May 2008: Preliminary Plant List Now Available

There are a great many different plants and it is fun to know their names. Some are well known and others are difficult to identify. A list of plants that people have seen in a general area or a particular site helps narrow the search and confirms the presence of specific plants.

We put together a list of the plants we and others have seen during tours of Merrimac Farm. The list is not complete, but it is a pretty good start and we hope it helps you learn more about the interesting and beautiful plants at Merrimac Farm and throughout Northern Virginia. Click here to view the preliminary plant list.

April 2008: Virginia Bluebells Glow at Merrimac Farm!
Click here to view photos from the tours.

Virginia bluebells are one of the prettiest and most popular wildflowers in Northern Virginia. Beginning in mid-April, bluebells light up riverbanks and announce that spring is here.

Rich floodplain soils provide prime habitat for Virginia bluebells. At Merrimac Farm, one of the largest colonies of Virginia Bluebells in Northern Virginia carpet the floodplain along nearly one mile of Cedar Run, presenting a spectacular display of blue every year in mid-April.

Virginia Bluebell's showy, bell-shaped blooms turn from pink to blue as they mature, then back to pink after pollination. A few blossoms may remain pink and occasionally a white blossom can be seen. Pollinated by bees, bluebells reproduce from seed or spread from rhizomes, roots that serve an underground reproductive structures.

Virginia Bluebells grace our riverbanks for only a few short weeks each year. Virginia Bluebells are ephemeral; they bloom in early spring while the tree canopy is open. Shortly after blooming the foilage begins to die and disappears completely by early summer when the tree canopy closes.

Click here to view photos from the April 9-13 2008 Virginia Bluebell Tours at Merrimac Farm.