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.

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