, to pry them out.
· Burning Bush: Once a darling of local landscapers, this shrub is now considered a high threat invasive in Virginia. It tolerates deep shade and adapts to many soil and light conditions. Small specimens come up easily with a shovel or fork, and larger ones with a weed wrench. If it’s too big to pry out at the root, cut the stem near the ground and immediately apply a concentrated herbicide such as triclopyr or glyphosate, ideally within 15 minutes to ensure absorption. Tips on herbicide use can be found on the Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM website.
· Autumn Olive: This ubiquitous woody invasive shades out native plants while changing the chemistry of the soil around it with nitrogen-fixing root nodules. This adaptation gives it a big advantage, allowing it to thrive in poor soil while aggressively invading new ground. Once established, it prolifically produces seeds that birds eat and spread widely. The removal advice provided above for burning bush also applies here. Cut stumps of Autumn olive can vigorously resprout, which can be avoided by using the cut-stump method described above.
· English Ivy: Conveniently this tree-killing vine stays green in the winter and so is easy to spot. Cut the vines at the base of trees (using loppers or a saw to cut the thicker vines), then create a bare ring around the tree by cutting the vines again further up, which severs the root connections. The vine above will simply die and dry out over time. Never try and remove the upper portion of the severed vines, as pulling them down can damage the tree.
· Oriental Bittersweet: This highly invasive vine is often found tightly twined around trees, shrubs, and fences. Females in winter have distinctive berries that look like bright yellow capsules that split to show the red berries within. Smaller specimens can be pulled or dug up at the root, which has a distinctive orange hue. You can cut larger specimens near the ground and treat them with herbicides as described above.
No need to waste a cold winter day if biodiversity is calling! Order some plugs of native flowering perennials. Remove an invasive shrub or vine. It all adds up to a splendid, bee-buzzier, bird-happier native space.
