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Rockbridge Area Master Gardeners, Virginia Native Plant Society Upper James River Chapter, and Rockbridge Regional Library will host Will Shaw of the Jefferson Chapter of VNPS to talk about why and how to grow native plants from seed, on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 10:30 a.m. at the RARA Community Room, 350 Spotswood Drive.
Shaw earned a degree in biology with an emphasis on botany, briefly taught science and math in public high schools, and now lives in the woods where he grows 7,000 square feet of sunflowers and buckwheat for the birds and pollinators, and where he and his wife, Margaret, lead free nature field trips through meadows, mixed woods, managed pine forest, and beaver habitat for civic groups, school kids, and families.
Each year, Shaw grows and distributes for free, up to 1,000 pots of native seedlings from locally harvested seed. He advocates for gardeners to try propagating natives and will explain collecting, storing, preparing, planting and caring for the seedlings.
