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Plan next year’s staycation now – plant native plants!

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Why go on a safari when a safari could come to you? Imagine yourself sipping lemonade on your

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar demonstrates its “snake tongue” defensive maneuver.

lawn chair while strange and marvelous creatures entertain you. This is what you experience when you turn your yard into a wildlife sanctuary. Fall is the time to put in the plants that will bring this parade to your door.

Most perennials and shrubs and some trees do best when planted in the fall. The cooler, wetter weather puts less stress on the plants while their roots continue to grow well into winter. If you want to enjoy butterflies and birds, choose native plants, as those are the ones that support our local wildlife.

In Northern Virginia, we are lucky to have three native-plant only nurseries, as well as several other commercial nurseries that are labeling their native plants. In addition, September brings several special native plant sales including ones in Herndon, Arlington, Springfield, and Alexandria. You can find all these locations on the Plant NOVA Natives website.

For more inspiration, check out the one-minute native plant “Staycation” video.

Plant NOVA Natives seeks volunteers for September events

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Plant NOVA Natives is the joint marketing campaign of a coalition of non-profit, governmental, and private groups, all working to reverse the decline of native plants and wildlife in Northern Virginia. Their strategy is to encourage residents as well as public and commercial entities to install native plants as the first step toward creating wildlife habitat and functioning ecosystems on their own properties. All are welcome to participate in this collective action movement! ​

Events in need of volunteers – Please sign up here. No experience necessary! Just a basic understanding of why native plants are such a good idea.

• 9/22 Green Spring Garden Fall Garden Day – Dress up as a pollinator with a sign that says “Ask me about native plants.” Give out cards telling people how to find Plant NOVA Natives Guide.
• 9/23 Manassas Latino Festival – Spanish-speaking volunteers needed.
• 9/23 NatureFest – Runnymede Park, Herndon. Engage with kids – they have tons of ideas for you.
• 9/29 Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale. Sell Guides.

We need social media volunteers for outreach. Please help post content – email [email protected].

Engage your neighbors in a community project. Would you like to engage your neighbors in the home habitat movement? Help pilot an Audubon-at-Home certification program for your neighborhood by organizing a “Habitat-in-Training” community, in which 60% of residents commit to plant at least one native plant as the first step toward eventual Audubon-at-Home certification for the community as a whole. Plant NOVA Natives is seeking volunteers who can help them figure out how to create a fun and easy program. Click here for details of this work in progress, and email [email protected] if you are interested.

Web person needed – The Wix software is user friendly. The work consists of occasional updates to existing pages and creation of new pages using text and photos which will be provided. They just need you to be adept enough at basic computer skills to be able to work independently and quickly.

Take advantage of fall native plant sales

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We are fortunate in Northern Virginia to have many sources of native plants. In addition to the native-only nurseries – some of which propagate plants themselves from local seed sources – there are numerous vendors who set up shop at special plant sales in the spring and fall.

Find a list on the Plant NOVA Natives website. Scroll down to find the Fall Native Plant Sale portion.  You’ll also find the free, downloadable Guide to Native Plants of Northern Virginia.

If you are looking for particular plants, you can contact vendors in advance and ask for them. Traditional commercial nurseries are selling more and more native plants as well (but don’t expect to find natives at big box stores).

 

Find new opportunities with Plant NOVA Natives

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Label native plants in garden centers
Three nursery companies (Greenstreet Gardens, Meadows Farms Nurseries, and Merrifield Garden Center) have kindly agreed to allow volunteers to put Plant NOVA Natives stickers on their plant signs at a total of 12 garden centers. This will make it immensely easier for shoppers to recognize native plants. Plant NOVA Natives is looking for more volunteers to put on these stickers, so email [email protected] if you are interested in adopting a nursery. Experience is not needed, although the more familiar you are with Northern Virginia natives, the less time it will take you to do the job.

Sign up to be tapped as a volunteer
Whatever your experience or skills, the organization needs your help! If you tell them which county you live in and a bit about your background, then when opportunities arise, they will know whom to contact. You incur no obligation at all by signing up. Please fill out this form to get on their roster. They currently are seeking more help for their website from someone experienced in web design.

Help Plant NoVa Natives with outreach events, earn service hours

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Plant NoVa Natives needs many people to staff various tables and other events. Springtime is crazy for environmentalists! Please sign up here. No experience is necessary.

Events for kids:
·   4/10 School Environmental Showcase at GMU
·   4/19 Hayfield ES Math and Science Night
·   4/21 Lord of Life Preschool Earth Day Carnival

Events for adults and families:
·   4/12 Fairlington Presbyterian environmental event. (Details and registration here.)
·   4/26 Northern Virginia Community College Green Festival (Annandale)
·   5/6 Huntley Meadows Wetlands Awareness Day

Plant NOVA Natives requests all hands on deck!  

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Plant NOVA Natives is a joint marketing campaign of more than 40 private, public, and non-profit organizations, including Master Naturalists, and hundreds of individuals. Their mission is to educate the community and to promote the benefits to water quality and natural habitat of planting Northern Virginia natives. Committed volunteers help make this possible by using multimedia outreach and events, and by working with local growers and sellers of native plants. All are welcome to participate in this collective action movement.

Volunteers can participate in myriad ways, from posting signs on community bulletin boards, to giving presentations or participating on the Steering Committee. See their website for details, or contact [email protected].–Margaret Fisher