By Nancy Farwell Before (left): Lawn dominated the front of our headquarters. After (right): The Lawn has been replaced by hundreds of pollinator plants grown primarily from seed. The first phase of our pollinator garden installation involved removing sod and laying gravel paths. Because the garden is an educational space and open to the public, safe access was a concern and focus. The decision to construct smooth, gravel pathways drove the installation process which involved

By Margaret Fisher The unfortunate fact is that people create invasive plant problems. The closer you get to an urban center, the worse they are, and Northern Virginia is a very populous area. The most visible of these problems is the invasive vines blanketing the trees, especially English Ivy and Wintercreeper in residential areas and Porcelain Berry, Oriental Bittersweet, Asian Wisteria, and Japanese Honeysuckle along roadsides and in the parks. The Plant NOVA Trees campaig

By Sam Rohe Hi reader, I’m Sam from the Frank St Bee & Butterfly Garden located on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation, which encompasses the Ottawa River Valley and surrounding area. I am a white, non-binary settler and I have recently stepped down after serving on the Frank St Garden organizing team for five years. If you want to learn more about the garden, you can read our previous article in The Buzz! At the Frank St Bee & Butterfly

by Nick Dorian, Ph.D. - Pollinator Pathway Advisory Board Member Finally: sweater weather. In the early October sun, bumble bees nuzzle into a blanket of wood-asters. A patchwork leaf-cutter bee hurries up a wand of goldenrod, her belly held high in the air. Green sweat bees glimmer like flecks of light, and others, smaller and darker, dance across the garden like shadows. For several weeks this fall, I spent mornings with the bees in my backyard, coffee in hand, watching as

The CT General Assembly passed SB9 May 28, 2025 which bans the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on lawns and all turf grass. ...

The journal Science reports  on a new study showing drastic declines in butterflies. The abstract states: " Numerous declines have been...

A University of Connecticut report  combining two decades of data with recent tests reveals widespread contamination of the state’s...

If you’ve never tried winter sowing in a DIY mini-greenhouse or would like to experiment with a different container option, you’ve come to the right place. A “newbie” to winter sowing? We’ll tell you where to find all the information you need to get started. If you’ve tried it before but you’re looking for a change, we’ll direct you to alternatives to the tried-and-true milk jug mini-greenhouse that so many sites recommend.

Looking for a last-minute gift? Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants (a must-read book) and founder of Homegrown National Park, has clued us in on some of his favorite books. In case that's not enough, we've also added some of our own favorites!