Sarracenia rubra flower Delaware Valley Fern & Wildflower SocietyStewartia

To view a PDF, down- load Acrobat HERE.

News and Events in Brief

Check your email for the latest news:

  • Attend the 2024 Flower Show as a DVFWS volunteer. Free ticket with signup. Click here for details.
  • First Winter Field Trip - Feb 17 Pennypack Ecological Preserve. Click here for details
  • HFF and BPS - lecture Feb 17 at 1:00pm. $25. Dryopteris and Other Ferns in a Dutch Collector's Garden.
  • Feb 29 deadline for early registration. "March Into Spring" is an all-day Symposium on Mar 23rd at Winterthur Museum and Gardens. Register here.
  • New book alert! Ferns, Spikemosses, Clubmosses, and Quillworts of Eastern North America, Princeton University Press.
  • NOTE: We are looking for a newsletter editor and recording secretary for 2024. Any questions, contact the board at delvalfernsoc@gmail.com

    Winter Field Trip - Feb 17  Pennypack Ecological Preserve

    February 17 (Saturday) at 10 AM: Pennypack Preserve, Montgomery County, PA

    This is a joint trip with the Philadelphia Botanical Club. The Pennypack Preserve, almost 900 acres, is owned by the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust. It has a range of habitats, making it a good site for wintertime botany. We will explore woods, restored grasslands, marsh, and pondside. Some of the woods is old growth, with oaks that date back as far as the 1760s. The grasslands offer sweeping views over Huntingdon Valley. The preserve has been designated as an Important Bird Area, so birding enthusiasts may want to bring binoculars. We will walk approximately 2.5 miles, including some moderate hills. Expect dry walking, though we may encounter some mud if it rains shortly before the trip. If there is deep snow or steady rain, the trip will be postponed to February 24. To learn about any postponement,  more

    PHS 2024 Philadelphia Flower Show Mar 2-10

    The 2024 Philadelphia Flower Show is almost here! 🌺 #UnitedbyFlowers is the colorful celebration of what brings us together in plant societies.Come visit us at the 2024 Philadelphia Flower Show March 2-March 10.

    We need members to volunteer their plants before Feb 29th. A new Plant Info Booth (PIB) will be in our exhibit area, along with Penn Museum, Bartlett, Burpee, Bonsai, Cactus, and five other plant societies. Attend the 2024 Flower Show as a DVFWS volunteer. Free ticket with signup. Click here for details.



    Recap: Winter Meeting - Public Native Pollinator Garden Underway

    28 people attended the Winter Meeting in person or on Zoom, including two new members and a guest. Nine visited the demonstration garden in Twining Valley Park afterwards. Cindy Nuss spoke on the grants and partnerships involved in designing a large native plant pollinator garden at a former putting green at Twining Valley Park. Each labeled plant was selected for its role as a host plant or nector plant for a native insect species contributing to the greater food web of the Delaware Valley.

    Nine people joined the speaker afterwards to tour the public pollinator plant demonstration garden at 1400 Twining Road following the lecture. We will visit again when it is in bloom.

    Membership Link to Form

    All are welcome with an interest in outdoor walks and field trips to see native plants in the ground. Dues are $10 a year or $14 for a couple in one household. Click on Membership on the left to see categories of membership.

    We hold three business meetings in November, March and at a summer picnic. From April to October we take walks, aka field trips, to explore natural areas and gardens displaying native plants and ferns. We educate others from an exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show. 
    A speaker on ferns is available for lectures to other societies.

    About Us: Mission

    The Delaware Valley Fern & Wildflower Society is a plant society formed in 1975 to explore ferns in nature. We will be 25 in 2025 next January. We welcomes all people with an interest in walking to discover native ferns, native wildflowers, and native plants where they grow, and sharing the experience with other plant lovers. From April to October, members meet on field trips and short walks to appreciate plants in nature or in gardens. JOIN US!