First Days of Fall
"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird, I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
– George Eliot
This week we said farewell to summer and welcomed the first changes of autumn. September has already seen cooler weather, shorter days, and the first fall harvests of our farm and orchards. It has also seen our programmatic work carry on – both on-site and online – as we continue to innovate our activities in the time of the pandemic.
We are pleased to join with the Biodiversity Heritage Library in the Smithsonian's global Earth Optimism campaign to share conservation success stories. Throughout September, we have been chirping about birds, who can be crucial participants in and indicators of healthy ecosystems. By showcasing the birds on our property and beyond, we hope to share our optimism for the future of our landscapes.
And there is much more to be optimistic about. Explore below to see the latest updates from across the Oak Spring Garden Foundation.
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In the Garden & at the Farm
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While our gardening team continues to keep the garden healthy and beautiful, they also take their pruning skills to the production greenhouse, where they care for 200 miniature herb topiaries in various stages of life, all started from Mrs. Mellon's original plants. You can read about this unique aspect of Oak Spring's gardens, and learn how to start a topiary of your own from gardener Todd Lloyd. Click here for more >
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Our landscaping and conservation team works hard to ensure that the site's fields and forests can support a variety of native plants and animals. Of the wide variety of wildlife that abounded at Oak Spring this summer, some of the most welcomed visitors were threatened grassland birds; staff and conservation researchers noticed a marked uptick in our bobolink population in particular this season. Visit our blog to read about how our land management practices are bringing back these declining species.
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Want to try some birding from behind your desk? Join us next Wednesday on Facebook for a virtual bird walk at Oak Spring, hosted with Laura McDonald and Tom Wood from the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia. Video will premiere at 12 p.m. ET.
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While our library has had to greatly restrict in-person access, we have continued to supply digital images to researchers whose work has been impacted by the pandemic. We have also been fortunate to welcome a limited number of artists and researchers on-site for socially-distanced residencies (more on our summer residencies below) that allow access to our abundant nature, and limited in-person access to the library after a two-week quarantine.
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These residents' projects have ranged from exploring the work of women scientific illustrators in our library to making paper from plants. Read about the work of botanical artist Kandis Phillips, who recently returned to Oak Spring to continue observing the site's birds and meadows.
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The library houses some of history's most significant books on natural history, some which are widely recognized for their influence, and others which are unique or obscure. Read about Alexander Wilson, the trailblazing artist-naturalist whose catalogue of North American birds you may not have heard of.
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With our site mostly shut down for on-site programming, we have been able to make progress on a number of needed updates to our facilities and infrastructure over the summer. These have included improvements to irrigation, expansion of our security headquarters, and continued implementation of signage and pathways. These projects will improve Oak Spring's wayfinding, safety, and accessibility for our guests into the future.
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Fantastic Flora
We continue updating our Fantastic Flora online exhibit, with a new digital poster released every Friday. In early 2021, these posters will become available for download to schools, botanic gardens, and others who wish to use them for education.
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Summer Artists in Residence
Although our summer 2020 cohort of Artists in Residence weren't able to come on-site for a collaborative residency as planned, we were still thrilled to support them remotely, and look forward to welcoming them here in 2021. Read more about our Summer 2020 residents >
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Bird Conservation in the ACE Basin
In February, we sat down with our friend Charles Lane from the ACE Basin Task Force to talk about bird conservation. Watch our newly-published video to learn about efforts to protect over 300,000 acres of estuary, forest and wetlands near Charleston, South Carolina.
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