Newsletter article – Please see the short article at the bottom of this update and spread it around via any newsletter or social media you can think of.
Holiday gifts for gardeners – Find the perfect gift for the gardeners and environmentalists in the Plant NOVA Natives store and help grow the movement.
End-of-year giving - Volunteerism is the backbone of the native plant movement, but money can definitely help! Banners, Facebook ads, and our website all cost something. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this campaign either online or by mailing a check to 2940 Hunter Mill Road, Suite 201, Oakton, VA 22124 and made out to the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia, with Plant NOVA Natives on the memo line.
Centreville Regional Library exhibit – If you happen to be near the Centreville Library, check out our exhibit, which will be there through December and which includes a photo frame with 442 rotating pictures of native flora and fauna.
We have been lining up reservations at other libraries. If you would like to help us put up and take down the exhibits, please volunteer by writing plantnovanatives@gmail.com.
Fairfax Master Naturalists are accepting applications for their Spring 2018 basic training.
Conference rescheduled – Our conference is being rescheduled to February. More will follow…
This month’s newsletter article – Please link to or reprint these articles on social media and in any newsletter you can – work, faith community, HOA, club, PTA, etc.
When a migrating bird looks down on your yard, what does it see?
As birds head down the Atlantic Flyway from their summer breeding grounds, some stop in Virginia to spend the winter and others continue hundreds or even thousands of miles further south. Food and shelter are needed along the way, things that may be hard to come by as the birds pass over an increasingly urbanized area that contains a third of the human U.S. population.
Obviously, roads, buildings, and parking lots do not provide the necessities of life to birds. Less obvious is the sad fact that our country’s largest ‘crop’ – turf grass – is also of minimal benefit to wildlife, as are many of the other popular landscaping plants which have been introduced from other continents.
We need not force the birds to look down on a food desert. We can provide what they need right on our own properties. By planting a variety of native trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and perennials, we can furnish the nutritious seeds, nuts, fruits, and berries that are needed to sustain the birds through all four seasons. Those same native plants sustain the insects that songbirds feed to their babies in the spring.
Find out the details of what and how to plant on the Plant NOVA Natives website. And check out the short video of a few of our temporary Virginia neighbors.
Plant NOVA Natives is a joint marketing campaign of over thirty private, public, and non-profit organizations and hundreds of individuals. Our mission is to educate the community and to promote the benefits to water quality and natural habitat of planting beautiful Northern Virginia natives, through the efforts of committed volunteers 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.