Hill House Farm and Nursery

10/06/2026

🌲 Tree Talk Tuesday: The eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) 🌲

🌲The eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) is a tall, fast-growing conifer originally native to the Northeast, upper Midwest and Appalachian regions of Eastern North America. The white pine can grow over 200 ft in height and over 7 ft in diameter, making it the tallest and largest pine tree native to Eastern North America. It has been widely introduced outside its natural range for use in windbreaks, timber plantations and reforestation efforts due to its fast growth rate and tolerance of poor, highly eroded soils. The Civilian Conservation Corps frequently utilized white pine in their reforestation efforts during the 1930s, and if you come across a large stand of white pine on public land, it's likely that the trees date to this time. The photos included in this post are of old-growth white pines in Porcupine Mountains State Park, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

🪵Old-growth eastern white pines were highly prized during colonial times for their incredibly tall trunks, which were in high demand for use as ship masts. Prior to using white pines as ship masts, the royal navy relied on Baltic pines (Pinus sylvestris) imported from the Baltic nations of present day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. However, it became increasingly difficult to keep the Baltic trade routes open during the 18th century due to military and political conflicts in the region and thus the Crown came to rely heavily on eastern white pines for their ship masts.

📜To reserve old-growth white pines for royal navy ship masts, several colonies passed “broad arrow policies”, with Massachusetts being the first in 1691, and other colonies including New Hampshire and New York following suit. These laws made any white pine over 24 inches in diameter (later changed to just 12 inches) the property of the Crown, even if the trees were on private land. These pines were marked with broad arrows by “Surveyors of the King’s Woods.” The broad arrow mark made it illegal for any colonist to harvest and sell the timber of these trees.

🇫🇷🇪🇸While these policies were rarely enforced in the early 18th century, as the Baltic timber trade declined, colonial governors such as Sir John Wentworth of New Hampshire increased enforcement in the early 1770s. Colonists were outraged by the policy because white pines were the most valuable timber on their lands, and England was not the only country in need of white pine. Both France and Spain also prized white pine for ship masts and colonists could fetch a far higher price by selling to those nations rather than England.

🪾Tensions rose and on April 13th, 1772 Benjamin Whiting, the Sheriff of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire and his deputy executed a warrant to arrest Ebenezer Mudgett, a sawyer for illegally harvesting and selling white pines. Ebenzer was released when he agreed to provide his bail the next morning. That night, the Sheriff and his deputy were staying at a local tavern, the Pine Tree Inn, when Ebeneezer and 30 angry colonists disguised with soot on their faces broke into the Sheriff and his deputy’s rooms, beat them with tree branches and lashed them 20 times, one lash for each white pine that Ebeneezer was accused of stealing from the Crown. They then took the two men’s horses and cut off their ears, manes and tails and sent the sheriff and his deputy off on the maimed horses.

🇺🇲This incident became known as the “Pine Tree Riot” and was one of many incidents between colonists and British authorities that led to the American Revolution. The white pine tree consequently became one of the many symbols of the American Revolution, and it soon became prominently displayed on “Pine Tree Flags” of American naval vessels and colonial militias during the American Revolution; a pine tree flag was noted as being flown at the Battle of Bunker Hill. To this day, the official maritime ensign of Massachusetts and Maine is the pine tree flag, and Maine and Vermont both feature a white pine tree prominently in the center of their state flags.

🌲White pine is highly ornamental and may be planted in a variety of soil types. Planting a row of white pine trees along a property line can provide year round privacy from your neighbors as well as beautiful evergreen foliage. They provide excellent contrast during fall when planted among other deciduous trees with yellow, orange and red fall color. While increasing summer temperature and more frequent droughts are increasing the vulnerability of white pines to diseases such as white pine blister rust, planting a white pine in a cool, moist, sheltered location, such as a north or east facing slope can help to ensure that they will thrive. While Hill House doesn’t currently have any white pines in stock, they are widely available as seedlings from state forestry departments and in traditional nurseries. Plant this symbol of the American Revolution in your yard today!

