Pollinators are busy
Contributed by E. Dianne Campbell
The peak of summer heat is when the pollinators are most busy in the Butterfly Garden at Pleasant Grove Park. The progression of native blooms from spring through autumn provides a welcoming habitat for bees, butterflies, moths, and birds to choose from throughout the months. And the conscientious tending of the Fluvanna Master Gardeners creates a welcoming setting for biped visitors to the garden as well – but these need to remember to lock the gate on the way out.
Many area residents wishing to encourage pollinators’ visits to their home gardens use the native species planted here as a template for selecting plantings for their own spaces. The clearly marked nameplates on each of the plants create reliable indicators of what might work in their available spaces, depending on height, color, bloom time, and spreading tendencies. The Fluvanna Master Gardener Annual Plant Sale offers many attractors culled directly from the Butterfly Garden, so home gardeners know they are reliably adaptable to our local ecosystem.
Complete pollinator habitat
Visitors will also note an interesting element of this pollinator-welcoming habitat. Settled within the plants themselves, there is a puddling station for bees. The low-level shallow dish of water provides an element essential to an environment that is supportive to bees, and the glass pebbles in the dishes provide resting spots for them while drinking. Bees need the water not only to quench their thirst, but they also take the water back to cool their hives and to feed their larvae. Master Gardeners use no pesticides or chemicals in the garden, so all the pollinators are in a safe natural environment.
Visitors will likely be curious about a recently completed solar-powered greenhouse which has been added through a generous private donation. There, a team of Master Gardeners is nurturing new native species additions for the garden, trying their hands at hydroponic gardening, and seeking ways to create an environment which is encouraging further butterfly propagation. Visitors to the garden, however, are asked to resist the temptation to enter the greenhouse so as to avoid introducing pathogens to the more sensitive environment.
Try an evening respite
If the temperatures discourage daytime visits to the Butterfly Garden, the cool of the evening offers a very special invitation. A weathered picnic table is a good spot for a sunset snack and ever-so-silent communing with nature’s closing time of day. It’s evensong time for all the birds as they nest down and darkness settles. Being still for a while longer will bring witness of nocturnal woodland creatures emerging from the tree line as they go about their nighttime chores. And the stillness will make the nighttime stars seem more personally close by. It’s a lovely way to end the summer’s day and take time to reflect on how fortunate we are to have this bit of nature so readily accessible to our busy urban lives.
For further information on the many enjoyable and educational events offered by Fluvanna Master Gardeners at the Butterfly Garden or other area locations, contact fluvannamg.org.
