Pollinator garden
More than two dozen New River Valley Master Naturalists maintain this one-acre pollinator garden on U.S. Forest Service property near Pandapas Pond in Montgomery County, establishing more than 90 species of native plants to demonstrate how landowners can cultivate pollinator habitats.
The pollinator garden was established in 2008 when the U.S. Forest Service cleared eight acres of the Jefferson National Forest to create field habitat for wildlife. Since then, one acre has been set aside for a range of pollinator species. In that space, volunteers maintain 24 numbered beds and other enclosed gardens from April through October.
Partial plant list by garden bed number
Bed 1
Golden Alexanders, Culver’s root, cardinal flower, New Jersey Tea
2 and 3
Golden Alexanders, bergamot, culver’s root, panicled aster, wild senna
4 and 5
Wild blue indigo, Joe Pye, liatris (blazing star), goldenrod, partridge pea, lyre-leafed sage
6 and 7
Spicebush (shrub), crested iris, brown-eyed Susan, New England aster, bloodroot, wild blue phlox, Robin’s plantain, Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana)
8 and 9
Switchgrass, little bluestem, pink milkweed, lanceleaf coreopsis, partridge pea
10 and 11
Ninebark, nodding onion, green and gold, heuchera, garden phlox, cardinal flower, wild senna, black-eyed Susan
12 cultivar bed
Ninebark ‘Diablo’, ‘Little Lanterns’ columbine, ‘Raydon’ aster, ‘Golden Fleece’ goldenrod, ‘Husker’ Red’ penstemon, ‘Chocolate’ snakeroot, ‘Moonbeam’ and ‘Zagreb’ coreopsis, ‘Moonshine’ yarrow, ‘Hello Yellow’ butterfly weed, wild ginger, creeping phlox
13
Ninebark, red columbine, stiff goldenrod, beardtongue (penstemon), white snakeroot, common milkweed, stiff goldenrod, smooth aster, ‘mystery’ goldenrod, false sunflower, whorled rosinweed, Jacob’s ladder, sundrops ‘Fireworks’
14 and 15
Ohio spiderwort, lanceleaf coreopsis, tickseed coreopsis, wild senna, lyre-leaf sage, virgin’s bower
16 and 17
Wild Quinine, threadleaf coreopsis, prickly pear cactus, stiff aster, stiff goldenrod, ironweed
18 and 19
Stiff aster, upland and New York ironweed, pussytoes, wild blue indigo, smooth coneflower, heart-leaved Golden Alexanders, Shrubby St. John’s Wort, columbine, bee balm, penstemon
20 and 21
Robin’s plantain, beardtongue, smooth aster, wild petunia, great blue lobelia
22, 23, and 24
Serviceberry, cut-leaf coneflower, Jacob’s ladder, wild petunia, short-toothed mountain mint, aromatic aster ‘October Skies’, garden phlox, beardtongue, wild bergamot, yarrow, rudbeckia trilob, coreopsis pubescens, nodding onion, cardinal flower
Long Bed
Elderberry, Wild hydrangea, Partridge pea, Dutchman’s Pipe (vine), native honeysuckle, thimbleweed, baptisia, wild geranium
Shady bed
Viburnums, sumac, ferns, Jacob’s ladder, wild phlox, heuchera,
Bed A
Redbuds, liatris, New Jersey Tea, butterfly weed, beardtongue, cardinal flower, blue lobelia cut leaf/green coneflower, black eyed Susan, heart-leaf golden Alexander, shrubby St Johnswort, Jacob's ladder, whorled rosinweed, liatris, quinine, thread-leaf coreopsis, lanceleaf coreopsis, spiderwort, lyre leaf sage, anise-scented goldenrod, Canada goldenrod, field goldenrod, cup plant, prickly pear cactus, hyssop, blue false indigo, meadowsweet, yucca, teaberry, mountain mint, winged sumac, sourwood, fringe tree, serviceberry, juniper, VA pine, red oak, hickory, deerberry, little bluestem
Bed B
Ninebarks, goldenrods, whorled rosinweed, coreopsis, primrose, false sunflower, wafer ash, pawpaw tree, cup plant, blue indigo, sumac tree, brown-eyed Susan, New Jersey tea, Sundrops, penstemon, honeysuckle vine, Virgins bower, New York ironwood, bergamot
Bed C
‘Secret Garden’ Cardinal Flower, Great blue lobelia, Obedient Plant, Turtlehead (Pink), Iris cristada, Brown-eyed Susan, Black Cohosh, Pawpaw, Fringe tree
Rain Garden
Mistflower, little blue-stem grass, rushes, yarrow, partridge pea, wild petunia, mountain mint, white turtlehead, pink turtlehead.
Resources
Attracting Native Pollinators, Xerces Society
Rain Gardens Technical Guide, Virginia Department of Forestry
Wood Thrush Native Nursery, Floyd, Virginia