summertime Story series
celebrating 20 years of boxerwood
How Boxerwood Got Its Name
History, storiesDear friend, whether you are eighty or eight, or somewhere in between, we’re going to tell you how Boxerwood came to be. And we’re going to tell you in the way we tell 3rd graders, pitched as they are between wonder and capability....
A Native Tree Comes Home
Garden, storiesThis week, a story about dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), a species that vanished from this part of the world, was found growing in a secluded valley on the other side of the earth millions of years later, and now...
The Frog Princes
History, Programs, storiesSo, we say to the 3rd grader: what can we do to help the frogs? Usually we work in small teams to plant grass on the eroded hill. But sometimes—as in this story—we become engineers: we build stick palisades in the stream gullies....
Bottlebrush for pollinators
Garden, storiesBottlebrush buckeye is not common in American gardens, but it is a very popular ornamental plant in Great Britain (and was even awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit). In the wild, it grows in the shady forest...
Atlas cedar
Garden, storiesAtlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica) is native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria, yet it also thrives here at Boxerwood. Also of note, ancient Egyptians used oils extracted from Atlas cedar wood for embalming, cosmetics, and...
Paper Vultures
Programs, storiesA bunch of buzzards rising on thermals is not a flock, but a kettle. When they hang out together in a tree, that’s a committee. When they partake, that’s a wake. These are some of the fun facts you forgot to learn during the most...
Down in the River
Programs, storiesAll our streams and rivers in Rockbridge find their way to the James, and then the Bay. As denizens of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, it’s our job to take care of our waterways, we teach the kids, and the land that drains to those...
Meanwhile, We Are Here
History, storiesDr. Munger delivered a lot of babies in those days. It was, after all, the booming sixties. And also, simultaneously, he planted a lot of trees. If you think about it, both babies and tree bundles probably set in his open hands pretty...