The butterflies of Northern Virginia need our help. We have been unintentionally starving them by replacing the native flora with turf grass from Europe and with other ornamental plants that were brought over from other continents. Baby butterflies (otherwise known as caterpillars) cannot eat foreign plants!
So let’s give them a helping hand. All we have to do is plant some native Virginia species on our properties. An oak tree to shade our front porch, some Winterberry shrubs to line the driveway, some New England Aster to brighten up the mailbox – the garden centers are stocked with scores of native plants that look great and feed the caterpillars.
If we work together, we can save not only the Monarch but the other 89 Northern Virginia species of butterflies and skippers, all of which depend on their own particular larval host plants. Help grow the movement by taking this pledge on the Plant NOVA Natives website: “I pledge to plant NOVA Natives!”