‼️Follow Hill House Native Plants so you don’t miss next week’s tree! 🌳



🐝 As a reminder, the nursery is open to the public Thursday–Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

10/06/2026

🐝Where to find us this weekend🐝

🦋Event: 4th Annual Native Plant Sale & FarmFest
Date: Sunday, October 11, 2026
Time: 9am to 3pm
Address: Clermont Farm Foundation, 151 Clermont Lane, Berryville, VA 22611

🦋Spend a beautiful fall day at Clermont surrounded by native plants, gardening inspiration, local vendors, and the charm of our historic farm.

FarmFest is more than just a plant sale — it’s a lively community event where visitors can shop for hard-to-find native plants, gather expert advice, enjoy live demonstrations, discover eco-friendly products, and spend the day exploring one of Clarke County’s most scenic historic properties.

Whether you’re a dedicated gardener, a weekend plant lover, or simply looking for a unique family-friendly outing, FarmFest offers the perfect mix of shopping, education, and seasonal fun in a relaxed outdoor setting.

Come with your plant wish list, your gardening questions, and your curiosity — and leave inspired for the season ahead.

🐝 As a reminder, the nursery is open to the public Thursday-Friday from 8am to 4pm and Saturday from 8am to 2pm

10/01/2026

🐦 Thursday Birdsday: Scarlet Tanager 🐦

🪶This week’s featured bird looks like it flew straight out of a tropical rainforest—the Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)!

♥️Male Scarlet Tanagers are hard to mistake in spring and summer, with brilliant scarlet-red bodies and jet-black wings and tails. Females are much more understated, sporting beautiful yellowish-olive plumage. Despite the male’s flashy colors, Scarlet Tanagers can be surprisingly difficult to spot because they spend much of their time high in the canopy of mature forests.

🐛Scarlet Tanagers rely heavily on insects, particularly during the breeding season. Caterpillars, beetles, moths, wasps, and other invertebrates make up an important part of their diet. Native trees and shrubs support the insects these birds depend on, making a healthy native plant community an important part of their habitat.

🪾Native oaks (Quercus spp.), hickories (Carya spp.), maples (Acer spp.), and other canopy trees provide both habitat and insect-rich feeding grounds. Scarlet Tanagers also eat fruits and berries, especially as the seasons change and they prepare for migration.

🍂Scarlet Tanagers spend their summers breeding in the forests of eastern North America—including right here in Virginia—but their stay with us is only temporary. Each fall, they undertake an incredible migration to Central and South America, where they spend the winter before returning north in spring.

💚And here’s something fun: despite the name, fall Scarlet Tanagers aren't necessarily scarlet! Adult males molt out of their brilliant breeding plumage and become yellow-green, although they retain their distinctive dark wings.

‼️Planting native trees and shrubs, preserving mature trees, reducing pesticide use, and leaving healthy layers of vegetation in our landscapes all help support the insects, fruit, and habitat Scarlet Tanagers and other native birds need.

🕸Sometimes planting for the birds isn’t about putting out a feeder—it’s about growing the food web.



Follow along every Thursday for Thursday Birdsday, where we celebrate the amazing birds of Virginia and the native plants that keep them singing. Which bird do you hope we feature next?

🐝 As a reminder, the nursery is open to the public Thursday-Friday from 8am to 4pm and Saturday from 8am to 2pm

09/30/2026

🐝Wow—what a busy weekend for us at Hill House Native Plants!

On Saturday, part of our crew headed to the Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale, while the rest of us held down the fort at the nursery for the Rappahannock County Farm Tour on both Saturday and Sunday!

It was a wonderful weekend all around, and we couldn’t resist sharing a few of our favorite moments.

From talking plants and helping people find the perfect natives for their gardens, to seeing so many familiar faces—and meeting plenty of new ones—we’re incredibly grateful for everyone who stopped by, chatted with us, asked questions, and took some native plants home.

Thank you for supporting Hill House Native Plants and for helping us put more native plants into our local landscapes. Every plant makes a difference!

📸Here are just a few snapshots from a very full and very fun weekend.

