Showing posts with label butterflies of virginia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label butterflies of virginia. Show all posts

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Driving your message home – new specialty license plate for Virginia

polplateI didn’t used to believe in putting bumper stickers or specialty license plates on my car. But then I realized what a great opportunity  I was passing up  to spread the word about eco-friendly gardening.

If you are a “green gardener” in Virginia, you  have the opportunity to help encourage others to create eco-friendly gardening for pollinators.

This beautiful specialty tag is enough to make anyone want to attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to their yard, and we all know that means getting rid of chemicals and planting more native plants!

Here’s the info I read on the Virginia Native Plant Society Facebook page:

A group of local nature lovers is hoping to attract support for a new Virginia license plate with the inscription “Protect Pollinators.” The plate is meant to bring attention to the role pollinators — bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, etc. — play in supporting the vitality of the earth’s ecosystem and food supply.

“So far we’ve had quite a lot of interest from Beekeepers, Master Gardeners, Naturalists (including native plant and pollinator enthusiasts), and the Audubon Society,” said pollinator plate organizer Samantha Gallagher. “Like all of the proposed new Virginia plates, we need 450 applicants, the General Assembly’s vote, and the DMV’s approval.”

According to the Virginia Pollinator Plate web site, supporters have signed up 44 people so far. They need another 406 commitments by November 2012 to move on to getting legislative and DMV support. An electronic application can be found here.

Gallagher says the purpose of the plate is not to raise money, but to raise awareness.
“Our plate costs $10 annually and isn’t a shared revenue plate, but our hope is that it provokes interest and conversation in pollinator conservation,” she said.

For more information about the Pollinator Plate, visit the Virginia Pollinator Plates website or visit them on Facebook

For more information about attracting pollinators to your yard, here are some related posts:

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Think Outside the box and Plant This, Not That

PASSIO~4 Native plants are very popular in eco-friendly landscapes. Some people like them because of their drought tolerance and low-maintenance requirements. Others like them because of their wildlife value or their pure, unadulterated beauty.

I recently ran across a list entitled Plant This, Not That on the Garden Club of Virginia website that was created for their 2011 annual meeting. A paragraph at the top of the list explained how the list was compiled.

Garden club members from around the state were asked for suggestions for native plants that had wildlife value, but not in the traditional sense of providing seeds or berries for wildlife. Instead, they were asked to list plants that attract butterflies, which in turn, produce caterpillars which are used as food for many native bird species.
For our GCV Annual Meeting we are focusing on good garden practices that encourage the growth cycle of our native birds and butterflies. Many of you may know that our native birds are in decline because of loss of native habitat for the specific caterpillars that feed our young birds. Non-native plants do not offer breeding ground for any native butterflies, and 97% of our birds require insects-not seeds-to feed their young. Therefore we are asking each club to bring in a cutting or small plant that is native and attracts butterflies, and a picture of a non-native landscape plant that may be replaced by your specimen in a backyard landscape. The display will be titled "Plant this, not that!"

It’s a great list, because it helps us “think outside the box” when recognizing the wildlife value of native plants. I mentioned many of the plants on the list, including paw paw, sweet bay, milkweed and passion vine, in a post that I did on butterfly gardening. But from now on, I’ll remember to mention their value for attracting birds, as well.

Plant This, Not That – complete list (pdf format)

Here are some Favorite Native Plant Lists from our archives:

And don’t forget to take our native plant poll and check out the other lists of native plants listed under Our Most Popular Pages, both of which can be found in the blog’s sidebar.

Monday, December 5, 2011

12 Days of Christmas for Eco-Friendly Gardeners

greensanta

Written by Betsy S. Franz

On the first day of Christmas my garden gave to me
An eco-friendly native tree (Native plants are often excellent choices for eco-friendly gardens, since they require less chemicals and less water to maintain)

On the second day of Christmas my garden gave to me
Two new loves – (when you look closely enough, every day in your eco-friendly garden will bring you something new and wonderful to love.)
And an eco-friendly native tree.
On the third day of Christmas my garden gave to me
Three full bins - (kitchen scraps, leaves and garden discards keep my compost bins full)
Two new loves
And an eco-friendly native tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas my garden gave to me
Four hummingbirds – (planting the right plants and eliminating chemicals make hummingbirds regular visitors to my garden)
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas my garden gave to me

Five less wat-er-ings - (eco-friendly gardens conserve water with adequate mulch, drought tolerant plants, and rain barrels)
Four hummingbirds
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas my garden gave to me
Six trees a swaying - (Trees protect water quality, clean the air and provide wildlife habitat.)
Five less wat-er-ings
Four hummingbirds
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree
On the seventh day of Christmas my garden gave to me

Seven barrels brimming - (rain barrels not only conserve water, but help keep harmful pollutants out of our waterways)
Six trees a swaying
Five less wat-er-ings
Four hummingbirds
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree
On the eighth day of Christmas my garden gave to me

Eight monarchs milking - (Okay. Monarch butterflies don’t really “milk” milkweed, but their tiny caterpillars need these native plants to grow into beautiful butterflies)
Seven barrels brimming
Six trees a swaying
Five less wat-er-ings
Four hummingbirds
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree
On the ninth day of Christmas my garden gave to me

Nine ladies dancing - (Painted ladies are another beautiful butterfly that you can attract to your DC area garden by planting the right plants for them)
Eight monarchs milking
Seven barrels brimming
Six trees a swaying
Five less wat-er-ings
Four hummingbirds
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree
On the tenth day of Christmas my garden gave to me

Ten worms a creeping - (Worms help aerate the soil while producing valuable nutrients)
Nine ladies dancing
Eight monarchs milking
Seven barrels brimming
Six trees a swaying
Five less wat-er-ings
Four hummingbirds
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree
On the eleventh day of Christmas my garden gave to me

Eleven pipes a piping - (we direct all excess rainwater, and overflow from our rain barrels, into the grass and other permeable surfaces)
Ten worms a creeping
Nine ladies dancing
Eight monarchs milking
Seven barrels brimming
Six trees a swaying
Five less wat-er-ings
Four hummingbirds
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree
On the twelfth day of Christmas my garden gave to me

Twelve weeds succumbing - (chemical free weed control helps keep our weeds under control)
Eleven pipes a piping
Ten worms a creeping
Nine ladies dancing
Eight monarchs milking
Seven barrels brimming
Six trees a swaying
Five less wat-er-ings
Four hummingbirds
Three full bins
Two new loves and
An eco-friendly native tree

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Butterflies of Virginia


This list of butterflies of Virginia was created from the Butterflies and Moths of North America website. To create a list for your specific county in Virginia , use the scrollbars on their database search page.
Select the link for any butterfly for more information, including their preferred host and nectar plants.
 
Hesperiidae Skippers

 
Papilionidae Parnassians and Swallowtails

 
Pieridae Whites and Sulphurs

 
Lycaenidae Gossamer-wing Butterflies

 
Riodinidae Metalmarks

 
Nymphalidae Brush-footed Butterflies

Website by Water Words That Work LLC