Dear Friends of the Preserve,
Just as New Year’s celebrations welcome us into a new calendar year, the start of spring welcomes nature’s reawakening. The songs of mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) and song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) greet us in the morning. We breathe in the fresh oxygen made by rapidly expanding leaves. We ground ourselves with time spent in the spring sunshine.
The Preserve comes to life each spring with over 20,000+ visitors from April to June who marvel at the enchanted carpet of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and other increasingly rare spring ephemerals.
The Preserve’s 5 ½ miles of walking trails are teeming with native perennials, shrubs and trees blooming in abundance. Over 13 newly-installed interpretative signs have been added on our trails, with more to come. Have you found them all?
The Preserve’s Native Plant Nursery is open again and offering several new species for sale this season, including two native terrestrial orchids and ginseng . It’s a joy to watch visitors explore the Nursery Marketplace and engage with our Native Garden Guides. Our goal is that you leave the Preserve with enhanced plant knowledge and unique native plants that are ideal for your home landscape. Can every nursery offer that?
The Preserve team is in hospitality mode! From hosting Happy Trails, a successful new spring fundraising event, to preparing for a 3rd annual Preserve@Play family day on June 15, to hosting over 60 educational programs, including weekly Qigong. We’re also celebrating some of our favorite holidays with free admission to the Preserve for all visitors on Earth Day (April 22) and Native Species Day (May 16). What events do you plan to attend this year, and who will you bring with you?
As we are officially mid-way through our 2022 - 2026 Strategic Plan, our focus for the second half of 2024 is clear, and it will take ALL of us to accomplish:
GREATER ACCESSIBILITY: Including site safety improvements, the launch of an Access golf cart and identifying funding partners to support a new website that serves as the extension of our education and destination offerings.
STRONGER COMMUNITY CONNECTIVITY: Including the launch of our new promotional video, building our volunteer base and investing in even more interpretation on our trails and within our key exhibits.
WIDER USE OF NATIVE PLANTS: Including the use of our Native Plant Nursery to convey our mission, empower visitors and members to take advantage of our Naturalist-guided walks and grow our partnerships that help bring native plants into personal and public landscapes.
Please make a gift to the Preserve and help us realize our best potential as the country’s only museum dedicated solely to native plants.
Spring is for us all to enjoy at the Preserve. Thanks for your support and the vibrancy you add to this most beautiful season.
With gratitude and friendship,
Pete Couchman
Executive Director