09/29/2026

🌳 Tree Talk Tuesday: The bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) 🌳

🌲The bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a deciduous conifer native to the Southeastern United States. It primarily occurs within the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from New Jersey to Texas, yet it also occurs in the lower Mississippi River Valley as far north as Indiana and Illinois. In the wild it is typically found within shallow wetlands along the margins of rivers and streams, as well as bayous and lakes within the deep south. In wetland environments, the trees produce “cypress knees,” conical woody structures that emerge from its roots, which are thought to provide the tree stability or root aeration. Individual trees can reach heights of 120 ft and 6 ft in diameter, and live for over 2000 years. A stand of old growth bald cypress trees along the Black River in North Carolina has an individual tree with a confirmed age of 2,624 years, making it the oldest living tree in Eastern North America.

🛶The most important factor contributing to the bald cypress's incredible longevity and vitality is the quality of its wood. The heartwood of bald cypress contains natural chemical compounds such as cypressene that make the wood highly resistant to rot, insects and moisture intrusion. These qualities made the wood an extremely valuable construction material for Indigenous peoples and Euro-American settlers. It is clear from both archeological excavation and the current practices of Indigenous tribes such as the Chitimacha of Louisiana that bald cypress has been prized as canoe wood for thousands of years. In Missing the boat, Ancient Dugout Canoes in the Mississippi-Missouri Watershed, Peter Wood provides a story told by a Chitimacha boatmaker of how their supreme deity Ku’tnahin instructed their people how to construct bald cypress canoes. Ku’tnahin “took six Indians into the woods and showed them how to fell a cypress tree by burning the trunk. After the tree had fallen, he showed them how to secure a section at the right length by lighting fires under the log, and how to shape the bottom and ends of the canoe by burning the surface of the log and scraping off the charred wood with a clam shell”.

🪵Prehistoric bald cypress canoes have been uncovered in various wetlands throughout the southeast. In 1983, a 32 ft long and 2 ft wide bald cypress canoe dated to 1200 CE was found near Mounds Plantation, Louisiana, a Caddo ceremonial complex. In 1985, 23 bald cypress canoes were found in Lake Phelps, North Carolina, dating from 2430 BCE to 1400 CE. Bald cypress wood has also been found in the construction of houses used by elite residents of Cahokia, an ancient Indigenous city of 20,000 located beneath present-day St. Louis and its suburbs. From 2009-2012, an excavation was conducted in preparation for the construction of the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge at the site of Cahokia. Archeologists uncovered, “more than 40 massive posts or poles that were placed in the ground and were as wide as 3 feet across and 40-60 feet tall” that were bald cypress trunks brought up the Mississippi River. There is speculation that the cypress trunks were placed to mark a sacred center or ritual area.

🛖Euro-American settlers quickly recognized the rot resistant properties of bald cypress wood and primarily used it for shingle production. William Hugh Grove, an Englishman traveling through Virginia in 1732 visited Yorktown, which had “at least 100 houses” at the time, yet William wrote in his journal that only the “good” houses had cypress shingles.

“There are about 10 good houses, not above 4 of Brick, the rest of Timber, viz. Pine Planks Covered with shingles of Cypress”.

🏞Bald cypress posts were also utilized in the construction of docks and pilings in ports due to their rot resistance. Cypress wood was used occasionally in shipbuilding and was especially prized for caskets.

💨 Bald cypress is a wonderful native ornamental or shade tree that can be grown anywhere in Virginia. The tenacity of bald cypress cannot be understated. While the species is native to the southeast, it is incredibly cold tolerant, is hardy to zone 4 and is widely cultivated in Southern Canada. Although it is nearly always found in wetlands in the wild, its ability to grow in the poor, mucky soils of wetlands makes it adaptable to the highly compacted and disturbed soils of urban areas and it makes a fantastic street tree. The pyramidal crown and perpendicular limbs of the tree enable it to shrug off hurricane-force winds. This is a tree you will never have to worry about falling on your house! The tree’s summer needles are a vivid hue of light green and look fantastic all season long until fall when they turn a rusty orange color, providing a spectacular fall display. The reddish-brown bark peels overtime and provides year round interest.

