Pollinator Garden at Heritage Park Blacksburg VA

07/17/2026

Continuing progression of summer colors taking place at the Pollinator Garden. The deer herd which visits Heritage Park every night would mow the native and pollinator friendly plants to the ground without protective fencing. Between our NRV Master New River Valley Master Gardener Association grant, donations from garden volunteers (especially Sue and her family) and kindly neighbors, we have most of the at risk plants protected.

07/05/2026

The rich colors of summer are starting to emerge, with an assist from recent rainfall.

06/29/2026

Current pics of the Pollinator Garden as of 28-June-2026. Beyond pleased with our progress in our 2nd season. We have some pollinator friendly blooms out, peak season for blooms and pollinators is still likely 25-45 days from now. However we have a great team of volunteers who have helped to build a solid foundation of native and reliable perennials.

06/23/2026

With a moderate sized circle of my New River Valley Master Gardener Association friends, we have not yet observed any adult Monarch Butterfly in our area yet. This is consistent with what has been reported by other citizen science participants through mid June. Seems like the journey North evades the cooler, variable temps of Appalachia in the spring and early summer. Yet we know, with great confidence, they will return on their path South later this summer and into Autumn. Looking forward to them in a month or so. They'll be hungry, and we have lots of Milkweed waiting for them at the Pollinator Garden.

06/13/2026

The season of bloomin' Purple Coneflowers is upon us. I tried and failed to capture an image of the unique sheen and iridescent center of these blooms.

Friends at Virginia Wildflowers.org have a great selection of photos
https://virginiawildflowers.org/2024/07/15/purple-coneflower/

05/31/2026

An opportunity to try something new, in this case a plant which is somewhat native to Virginia however it is not common at all. Thanks for the opportunity to try this one at the Pollinator Garden Draper Springs Nursery & Gardens. We recognize and appreciate the care with which you all choose to select your the plants you offer!

Check out the deal on Filipendula rubra at Prairie Moon Nursery

05/29/2026

If you may be interested for some hands on volunteering, acquiring information about Pollinator Gardening, or just helping out at our public garden, our volunteers meet every Saturday morning. This Saturday we meet at 10am and wrap things up by noon. We have service groups, Scouts, and community members stop by and help from time to time and you would be welcome to join us. With the warmer temperatures and the much needed rain, this Saturday we'll be focused on spot weeding. There are a handful of new plants to go into the soil, however weeding will be the primary focus. We have abundant Common and Swamp milkweeds, along with a few bare root milkweeds of other varieties which have emerged. If time permits, we will compete a periodic survey of milkweed plants, looking for Monarch eggs in support of the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project. We have not observed any adult monarchs yet, however there are many observations throughout Virginia. For whatever reason, our garden typically sees heavy Monarch activity in the later part of summer. This map of first sighting(s) of Monarch eggs would suggest that the Appalachian and Blue Ridge are lagging behind the Piedmont and Coastal areas of Virginia.

05/23/2026

Bidens cernua / Nodding Bur Marigold

Our friends at virginiawildflowers.org had detailed this native to Virginia a year or so back. Draper Springs Nursery & Gardens had some of this variety at the Blacksburg Farmers Market this morning. So we will be adding this to our Pollinator Garden soon.

https://virginiawildflowers.org/2024/09/13/bur-marigold/

Bidens cernua In late summer and early fall, you might come across this showy little sunflower growing in wet places. Reaching just 3 feet in height, Nodding Bur Marigold has much smaller flowers t…

05/17/2026

A new and very local winery is opening soon. White Dog Winery on Walnut Spring Road, Blacksburg +/- 2 miles as the pollinator flies from our garden to their vineyard. Although this is a bit further than average, deepening on food source availability, weather, and many other factors it is common for some honey bees to travel this distance. Regardless, we are happy to have another pollinator friendly business opening up soon near the garden. https://www.whitedogwinery.com/ and https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/05/12/white-dog-winery-raise-glass-support-community-programs-our-hometowns/

We are happy to announce that White Dog Winery will be opening spring of 2026! To RSVP for our official opening, please use our website link below. We hope to see you soon! 🥂🍇

www.whitedogwinery.com

05/14/2026

Folks who create a Pollinator Garden in their backyard, out in the woods or a Master Gardener project - this is one of many examples of why we do what we do. I've seen a couple hundreds of bees creating an audible hum, would love to experience seeing and hearing 30,000 bees airborne at the same time. Look closely at this picture from our like minded friends at Iron Heart Winery in Allisonia, Pulaski County VA.