The Piedmont Master Gardeners Association
460 Stagecoach Road, Charlottesville, VA 22902-6441 434/872-4580 Fax: 434/872-4578
Virginia Resources for Gardeners PMG Reference Desk
VIRGINIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION RESOURCES
Albemarle County Cooperative Extension: Local field office serving the City of Charlottesville and the Counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson. Local agent: Peter L. Warren. HQ’d at 460 Stagecoach Road, Charlottesville, VA 22902. Phone: 434/872-4560. Also the home of Piedmont Master Gardeners, including the association’s Horticulture Help Desk (phone and walk-in) To access an online archive of Peter Warren's weekly gardening column, click here.
Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, Blacksburg, Virginia: Headquarters of the state’s cooperative extension program. Searchable website with downloadable publications on a variety of agriculture and life topics. One division under VCE’s website (under Educational Resources) focuses on home gardening.
Special publications or projects by VCE: 2007 Pest Management Guides: Three guides available in .pdf (online) or printed form—Field Crops; Home Grounds and Animals; and Horticultural and Field Crops. Click on link to find downloadable versions of the guides.
America’s Anniversary Garden: Special 2007 statewide initiative to commemorate Jamestown’s founding 1607. Sponsored by Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and many state and local partners. Website provides red, white and blue plant lists; native plant lists; garden designs; and more.
Home Gardening Monthly Tips: VCE fact sheets filled with suggestions for garden-related activities every month of the year. Link takes you to VCE Resources to choose a month's worth of tips.
Other VCE pubs available online: Search the VCE website for fact sheets, publications, etc., on a wide variety of garden-related topics. Items of special interest to homeowners can be found in the Home Gardening section.
OTHER VIRGINIA RESOURCES (selected):
Blandy Experimental Farm and the State Arboretum of Virginia (Boyce, VA): Run by the University of Virginia. Workshops, lectures, seminars, publications, on-site database (users must be assisted by staff). The 172 acre Orland E. White Arboretum includes over 1,000 species and cultivated varieties of plants. One of the largest collections of trees in the southeastern United States. In 1986 the Governor and General Assembly designated the Orland E. White Arboretum the “State Arboretum of Virginia.” More than 70,000 persons visit the Arboretum annually.
Habitat at Home: Learn how to create a retreat for an array of wildlife by incorporating the right plants, structures and water features into your garden and yard. A program of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Special tips on attracting birds and butterflies.
Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia: Website of program run by Virginia’s Department of Conservation & Recreation.
Flora of Virginia: Under the auspices of Virginia’s Department of Conservation & Recreation, the Flora of Virginia project is preparing for publication “a comprehensive manual of Virginia's 3700-plus native and naturalized plant taxa, from oaks to cattails, ferns to pines, kudzu to coneflowers.” Book is slated to be published in 2010, complemented by a website. More than 1400 illustrations will be included.