Hill house has one beautiful 6 ft tall bald cypress available for purchase now and will have more available next year!

‼️Follow Hill House Native Plants so you don’t miss next week’s tree! 🌳

🐝 As a reminder, the nursery is open to the public Thursday–Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

09/24/2026

🦅 Thursday Birdsday: Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus ❤️

🔊You may hear a Red-shouldered Hawk before you see one—its loud, repeated “kee-aah” call often echoes through wooded neighborhoods and wetlands. Look for its reddish-brown shoulders and chest, boldly banded tail, and striking black-and-white wings.

🏞Red-shouldered Hawks prefer mature forests near streams, ponds, and swamps, where they hunt frogs, snakes, crayfish, small mammals, and other prey from concealed perches.

🪵Historically, the clearing of eastern forests and destruction of wetlands caused these woodland hawks to lose much of their habitat. Fortunately, their populations increased across much of their range between 1966 and 2019. They have even adapted to some wooded suburban areas—but continued forest clearing remains their greatest threat.

🐁Although hawks do not eat native plants, healthy native plant communities support the entire food web they depend on. Native trees such as oaks, sycamores, river birches, and red maples provide nesting and hunting habitat. Native shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers shelter insects and smaller animals that help sustain these impressive birds of prey.

🕸Planting natives does more than feed pollinators—it helps support every level of our local ecosystem, all the way to the hawks soaring overhead!



Follow along every Thursday for Thursday Birdsday, where we celebrate the amazing birds of Virginia and the native plants that keep them singing. Which bird do you hope we feature next?

09/23/2026

🎥 Hill House Native Plants is now on YouTube!

Our new channel will be a casual but informative place where we share helpful native-plant knowledge, behind-the-scenes moments from the nursery, gardening tips, plant highlights, and more.

We won’t be following a regular posting schedule—we’ll simply share new videos whenever inspiration strikes and there’s something interesting to show you!

Subscribe to our channel and join us as we continue learning, growing, and putting more native plants into the world. 🌿

Follow us here:
https://www.youtube.com/-2026

Welcome to Hill House Native Plants, a nursery dedicated to growing exceptional native plants in Rappahannock County, Virginia — proudly serving Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. What began in 1998 as a small home-based business on Janet Davis's property has grown into a full-fledged native...

09/22/2026

🌳 Tree Talk Tuesday: The eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) 🌳

🌲The eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a large, long-lived and slow growing conifer native from Minnesota in the northwest, east to Nova Scotia and south to Alabama. Eastern hemlock can attain enormous sizes under optimal conditions; old-growth individuals in the Southern Appalachians measure over 175 ft tall and 6 ft wide. The eastern hemlock is a late-successional species and is considered the most shade tolerant tree species in Eastern North America, able to persist beneath the canopy in a little to no light environment for over 100 years, waiting for a release event. The species is associated with other shade tolerant and generally fire intolerant species such as yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), umbrella mongolia (magnolia tripetala), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) and Canada yew (Taxus canadensis).

🏞The eastern hemlock is distributed unevenly throughout its range, and is most abundant in the Appalachian Mountains and the Northwoods. Within the Appalachian Mountains, the species is generally restricted to north and east facing slopes, coves or cool moist valleys. The species is conspicuously absent or occurs infrequently in major river valleys within Appalachia, such as the Tennessee River Valley, the Monongahela River Valley and the Finger Lakes Region. In the Lower Midwest (Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio) the species is somewhat frequent on the Allegheny and Cumberland plateaus, but is completely absent west of these plateaus except in small, localized populations that occur in specific niches such as box canyons, rock outcrops, sandstone cliffs and hummocks within wetlands. Cultural fires set by Indigenous peoples likely limited eastern hemlock to these niches as they are all naturally protected from fire.

