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Master Gardener Organizations In Virginia
- Bedford Area Master Gardeners Association
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- Virginia Master Gardener Association
Other Local Gardening Related Links (non MGNV)
- 4 Mile Run Farmers' & Artisans Market
- Arl/Alex VCE Blog
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- Brookside Gardens
- Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas
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- Old Town Farmers' Market
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- Upper King Street Fresh Farmers' Market
- Urban Ag in Arlington
- Virginia Native Plant Society
- Virginia Tech Weed ID
Other Local Nature Friendly Organizations
Category Archives: Pollinators
Five things you may not know about . . . annuals
by Mary Free, Certified Master Gardener Unlike perennials, which live for more than two years, annual plants sprout, bloom, produce seeds, and die in a single growing season. If the garden was a stage, perennials would be the leads and … Continue reading
For Your Pollinator Garden
Written (and Photographed) by Mary Free, Certified Master Gardener Do you want to create or add to a pollinator garden? Do you look at lists of plants that claim to be superior at attracting pollinators, then wonder which ones really … Continue reading
Posted in Demonstration Gardens, Glencarlyn, MG in the Garden, Pollinators, Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Tagged black and gold bumble bee, brown-belted bumble bee, European honey bee, glance, green sweat bee, Mary Free, Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamot), pollinators, syrphid fly, two-spotted bumble bee, Video
On the Echinacea – What’s that Insect? Answers!
Written (and Photographed) by Mary Free, Certified Master Gardener We wrap up pollinator week with one last challenge: can you identify the insects in the video? These hairy pollinators were buzzing around the Echinacea at Green Spring Gardens on Wednesday. One characteristic … Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Pollinators, Public Education
Tagged insects, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, Native plants, pollinators
Can You Identify These Pollinators? Part 3: Hummingbirds
Sometimes moth species, like the white-lined sphinx (Hyles lineata) above, are mistaken for hummingbirds. Unlike most moths, it often feeds during the day. At first glance, its bulk, rapid wing movement, swift flight, and habit of hovering as it feeds resembles that of a hummingbird. No wonder these insects also are referred to as hummingbird moths. Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Pollinators
Tagged Archilochus colubris, bird feeders, eBird, Green Spring Gardens, hummingbird migration, hummingbirds, Hyles lineata, Lobelia cardinalis, Lonicera sempervirens, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, nectar, ruby-throated hummer, rufous, rufous hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, white-lined sphinx
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Can You Identify These Pollinators? Part 2: Butterflies
One of the joys of summer is to watch butterflies flaunt their shapes and colors by flitting, floating and fluttering from flower to flower. Attracted to clustered or composite blooms that are bright, red, purple, blue, and yellow, they pick up and transport pollen on their legs and wings. Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Pollinators
Tagged admiral butterfly, aspen, black oaks, brushfoot butterflies, brushfoots, buckeye, buckeye butterfly, butterflies, butterfly eyespots, butterfly predators, butterfly skippers, caterpillars, cherry, common buckeye, cottonwood, downy serviceberry, ecdysone, eyespots, foxglove, Junonia coenia, MGNV, milkweed, monarch butterfly, monkey flower, nectar, New York ironweed, pigment color, plantain, Poanes zabulon, Red-spotted purple larvae, rotting fruit, ruellia, sap, scrub, snapdragon, US to Mexico butterfly migration, verbena, Vernonia noveboracensis, Viburnum, white flowers, willow, Zabulon skipper
Can You Identify These Pollinators? Part 1: Bees, Wasps, Flies
During National Pollinator Week we challenged you to test your pollinator identification skills. Each day we featured a pollinator or two on our Facebook page with clues to the identity. This week we provide answers in three parts. Part 1 focuses on bees, wasps and flies. Continue reading
Posted in Pollinators
Tagged Apis mellifera, bees, Boltonia asteroides, Bombus auricomus, bumble bee, buzz pollination, digger wasp, Eastern bumble bee, entomology, Eupatroium hyssopifolium, European honey bee, flies, Flowers, fruit pollinators, gardening, Green Spring Gardens, ground-nesters, honeybee, hover flies, ladybugs, leafcutter bee, Ma, Master Gardener, MGNV, Monarda, nectar, pollen, pollinator, Scolia dubia, scolid wasps, Solidago canadensis, sonication, Sphex, sweat bee, syrphid fly, wasp
