With weeks of summer still ahead, fall activities are already being planned and coming into focus. Several events in the RVA region (and beyond) are worth flagging on our calendars! If you know of some that should be added to this list, let us know at [email protected] and we’ll add them.
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 1–Voting for chapter officers/board members begins (electronically). Election notices will be sent to chapter members in August with nomination and election updates.
Sept. 5-7– The 2025 Virginia Master Naturalist Statewide Conference and Training will be taking place right here in Richmond! Pre-conference field trips and activities will take place during the day on Friday,wand the main event will run Friday evening through Sunday mid-day.
Sept. 6-7–Extraordinary Ecosystems of the Eastern Shore is the theme for this year’s Fall Conference of the Maryland Native Plant Society (open to the public), which will take place at Washington College in Chestertown, MD (see https://www.washcoll.edu/about/contact-us.php for driving directions). Online registration also is an option, and member rates are available if you are a member of the Maryland or another Native Plant Society. More information (and registration links) are here: https://mdflora.org/fall-conference
(Thanks to the Wild Ones Delmarva Chapter, for sharing the heads-up on this conference!)
Sept. 8–“Dividing Virginia Native Plants,” an in-person presentation by certified Virginia Master Naturalist Sheryl Smith and hosted by our chapter. This presentation will take place at the Tuckahoe Area Library in Henrico County, beginning at 6:30 p.m. One of the joys of growing native plants is being able to share them with family, neighbors, and friends, helping to spread the availability of native habitat throughout the community. But if we’re new to native plants (or gardening), we may not feel confident about when, and how, to go about digging in to divide them! In this program, Sheryl will share practical knowledge and tips for when and how to divide different types of native plants–useful whether we are building out new beds in our own yards or preparing for a plant share! Registration for this program (free, to reserve a seat) is open now: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/wild-ones-greater-richmond-virginia-chapter/dividing-virginia-native-plants
Sept. 15–Annual Chapter Member Meeting and Elections! Our chapter’s annual meeting will be held over Zoom at 7 p.m. on the third Monday in September. Electronic voting for incoming chapter officers and board members also ends on September 15, with election results announced at the meeting.
Sept. 18 (for LGBG members) and 19-20–Lewis Ginter’s Fall Plant Sale, offers a great time to help your Wild Ones chapter spread the word about the benefits of native plants as we exhibit at this event, and a great opportunity to shop for plants for fall planting, as there usually are many native plant vendors at the sale along with increasing numbers of native plants under the “Ginter’s Greatest” tent. Information on the Fall Plant Sale is here: https://www.lewisginter.org/event/fall-plant-sale/
Sept. 27–14th Annual Honeybee Festival and Bumblebee Jamboree (organized by the Rockwood Beekeepers Association and Chesterfield County) at the Chesterfield County Fairgrounds. More parking, more space, more learning, more fun! There will be live music by the Bee Flats, children’s activities, local honey, beekeeping supplies and other things for sale, free bee-friendly plants, educational talks, face painting, food trucks, and more. This festival offers a family-friendly opportunity to learn about the importance of pollinators in the environment, planting native plants, how to care for bee hives, and how to help meet the needs of our beautiful native bees, while we’re at it. You can find more information here: https://rockwoodbeekeepers.com/honey-bee-festival/
OCTOBER
October 4–Fourth Annual Native Plant Share (in Richmond). Be there or be square! Seriously, this great event continues to grow each year, partly because October is a terrific time to swap, obtain, and plant native plants. Members of our chapter will be at the event to assist. Details are available here: https://sit-es.google.com/view/rva-native-plant-open-house/fall-native-plant-share-info
October 11 (tentative)–First Annual Brandermill Community Plant Share in Brandermill (Chesterfield County)–Details and logistics for this event are being finalized now. Updates will be posted as details are finalized!