May 2025 Update

Hummingbirds love our yards when we provide them with what they need.  Please see the article at the bottom of this update and share as widely as possible. 

Front yard signs available again soon

Back by popular demand (and while supplies last), you can pick up a 12”x9” sign for your front yard from Watermark Woods, Nature by Design, and the VNPS-Potowmack first Wednesday sales at Green Spring Gardens. A kind volunteer will be delivering them to those locations within the next few days. You can also order one yourself from any print shop. The purpose of the signs is to inspire conversations about native plants, because research shows that people are most likely to take action if they are encouraged by someone they trust.

Community Association residents - take the survey!

The Virginia Invasive Plant Coalition is gathering information about the status of invasive plant management in community associations across the Commonwealth. Please help by taking this short survey if you live in any kind of community association (such as an HOA, condo association, citizen’s association, or neighborhood association) in Virginia. https://virginiainvasives.org/ 

Volunteer at tabling events: If you can spare a few hours to set up and table and chat with people about native plants, please sign up here. No experience necessary!

• 5/3 Centreville

• 5/10 Mason Neck

• 5/17 Burke

Help plant trees

• Saturday, May 10, 9am-noon. Antioch Baptist Church, 6531 Little Ox Road, Fairfax Station. Tools, supplies, and instruction will be provided. RSVP Anna Dixon afd@dixonmediationgroup.com.   

Upcoming events:

• May 4 - Wetlands Awareness Day at Huntley Meadows Park

• May 6, 7 pm - online - Creating Bird-Friendly Cities and Communities: Migratory Bird Day Register here.

• May 8, 7 pm - online - Butterfly Gardening. Register here.

• May 8, 7 pm - online - Pollination. Register here.

Partner of the month: Friends of Little Hunting Creek started out as “two people and a letterhead” in an effort to protect Little Hunting Creek for people and wildlife. Appalled by the amount of trash in the Creek, concerned citizens got organized in 2002 and have conducted an annual trash clean-up of the watershed ever since. Since 2006, the group has also kept track of the number of trash bags they fill with litter and the number of tires and shopping carts they extract from the Creek on an annual basis. The data has provided an advocacy tool that they’ve effectively wielded, resulting in bills that raise the state litter tax, ban single use plastic bags, and charge the owner of shopping carts for the cost of their disposal. These new laws and programs have successfully reduced the amount of trash in Little Hunting Creek. Today their work includes efforts to educate neighbors living along or near the Creek about invasive plant removal, native plant gardening, creek friendly lawn care, habitat restoration, and open space preservation.  

Outreach of the month: Can you post on NextDoor.com?

Please let us know if you would be willing to share our monthly articles on your local NextDoor.com site. This is a great way to reach people who don’t already know about native plants. We would like to have someone post within each zip code. Here are the zip codes where we do NOT need a volunteer because there is someone already doing it. If you live in a zip code in Northern Virginia that is not listed here, email plantnovanatives@gmail.com to receive a monthly reminder to post the article.

20110, 20120, 20124, 20147, 20152, 20158, 20164, 20165, 20169, 20170, 20171, 20175, 22003, 22015, 22032, 22039, 22041, 22042, 22043, 22044, 22046, 22101, 22102, 22124, 22151, 22153, 22191, 22192, 22201, 22202, 22204, 22206, 22207, 22213, 22301, 22305, 22306, 22308, 22309, 22310 

Report your native tree and shrub plantings

Please help Northern Virginia meet its tree-planting obligations by reporting your tree and shrub plantings here. So far 18,220 have been reported!

Report your tree rescues

Millions of trees in Northern Virginia are at risk from invasive non-native vines. You can help by saving them on your own land or by volunteering on public land. (Plant NOVA Natives/Plant NOVA Trees only does educational outreach, so all this work is done under the auspices of our partnering organizations or other landowners.). So far, 18,554 tree rescues have been reported in Northern Virginia. Please add your report here.  

Next Steering Committee meeting – June 5, 10am-noon via videoconferencing. All are welcome. Check our Event Calendar for future meetings.

This month’s newsletter articles to share. For social media, please use this link. 

 Attracting hummingbirds (and convincing them to stay a while)

Hummingbirds may be the tiniest birds on the planet, but they are among the easiest and most delightful to observe. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are especially common in Northern Virginia during the spring migration months of April and May and are the only species of hummingbirds who breed here. Most ruby-throated hummingbirds we’ll spot in the next few weeks are flying through to other destinations. But some will choose to stay for weeks if the landscape offers them what they need.

