News & Announcements

Thanks to our partners at Winchester Community StoryWalks® , we're ready to roll out a brand new (bilingual!) StoryWalk®---Forest: ¡salve

Several star magnolia trees can be found blooming in the Magnolia family section of the arboretum. Find their flowing white blooms beginning mid-March.

A sign of spring on a wintery day! The winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is blooming along the stone wall on Dogwood Lane.

Lynn Batdorf, retired Curator for the National Boxwood Collection at the U.S.

Announcement- Thursday Cool Conifers program rescheduled due to weather.

Blandy has a suprising connection to pawpaw royalty. The pawpaw (Asima triloba) produces the largest edible fruit native to North America. 

Sick plant at home? Want help with a diagnosis?

Blandy’s Ginkgo Grove attracts thousands of visitors each fall – many of whom are visiting Blandy for the first time.

Milkweed is the sole host plant for the caterpillars of the beautiful, threatened monarch butterfly and efforts to preserve this butterfly have brought this once overlooked plant into the public consciousness.

The State Arboretum of Virginia has named the American Sycamore as its 2022 Tree of the Year. The sycamore was selected for its value as one of the largest trees in the eastern U.S.

More than 300 gardens participate in the Reciprocal Admissions Program (RAP) with the American Horticulture Association. One of the benefits of your current FOSA membership is special admission privileges and discounts at participating gardens throughout North America. 

With a breathtakingly beautiful view of the Native Plant Trail meadow and the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Peetwood Pavilion for Environmental Education has become one of the most popular locations at

Take a "Hot Chocolate Hike" or try "Birding for Beginners" at Blandy! Registration is open for our popular Winter/Spring workshops, programs and walks. 

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.

Plant Experts from Blandy Experimental Farm Caution Against Using Boxwood Clippings in Holiday Decorating

That's all, folks! As of Thursday, November 11th, 95%+ of the trees in the Ginkgo Grove have dropped their leaves. We can look forward to enjoying the austere beauty of the Grove over the coming winter months.

Planning a trip to Blandy? Check out these resources to learn about the birds you might encounter during your visit!

Our watershed education project, funded by NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program, is nationally highlighted in

2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 20

The winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) has emerged from the cold ground, letting us know spring is on the way despite a snowy, cold forecast.

A lot of us would like to forget 2020 entirely. But for birders, the year featured some memorable sightings.

The steam distribution system in the Quarters building at Blandy probably dates back to 1941.  As was often the case at the time, some of the steam pipes, primarily in the attic, were insulated wit

Winter has come, and plants have gone dormant. The arboretum's herbaceous specimens have reatreated belowground, and the deciduous trees have shed their coats of green and gold.

In 2015, Earyn McGee was an undergraduate student at Howard University who spent her summer at Blandy studying the effects of pharmaceutical drugs on aquatic insects.

Virtual Conifer ID & Holiday Party

Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 3 PM EST – 4:30 PM