Brandywine Conservancy

Happy #WorldWaterDay! We celebrate this important natural resource every day at the Brandywine Conservancy. Everyone depends on clean water and a healthy watershed. That's why we've made it our mission to conserve land and protect clean water throughout this region, starting at the headwaters of the Brandywine-Christina watershed in Honey Brook Township, PA, and continuing downstream to the City of Wilmington, Delaware's drinking water. #WatershedWaterDay

Happy International Day of Forests! We our forests and woodlands. In addition to celebrating the beauty and importance of both, we also recognize the challenges many face now and into the future. In the below case study from one of the Brandywine's easement landowners, read about a successful, small-scale woodland planting project that helped regenerate the woods on the landowner's property, plus the challenges and ongoing work that continues. #InternationalDayOfForests

Happy first day of spring! We're celebrating with one of our most favorite signs of the new season: Skunk cabbage! These beauties were recently spotted at the Brandywine's Laurels Preserve. Named for its aroma when crushed, Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is a perennial plant that most often grows in areas that are persistently wet. The flowers of this plant are among the earliest flowers to appear, sometimes blooming in January, and they are dependent on flies for pollination. The leaves that emerge in April are large and resemble those of cabbage. : John Goodall

Today's #NativePlantFriday is a Brandywine favorite, featuring the early-spring emergence of Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica). Appearing, at first, like purple fingertips pushing up out of the soil, these will soon rise and quickly expand into a luxuriant display of bright green leaves bearing clusters of dimpled, pink flower buds that open into gorgeous sky-blue, bell-like flowers. The first few photos shown here were taken just yesterdayand in one mon...th, these "Brandywine Bluebells" will be in glorious full flower. May we be among the first to enthusiastically shout that BLUEBELL SEASON IS COMING! We can't wait. : Mark Gormel See more

"The new voluntary program, called Lights Out Philly, is an effort to prevent bird deaths as they migrate north in the spring and south in the fall, with most flying at night. Birds can become disoriented by artificial lights, causing them to strike buildings or windows. The lights also throw birds off migration paths, leaving them exhausted and confused, and vulnerable to various other threats."

While road salt (sodium chloride) helps keep roads and sidewalks safe during icy weather, the salt eventually washes into watersheds where it damages streams and water quality. The Izaak Walton League created Winter Salt Watch to give volunteers the tools to monitor levels of salt pollution in local waterways. The program aims to ensure transportation safety while protecting clean water through best practices.

Heading back in time to enjoy some flurries of snow at the Brandywine's Laurels Preserve.

Cheers to a new year! We’re wishing a very happy and healthy year ahead to one and all. On this #NativePlantFriday, we also hope you find some time to surround yourself with nature’s beauty, just like this sculpture of a dancing nymph frolicking in a yard of snowy native trees and shrubs, including Scarlet & Red Oaks, Western Red Cedars, Eastern Redbud and Virginia Summersweet. Photo: Mark Gormel

Happy New Year’s Eve! May a bright new year await us all on the path up ahead. Photo by Svenne Juul at the Brandywine's Laurels Preserve... #HappyNewYear #NewYearsEve

Beginning this Saturday, December 12, the state of Pennsylvania has directed all museums within the Commonwealth to temporarily close to the public. The Brandywine River Museum of Art will reopen January 4, 2021. During this time, we hope you will continue to enjoy the rustic footpaths around the Brandywine Conservancy's campus along the banks of the Brandywine River and along the Harvey Run trail through Potts Meadow. Our Member Preserves will also remain open (visit brandywine.org/preserves for current open hours). We also invite you to engage with us online at: www.brandywine.org/at-home and join us for our popular virtual programs and special events held on Zoom: www.brandywine.org/events.

Why do some trees, like beeches and oaks, hold on to their leaves well past the time that others have dropped all of theirs? In today’s blog, learn all about a process called marcescence.

Waterloo Mills Preserve

By analyzing the DNA in root tips and tracing the movement of molecules through underground conduits, [professor of forest ecology, Suzanne] Simard has discovered that fungal threads link nearly every tree in a forest even trees of different species. Carbon, water, nutrients, alarm signals and hormones can pass from tree to tree through these subterranean circuits.

The purpose of cover crops is to keep the soil in place and help prevent wind and water erosion; cover crops also serve as nutrient uptakes - collecting additional nitrogen and phosphorus that’s left in the ground from harvested crops so the nutrients don’t get absorbed into the groundwater.

Missing the colors of fall? Jump back in time with this virtual 360 degree scene from the Brandywine’s Waterloo Mills Preserve