🫖The most prevalent use of eastern hemlock among Indigenous peoples was brewing a medicinal tea from the inner bark, which was used to treat a number of ailments and as a common beverage, especially during the winters among the Haudenosaunee. This tea is also known to have been brewed by the Algonquin, Chippewa, Menomini, Meskwaki, Mohawk, Potawatomi and Seneca peoples. The resin and sap of the tree were used as topical ointments to treat sores and wounds. The Anishinaabek utilized the boughs of hemlock as bedding material and in the construction of lean-tos by hunters. Euro-American settlers primarily used eastern hemlock for tanning leather hides. Eastern hemlock bark is rich in tannins and the bark would be stripped from standing trees for tannin production while the standing wood was often left to rot.

🪾Unfortunately, the vast majority of eastern hemlock stands have been ravaged by the Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), an invasive insect native to East Asia. Virginia is ground zero for HWA, as it was first detected in Richmond, VA in 1951. Approximately 95% of old-growth hemlocks within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have succumbed to HWA. Luckily, HWA has yet to reach disjunct populations of eastern hemlock in the lower Midwest and there is hope that HWA may not reach these more isolated populations. The photographs included with this post are of uninfested populations located in Central and Southern Indiana.

🌲While HWA remains a threat, isolated individual trees or populations are less susceptible to HWA. Thus, don’t let HWA keep you from planting a magnificent hemlock on your property. We need to keep planting eastern hemlocks to ensure that this species does not disappear from the landscape. Eastern hemlocks are highly ornamental and work great as a natural screen when planted along a fence line. Their small, evergreen needles have a sweet fragrance when crushed and are gorgeous when covered in snow. Due to their shade tolerance, they perform well beneath an existing canopy. They provide an excellent backdrop for native flowering trees such as flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) or fringetree (Chioanthus virginicus) as the evergreen needles make white blooms stand out.

🪵Hill House Native Plants has 1 gallon eastern hemlocks grown from seed available now. Fall is the best time to plant trees, come pick up an eastern hemlock for your backyard soon!

‼️Follow Hill House Native Plants so you don’t miss next week’s tree! 🌳

09/21/2026

🐝Where to find us this weekend🐝

🦋Event: Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Time: 9am to 2pm
Address: Church of St. Clement, 1701 N Quaker Ln, Alexandria, VA 22302

The BEST native plant sale event in the region!

ALSO

🦋Event: Rappahannock County Farm Tour
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026 to Sunday, September 27, 2026
Time: 9am to 5pm
Address: 125 Clover Hill Lane, Woodville VA 22749

Join us at the Nursery as we participate in the Farm Tour

Come for the lectures, come for the native plants, come for the views or come for the fun—all are welcome to visit us on Saturday and Sunday for our local Farm Tour event.

09/17/2026

🐦 Thursday Birdsday: Red-bellied Woodpecker 🐦

🪶This week, we’re highlighting the Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)—a lively, year-round Virginia resident recognized by its zebra-striped back, bright red crown and rolling “churr” call.

♥️Despite its name, the reddish patch on this bird’s belly is often difficult to see! Its red crown is far more noticeable, but the name “Red-headed Woodpecker” was already taken by a different species.

📜 A Little Bird History: English naturalist Mark Catesby illustrated the Red-bellied Woodpecker in his 18th-century work documenting the wildlife of the Carolinas. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus formally named it Picus carolinus. Its modern scientific name, Melanerpes carolinus, still reflects that early association with the Carolinas.

🪵Red-bellied Woodpeckers eat insects, spiders, nuts, seeds and fruit. They will even tuck food into cracks in tree bark to save for later! Native oaks and hickories provide acorns, nuts and insect habitat, while serviceberries, flowering dogwoods, elderberries, sumacs and Eastern red cedars offer nourishing fruit. Mature trees and standing deadwood, when safely retained, also provide essential places for nesting and foraging.

🪾Planting a variety of native trees and shrubs helps create a dependable, year-round buffet—and a welcoming home—for these colorful backyard visitors.

🌿 Plant native. Support insects. Feed the birds.



📸 By Reuven Martin, Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reag

Follow along every Thursday for Thursday Birdsday, where we celebrate the amazing birds of Virginia and the native plants that keep them singing. Which bird do you hope we feature next?

🐝 As a reminder, the nursery is open to the public Thursday-Friday from 8am to 4pm and Saturday from 8am to 2pm