With forethought and some planning, you can have a clear and frequent view of these 3.5-ounce, dive-bombing, backward-flying, shimmering, drama-obsessed, and Ferrari-engine-powered birds. If that sounds like fun, here are some tips to attract them now and get them to linger for the season. 

Feed them nectar 

Hummingbirds have extreme metabolisms. A ruby-throated hummingbird’s heart beats up to 1,200 times per minute and its wings beat 53 times per second. They must consume very specific foods to survive, and they eat almost constantly.  

Approximately 20% of a hummingbird’s diet is nectar. They can’t taste “sweet,” but the nectar is a source of high-quality carbohydrates for their energy needs. They are therefore attracted to areas with nectar-producing native plants, many of which you can purchase, plant and grow. Before you make your plant selections, however, consider this. Ruby-throated hummingbirds need to find and consume nectar through spring, summer, and fall. You should therefore select nectar-producing plants that flower at different times during the growing season.

Cardinal Flower, Eastern Red Columbine, and Coral Honeysuckle are considered the “big three” wildflower nectar sources for hummingbirds. Their flowers are all red, which signals the presence of carbohydrates to hummingbirds but not to bees who can’t see the color. They have also developed long tubular flowers with a pendulous and perch-less form, making them ideal sources of nectar for hovering, long-billed hummingbirds. 

Of these three, Coral Honeysuckle is probably the number one recommended native plant for attracting hummingbirds. It blooms continuously through the growing season, timing its first bloom in Northern Virginia close to the arrival of migrating ruby-throated hummingbirds in April. Eastern Red Columbine blooms in the spring and provides an early source of nectar, while Cardinal Flower begins blooming in July and lasts approximately 6-8 weeks. Planting all three around your property ensures a steady flow of nectar for many months.

You can also supplement your nectar-producing plants with hummingbird feeders filled with sugar water that mimics the carbohydrate content of nectar. Feeders can be purchased at any wild-bird center and hung near your window for close up views of the birds. Make sure you select a feeder that is easy to open and clean. Bacteria and fungi grow quickly in them, especially if placed in the sun. Once a week, or more frequently in warm weather, disassemble and clean your feeder thoroughly in hot water with mild dish soap. Scrub the pieces with a clean brush, rinse in cold water, and air-dry before refilling.  

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology provides a recipe for making your own hummingbird feeder solution. Use ¼ cup of granulated cane sugar per cup of unsoftened, hot, and non-distilled water. In cold rainy weather you can make it a bit stronger if you like with up to 1/3 cup of sugar per cup of water. While some people boil their sugar water solution, that is not necessary if your drinking water is safe and your feeder is kept clean. Never use food coloring in the solution.

Feed them protein and fat

Although we tend to think of hummingbirds as mostly nectar eaters, that isn’t close to the truth. According to Doug Tallamy, an entomologist at the University of Delaware and national proponent of incorporating native plants in residential landscapes, only 20% of a hummingbird’s diet is nectar while 80% is composed of insects and spiders. Only biologically diverse ecosystems that have incorporated a range of native plants and native trees can produce enough insects and spiders to feed any species of birds consistently and well. This is because native plants and trees co-evolved with specific insects, so they are entirely interdependent upon one another.

An adequate supply of insects, particularly caterpillars that birds use to feed their young, is simply necessary to attract and keep hummingbirds. Spiders, flies, aphids, caterpillars, and gnats are all common sources of protein and fat in a ruby-throated hummingbird’s diet. Dr. Tallamy believes that hummingbirds are actually insectivores who happen to eat nectar. If your yard is bereft of native plants and trees, hummingbirds can’t stay there, especially when you consider that they build their nests using spider silk to bind and hold the construction materials together. Such a landscape can neither feed them nor help them to successfully breed. It also follows that you must not spray your yard with insecticides, since chemicals intended to kill ticks or adult mosquitoes will kill all the other insects as well.

Know when to expect them next year 

If you are able to attract hummingbirds this year, remember to put out your clean feeder once again in mid April to welcome them back. There is evidence that they have strong “site fidelity,” meaning they tend to return to their favorite feeding and breeding sites year after year, a remarkable feat for such small and graceful creatures.

For more details, see the Plant NOVA Natives website.