Sheila began volunteering with Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy in 2010, and her interests have always involved native plants. From volunteering with our partner, Plant NOVA Natives, to plant sales, to JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary, if it involves plants she has helped.

Sheila at her pond.

Sheila has been helping to plan, organize, promote and run the Native Plant Sales since the fall of 2012. She set up the first help desk to give advice on native plants at that sale and has been staffing it ever since.

In the fall of 2023, Sheila decided she would like to pass the torch for the Native Plant Sale after 2024 to concentrate on other efforts. She has been instrumental over the last year in helping us transition the Native Plant Sale committee of two to three volunteers into a leadership team of five volunteers. As part of that effort, she has meticulously documented all that is involved in the sale, complete with a timeline for when tasks should be accomplished.

We owe a great deal of gratitude to Sheila for all she has done over the years and for her invaluable insight and guidance through the transition this year. Thanks to her dedication and passion for this sale, the new Native Plant Sale leadership team has a strong and knowledgeable foundation upon which to build. Please join us in thanking Sheila for her contribution in making the plant sales a success and ensuring they continue to be so for years to come!

Sheila also contributes greatly to our efforts at JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary, serving on the sanctuary committee since 2019 and spearheading our plant efforts on the property. Her role has included, but is not limited to:

• Identifying and documenting plant species
• Collecting seeds and rescuing plants in advance of work by The Nature Conservancy
• Growing plants from collected seed
• Organizing and executing meadow plant enhancement projects
• Removing invasive plant species

It may seem obvious at this point that Sheila’s favorite thing in nature is native plants, but her answer to this question is, “Anyone who spends a lot of time in nature (as I do) would find it nearly impossible to name a favorite thing. It’s much easier to tell you some of the little things I enjoy. Come to think of it, maybe it’s all the little things combined that make nature so wonderful.” Sheila describes a few of her favorite things in nature:

In late winter, the tiny pond in front of my house is full of Wood Frogs. I love watching them scooting around in the water and hearing their calls. I never get tired of watching birds take a bath. There’s just something hilarious about their flapping wings splashing water everywhere. I always get excited about finding a new native plant at JK Black Oak, and I’m always looking for the next one. A couple of the really cool plants I found this year were Gray’s Sedge (Carex grayi) and Eastern Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria). The odd thing about the Gray’s Sedge was that I found it growing in full sun in the meadow, which is unusual because it normally prefers part-shade. Finding unexpected things in nature is always fun.

From encouraging people to use native plants in the landscape to enhancing wildlife habitat at JK Black Oak, Sheila is there to help. Many thanks to her, and to all our volunteers, for sharing your passion for nature with us in so many ways. Everyone’s dedication to protect, preserve, and restore wildlife habitat in Loudoun is commendable, and we are grateful for your help in creating a place where people and wildlife thrive together.

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