Habitat Gardens

Habitat Garden for Flora and Fauna Recognition Program
Register your Habitat Garden with the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association. Learn more below.

What are Habitat Gardens?

A Habitat Garden is earth friendly, critter tolerant, and pollinator and native plant friendly. Native plants, composting, and knowing how to keep pests under control, as well as supporting native species of birds, frogs, bats and insects are all goals of the program.

Pollinators are extremely important to our gardens and our food production. Without these beneficial insects, our ability to grow food would be truly impacted. Habitat loss, invasive and exotic bugs, and disease are growing concerns, along with homeowners’ increased and improper use of pesticides. By providing a season-long source of food and living conditions for insects, birds, reptiles, and animals, you’ll help with protecting plant diversity and food sources.

Master Gardeners are helping Northern Shenandoah Valley gardens keep an eco-friendly balance for the home garden landscape.

Why should you register your habitat garden with the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association?

The Habitat Garden program is an ever-expanding resource for homeowners in our area. We will include frequent resource updates, share upcoming events pertinent to your garden, and provide you with a way to contact Master Gardener helplines when you need questions answered or need help to help solve programs. This program is free, and you’ll receive a certificate of recognition when you meet the minimum requirements.

You may also choose to purchase a weather-proof sign to add to your garden.

Register Your Garden.

Ready to register your Garden as a Sustainable Habitat? Complete our registration form.

Choose the elements you have in your garden. We’ll follow up with your certificate and, if you’d like, the opportunity for you to submit up to two photos of your garden to add to our list of Recognized Habitat Gardens

Contact NSVMGA’s Extension Master Gardeners

Resources to Learn More about Creating Sustainable Habits

Already registered? Order your full-color weatherproof garden sign.

Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association

1 day ago

Incorporating Native Plants in Your Garden – Wild or Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) - by EMG Jenn

Columbine always make me think of home…I grew up in Colorado, and the Rocky Mountain Columbine grows wild and is the state flower. Equally beautiful is our Eastern Red Columbine, which nods its head down, unlike the Rocky Mountain. The backwards pointed spurs contain nectar that attracts hummingbirds (a crucial early spring food source) as well as bees, butterflies, and hawk moths. Pollinators need a long tongue to access the nectar, but some insects tear a hole in the spur to get to the sweetness! Bumblebees and hawk moths also visit this columbine for pollen, and finches and buntings are attracted to the seeds. It is a larval host for the Columbine Duskywing Moth.

Typically 1-3 feet tall, this columbine, like most, blooms in the spring (April-June), and flourishes in partly shady locations. Full sun will stunt growth and scorch leaves. The Clemson Cooperative Extension notes that “grouping columbine allows the flowers to show as a cloud of color suspended in the air on dainty bloom stalks.” Although it likes a moist, well-drained soil (ideally sandy), Columbines do NOT like to have their feet wet. Overwatering will cause the crown to rot. In the wild, it is found on rocky slopes and ledges in woodlands, ravines, and bluffs.

Although Columbines are short-lived perennials, they do readily self-seed. Seeds need to be cold-stratified or planted in the fall. Sow by just scattering on the surface and lightly tamping. Seedlings will flower the second year following germination. They can be difficult to transplant due to their taproot formation. To maintain pure strains of any Aquilegia species and prevent hybridizing (which A. canadensis will readily do), keep different species widely separated. Interestingly, reportedly Native American men rubbed crushed Columbine seeds on their hands as a love charm. Cultivation of columbine plants began in Europe and America in the mid-1600s.

Columbine is susceptible to leaf miners and powdery mildew, so remove affected leaflets early. Leaf miners are usually more disfiguring than fatal to the plant. Part of the Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family), the genus name Aquilegia comes from the Latin Aquila, which means eagle and refers to the spurred petals which are said to resemble an eagle’s talons. The Aquilegia genus consists of 65 species, 20 of which are native to North America.

For more information, see:
www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=aqca
wimastergardener.org/article/eastern-red-columbine-aquilegia-canadensis/
hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/rain-garden-plants-aquilegia-canadensis-eastern-red-columbine/

Photo courtesy EMG Stacey ... See MoreSee Less

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