March 2026 Update

The trick to buying native plants is to know how to read the label.  Please see the article at the bottom of this update and share as widely as possible.

Post on NextDoor.com?

Would you join our list of people who regularly post our short article on NextDoor.com (and/or their local Patch or Facebook Group?) Currently about 30 people around Northern Virginia are signed up to do that. We would like to blanket the whole region! Email us with your zip code. plantnovanatives@gmail.com 

Callery Pear Exchange April 11, 2026, in Fairfax, VA. Virginia residents may replace  up to three Callery pear trees with native trees for free.

Pre-register by March 13 or until full..

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More garden center volunteers needed in Fairfax and Loudoun counties

We put labels on native plants. Very fun and very effective! Email plantnovanatives@gmail.com if you can do this once or twice a month when you are in town during the growing season.

Free 8-10’ trees for Fairfax community-based organizations

Applications due April 10. Volunteer groups, civic associations, and faith-based organizations qualify.

Early-bird native plant sales

• Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District Native Seedling Sale  Order online until sold out: 

• Saturday, March 28, 8am-1pm  National Arboretum Native Plant Sale 

• Friends of Riverbend Park. Place your order online before March 31. Pick up 4/18.

Native tree giveaway April 18

Burke Farmers’ Market 8am-noon

Bare-root seedlings: Cercis canadensis, Nyssa sylvatica, Quercus phellos and rubra, Magnolia virginiana. The Fairfax County Tree Commission will have experts on-hand to provide planting guidance and answer questions.

Upcoming events 

• Loudoun Scrape for the Grape - March 21, April 4, April 12 - Help scrape spotted lanternfly egg masses before they hatch, helping protect our rural economy and local vineyards. As a thank you, participating wineries and vineyards offer special discounts to volunteers throughout the three event weekends, and Mom’s Apple Pie will provide special event cookies shaped like the spotted lanternfly for the kids.

• Creation Care dinner and presentation at Aldersgate UMC - Tuesday, MAR 10th.   Dan Schwartz (Soil Scientist from the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District) will be the speaker. Details and registration here. 

Grants for Episcopalian congregations

Episcopal parishes in the Diocese of Virginia are eligible for grants of up to $1000 to establish native plant gardens. Deadline to apply - 4/14/26.  For more info:  https://episcopalvirginia.org/news/grants-habitat-restoration/

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 21,019 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. So far, 22,743 tree rescues have been reported in Northern Virginia. Please add your report here.  

Next Steering Committee meeting – March 26, 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. 

Judging a Plant by its Label

by Eileen Ellsworth

Are you hunting for a particular native plant, shrub, or tree? Any native plant seller near you is a terrific place to shop. A list of those seller can be found here on the Plant NOVA Natives website. Browsing a commercial garden center is also an option, so long as you understand how to read plant labels.

Finding natives in commercial garden centers can be challenging. Plant labels, excepting those that Plant NOVA Native volunteers have already tagged in red as “Native,” rarely offer much information and use terms that can be confusing. Here are some definitions and tips to help you find exactly what the biodiversity of the region needs.  

Plant label definitions. It’s helpful to group plant label terms into two groups: those pertaining to nature-made and those pertaining to human-made plants.

Nature-Made:

•  A straight species is a 100% nature-made plant that can interbreed and reproduce by seed.

• A natural hybrid occurs in nature without human intervention between 2 native species. There are very few of those.

•  A variety or form arises within one native species as a genetic mutation and causes certain distinctive traits to appear.

Human-made:

•  A cultivar is a strain of a specific, individual plant that growers produce in bulk for its desired commercial quality. These are usually (though not always) propagated from cuttings, which means that they are clones of each other. The name of the cultivar will be in single quotes, such as Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm.’ 

•  A human-made hybrid is an individual plant or class of plants created by growers by crossing one species with another. They arise from similar yet complex breeding lines that all share a “hybrid” status. The scientific name on the label (if given) will include an “x” to designate hybrid status. It can be quite difficult to determine the exact lineage.

Buying tips: Given the above terms, here are some buying tips. 

• If the label indicates the scientific name of a locally native species, including the genus and species, such as Monarda didyma, then this is the best choice for the local ecosystem. You can double check if a species is locally native by referencing the free Digital Atlas of Virginia Flora, which will not only advise if the plant is native to Virginia, but to Northern Virginia as well. It could be the straight species, which is the most beneficial of all, or it could be a cultivar. If it is a cultivar, then it is a particular individual plant that the grower has cultivated in bulk by cloning for commercial sale. They are chosen for traits such as size, color, resistance to mildew, etc.  If the difference between the cultivar and the straight species is only size, it will probably support wildlife well. But if the cultivar has altered the structure or color of flowers, native bees can’t access their nectar or perhaps recognize them as a source of food and shelter. Sometimes a cultivar changes the leaf color to red or purple, which also alters the plant’s chemistry. This can make them unsuitable as larval hosts for the butterflies, moths, and other insects that evolved to depend upon them. It’s best to use cultivars in locations distant from natural areas and only choose those that have not altered the straight native’s flower structure or color, fruit size, or leaf color.

• If the label indicates a hybrid name (with an x), then it is a cross between species, and the human-made version is not native, meaning you’re risking the introduction of a non-native species into the region. Commercial garden centers sell human-made hybrids because their growers want controlled uniformity and protection for their intellectual property. These plants must be cloned as they do not produce seeds, and only plants grown from seeds create genetic diversity and improve species resistance to climate change and other environmental stressors. Human-made hybrids will not improve the biodiversity of your property.

• If the label indicates only a brand name, then research would be needed online to figure out what it really is. It could be a cultivar or a hybrid. 

The Plant NOVA Natives website has more information about plant label terms and buying tips. And you can always download our excellent Native Plants for Northern Virginia guide to refine your shopping list of beautiful straight native plants.