Newsletter article – as usual, a new short article is included at the end of this update. Please spread it around, and feel free to adapt it to your own situation. Plagiarism is totally fine!
Volunteer picnic June 17, 11 am to 1 pm – all are welcome! Potluck picnic lunch at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, in the picnic area between the barn and the Encore Lounge. Come celebrate our campaign and get to know the many, many people who are contributing to it. We will gather to chat and eat, then take a tour of Wolf Trap’s wonderful native plant gardens. RSVP here. Please join us, whether you have volunteered before or are just interested in learning more.
Deer browsing information – Thanks to a huge amount of work by Jerry Peters and Rosemary Jann, we now have deer resistance information for almost every plant in our Guide. See the list and an explanation of how it was created by clicking here.
Send us your plant tips to be added to our app - We will happily include your advice on our mobile-friendly, searchable app. This free app allows you to look up details about each plant (including the deer browsing information). Note also the little blue arrow in the left upper corner that allows you to sort by plant characteristic.
Do you enjoy projects? – We have several that need volunteers to make them happen. Examples include
· Entering data into the plant app (such as pH, heights, etc.)
· Organizing library exhibits
· Putting together short videos (minimal experience required, just a willingness to use the simple movie software that comes with computers. We even have the footage already for some of these.)
3rd Edition of the Guide – Five thousand copies will be available as of next week! Ten more plants are included, and icons for the wildlife that thrive on each plant in the guide.
Activities for kids needed –Please share your ideas on fun native-plant activities so we can encourage others to step forward to work with kids. Send your “curricula” to plantnovanative@gmail.com, and we will put them on our website.
Are you fluent in another language? Please let us know if you could translate (or adapt) our short newsletter articles and submit them to neighborhood groups, local non-English newspapers, social media, etc. Spanish of course is particularly urgent, but speakers of all languages are needed.
Movie under the stars – Hometown Habitat would be a great choice for an outdoor movie in a park or neighborhood. Or just show the first fifteen minutes as a “short.”
Landscape for Life course –July 11-27, Tues and Thurs. evenings. Hamilton, VA. Details here.
This month’s newsletter article – Please reprint these articles on social media and in any newsletter you can – work, faith community, HOA, club, etc. Or link to them on our blog, which includes previous articles in this series.
Beautifying your garden with natives, made easy
We are all learning that native plants support the environment while providing low-maintenance beauty to our yards, but how can you figure out which plants are native and which will grow well on your property? Native plants in garden centers often are not labelled as such, and sometimes plants that are labelled as “native” are actually residents of the prairies or even the west coast, not of Virginia.
Luckily, the Plant NOVA Natives campaign has created a resource that you can take with you to the nursery: the Native Plants for Northern Virginia booklet. Now in its third edition, this full-color guide lists 270 garden-worthy Northern Virginia plants, 90 of which are highlighted with photographs and extra detail. The index allows for quick look-up of growing conditions such as sun, moisture, and height. You can also identify which plants attract pollinators or birds, and which are larval host plants.
The third edition will be available starting the week of June 2. You can view the guide on line for free at www.plantnovanatives.org, but a few dollars would be well spent on purchasing a hard copy to take with as you shop. Single copies can be purchased here. Arrange to buy multiple copies ($5 per copy, tax included) by emailing plantnovanatives@gmail.com. Pick up at 3040 Williams Drive, Suite 200, Fairfax, unless other arrangements are made. There is a discount for cases of 50 guides ($4 per copy). Don’t leave home without it!
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