The Pollinator & Monarch Gardens
The Pollinator Garden is the garden area just up from the Octagon. It is planted every year with annuals like sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos. It also has the old rosemary bush, which is a remnant of prior garden iterations. It also contains a planting of 80 daffodil and tulip bulbs. This is great, and it gives us a chance to plant new things each spring, but it doesn't really do much to actually support pollinators year round. At the suggestion of a parent, we put in a Monarch Garden in Spring 2014. This garden is planted with a mix of native perennials including milkweeds. Milkweeds are critical for monarchs. The caterpillars eat the leaves, which is what gives the butterflies their protective bad taste. We ordered our initial planting from Prairie Nursery, see link below. We will fill in with plants from the Virginia Native Plant Society as needed. Another great place to buy natives is at Ivy Creek Natural Area's native plant sale every spring. Please consider planting natives in your own yards when possible. They are easy to grow, built for this area, and will make you look like a garden master. Questions? Click the email link at the top of the page.
Next, we can add some other habitat elements like a water source. At that point we would have food (blueberries, seeds, bugs, etc.), water, cover (the forsythia hillside), and shelter (nesting box), and we could get our garden certified as a schoolyard habitat.
Next, we can add some other habitat elements like a water source. At that point we would have food (blueberries, seeds, bugs, etc.), water, cover (the forsythia hillside), and shelter (nesting box), and we could get our garden certified as a schoolyard habitat.
Video of our Monarch Garden Open House May 9, 2014
We're in the news! The Charlottesville Newsplex came out and covered the Monarch Garden Open House.
Click this link to see the coverage.