As the temperature warms up and things start blooming, are you itching to visit some of the beautiful gardens around your home or while you’re travelling? One of the benefits of your current FOSA membership card is the Reciprocal Admissions Program (RAP), which gives you special admission privileges and discounts at 345+ participating gardens throughout North America as part of the AHS Reciprocal Admissions Program.
The Blandy Book Club will meet virtually on Thursday, January 27 to discuss "Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures" by Merlin Sheldrake. For more information, contact Ariel Firebaugh, our Director of Scientiic Engagement.
Don't miss our 2nd annual Festival of Art and Nature. Visit Blandy to witness nearly 100 artists paint your favorite scenes Plein Air, September 18th - 20th. Then join us for our public festival September 21st complete with an art show and sale, food trucks, music, family art tables. Learn more!
Each summer, undergraduate and graduate students, and university faculty gather for a program of focused study on a diversity of research projects in an environment that few other institutions can offer. At the conclusion of the summer season, students share their work at the Annual Summer Research Forum.
Pictured: Caroline Speidel and Hannah Russel, 2024 Tom Callahan Research Award recipients
Caroline Speidel and Hannah Russel, students in this summer’s Undergraduate Research Program, have been recognized with Tom Callahan Undergraduate Research Awards given in memory of former FOSA Board Member and National Science Foundation (NSF) researcher Tom Callahan. The students presented their research findings at the Blandy Research Forum in August, where an anonymous panel of impartial judges selected award winners.
While the native plant trail has always featured plants that are native to Virginia at large, we’re looking forward to sharing a new interpretive space that goes one step further: the recently planted Locally Sourced Garden. In addition to their “native” status, all the plants are sourced from local wild populations. Every plant in the new garden was grown from seed collected in the mountain or piedmont areas surrounding Blandy, rather than being purchased from a nursery. Learn More!
When you walk into the newly redesigned and interactive Information Center at Blandy, you’ll be greeted by a giant 3D ginkgo tree replication in its full golden glory. Beneath the tree, a few intriguing questions, with answers under movable discs, will whet your appetite for some of the engaging natural features that await you outside the center. On one wall, a huge watercolor inspired map will help you acclimate to your position at the Arboretum and plan out the rest of your visit.
We tend to make a pretty big deal about milkweed here at Blandy Experimental Farm. During the growing season, you will likely see several posts from us featuring this group of plants and their amazing ability to support pollinators. Milkweed attracts more than just pollinators to Blandy, though. Scientists interested in milkweed ecology also flock to Blandy in the summer to take advantage of the field station for their research. One such researcher, Cameron Morris, an undergraduate from the College of William and Mary, shares their approach to the questions they hope to answer this summer.
The University of Virginia seeks a full-time director of the Foundation of the State Arboretum (FOSA). The FOSA Director develops and implements fundraising strategies to support the mission of Blandy Experimental Farm and the State Arboretum of Virginia, while ensuring the proper administration and financial oversight of FOSA. Learn more.
Don't miss our 2nd annual Festival of Art and Nature. Visit Blandy to witness nearly 100 artists paint your favorite scenes Plein Air, September 18th - 20th. Then join us for our public festival September 21st complete with an art show and sale, food trucks, music, family art tables. Learn more...
Tomorrow
$350Register and get more information https://www.eventbrite.com/e/plein-air-from-start-to-finish-two-day-plein-air-class-registration-951495347197?aff=oddtdtcreator
$120 Register and get more information at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inspiration-to-completion-full-day-plein-air-workshop-tickets-951485577977?aff=oddtdtcreator
Tuesday, September 17th
$350Register and get more information https://www.eventbrite.com/e/plein-air-from-start-to-finish-two-day-plein-air-class-registration-951495347197?aff=oddtdtcreator
Wednesday, September 18th
Drop in program for children ages 1-6 + adult. Visit our website for more information and to register: https://blandy.virginia.edu/content/programs-workshops-walks
Thursday, September 19th
$10 Registration Open to Public Register at Arboretum between 2:00 – 2:45p.m. on September 19th
Saturday, September 21st
Art Sale, Art Show, Music, Food Trucks, Family Art Tables FREE EventFor More information https://blandy.virginia.edu/pleinair
