September 2026 Update

September 2026 Update

Native plant gardens attract people as well as pollinators if you use good design.  Please see the article at the bottom of this update and share as widely as possible.

Fall is a great time for planting. Our garden centers are well stocked with native plants, and many local native plant sales are coming up soon. Loudoun WIldlife’s Fall Native Plant Sale also includes several talks from native plant experts.

Our eighth annual conference for landscape professionals was another success. There were 37 professionals in attendance who learned about  the best native plants to use in their work and the importance of avoiding invasive plants.

Can you high-five us?

The Plant NOVA Natives campaign needs money! We have gradually spent down our accounts, so if we want to continue our current level of outreach - or better yet, expand it – we will need a bunch of donations. How about going to our donation page and giving $5?  We wouldn’t say no to $50, $500, $5000, or anything in between, either. :)

As we are a partnership of many organizations, and not a 501c3 as many believe, money to support our campaign is handled by our fiscal agent, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia.

Here’s what we have paid for so far in 2026

These things have been funded exclusively by personal contributions from generous people. It adds up to about $10,000 per year. Note that there is no line for staff salaries or benefits, because all the administrative work is done by volunteers. 

$1800  Brochures, sent free to partners and volunteers

$610    Signs for tabling and education events

$1570  Website, other tech

$1490  Promotional stickers

$550    Red stickers to label native plants in garden center

$2720  Tree/shrub hang tags for garden centers

$1300  Pollinator Pathway initiative signs

Please give some thought to how you (and/or your organization) might be able to help us continue our educational outreach.  And, as always, thanks!

Upcoming events (as relayed to us - please direct questions to the organizers.)

• September 5 - help remove invasive plants from Brentsville Courthouse. pgibbonsbackus@pwc.gov.org

• September 10 - Milkweeds and Their Insects - on Zoom. Register here.

• September 13 - Veteran’s Park -  Help  maintain the recently planted saplings and remove invasives. alliance@pwconserve.org 

• September 19 - Leopold's Preserve Fall Festival supporting healthy ecosystems

• September 20 - Green Spring Gardens - Intro to Native Plant Gardening  Code HEI.TZV5 

• September 27 – Open House at JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary. Enjoy self-guided tours and learn about how this unique natural preserve is threatened by the Rt. 15 Lucketts bypass.

• September 27 - Understanding the History of Virginia’s Forests, Grasslands, and Wildlife: why that knowledge is relevant to today’s conservation efforts. In person at Mount Vernon Unitarian Church. Details and registration here.

• October 2026 - Fall Tree Rescue Extravaganza - Multiple volunteer tree rescue events will take place across Fairfax/Falls Church during the four weekends of October. Start planning yours now!  Watch the Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM website for details.

Report your native tree and shrub plantings

Please help Northern Virginia meet its canopy goals by reporting your native tree and shrub plantings here. Since September 2021, 22,299 have been reported! Every native tree and shrub provides habitat, cooling, and stormwater capture. Help us reach 23,000 plantings for our 5th anniversary of reporting!

Report your tree rescues

Millions of trees in Northern Virginia are at risk from invasive non-native vines. You can help by controlling them on your own land or by volunteering on public land. So far, 25,625 tree rescues have been reported in Northern Virginia. Please add your report here if you live anywhere except within the Fairfax County/Falls Church boundaries. In Fairfax/Falls Church, please report here instead.

Next Steering Committee meeting – October 15, 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.

Turning your yard into a Monet 

What image springs to mind when you think about Monet’s garden paintings: the bridge, right? This is a good example of the power of hardscaping to draw people into a garden. Most of our yards don’t have room for a bridge, but natural curves and even just a chair or statue to serve as a focal point transform the viewing experience. These are just a couple examples of the ability of thoughtful design to make a yard full of native plants a place that pleases the passersby while providing sanctuary for the birds and butterflies.

Native plants are the key to the sanctuary part. Birds and butterflies don’t care how it looks, as long as the plants with which they evolved are there to provide food for their nestlings and caterpillars. But humans care a lot about aesthetics and often worry that a native plant garden will look weedy. This is a misconception. In fact, the majority of common garden weeds such as chickweed and dandelions are actually non-native plantsI Some native plants would look better in a meadow than in a yard, but there are numerous neat-and-tidy species that that can evoke Monet’s Giverny or even Versailles, if you want to go that far toward regimentation. In that case, the idea would be to use a simple plant palette with species such as Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) or Gayfeather (Liatris spicata). Or you could stick to shrubs such as Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) or Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica).  Or just go for the arboretum look. Our native trees provide by far and away the most food for caterpillars.

Native plants such as those provide color against a beautiful green background. Nevertheless, if you want people to notice the butterflies, something more may be needed. Most people seem to look at gardens the same way they look at a painting: something to admire briefly before walking on. If you give them a shaded bench or another reason to linger, they are more likely to appreciate the true value of your sanctuary.

The Plant NOVA Natives page on design tips is a good place to find advice on both plant choice and human aesthetics. It includes a discussion on minimizing the maintenance requirements, which is something of interest to everyone, no matter how much or little they enjoy gardening.

Spring may be the most popular planting time, but the experts know that the best time to plant is actually in the fall. So start hitting the garden centers soon! And maybe pick up a pretty bird bath while you are at it.