Woolly Bear Natives

05/16/2026

Euphydryas phaeton is known as the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly, the state insect of Maryland. It is found primarily in the moist and swampy habitats where its primary host plant, the White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra), also occurs.

Turtlehead plants naturally contain chemical compounds that are foul-tasting to birds and mammals, which transfer to the hosting caterpillars and helps protect them from predation. The vivid and startling colors of the butterflies are another adaptation to deter being eaten.

The Baltimore Checkerspot evolved to only produce one brood per year, which coincides when its primary host plant is actively growing. As suitable habitat shrinks, so too has the butterfly's population. Some populations have adapted to host on other plants in more upland habitats. Study is needed to see if these butterflies have genetically branched off from other Checkspots to become a new variant.

White Turtlehead is a lovely addition to any moist garden areas, such as ditches, depressions and rain gardens. Planting a population of host plants, and flowers to attract them, ensures butterflies will be attracted to their larval food source.

05/09/2026

Celastrina ladon is the Spring Azure butterfly, with powdery blue-violet wings when viewed from above. This early spring emergent butterfly often escape notice since they keep their wings folded when idle, the muted white underneath helps them remain inconspicuous to predators.

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) serves as a primary larval host for Spring Azure caterpillars. They actually feed on the white flowers and not on the foliage. Like aphids, the plump green Spring Azure caterpillars produce a honeydew secretion that attracts ants, which help to defend the larvae. Sometimes the caterpillars pupate in ant nests.

Other host species for Spring Azures include the flowers and fruits of New Jersey tea (Ceanothus), shadbush or juneberry (Amelanchier), blackberry (Rubus), blueberries (Vaccinium), maple (Acer), holly (Ilex), among other native flowers.

05/02/2026

Phoebis sennae is the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly. These vivid highlighter yellow butterflies flitter in forests and meadows nearby where their host plants can be found.

Host plants include the Sennas (S. marilandica and S. hebecarpa), a member of the pea family. They also host on partridge peas (Chamaecrista fasciculata). These legumes are naturally unpalatable to herbivores, which allows the hosting caterpillars to accumulate toxins as a deterrent to would-be predators.

The Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars can actually vary in stripped color depending on if they are hosting on the yellow Senna flowers or its green tropical-like leaves, allowing them to blend in.

The butterfly's long proboscis is perfect for gathering nectar from the often red, tubular flowers they are attracted to. Like the Monarch, these butterflies have a large migration in the fall where they return to warmer climates.

Photo credits: wilderbombyx on iNaturalist

04/30/2026

Behold! My beautiful plant availability spreadsheet —

We'll be vending at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Spring Sale today (Thursday April 30) from 12pm - 6pm and Friday May 1st from 9am - 6pm. No Saturday sale date this year, parking available and is free to attend with many other awesome vendors!

Native plants we have available at the sale are listed in this image! Some new, some limited quantity! This will be the best availability we have this spring season! We hope you'll stop by!! Happy gardening!

04/25/2026

The great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele) is a vivid orange-red butterfly often mistaken for the monarch butterfly. While it may visit milkw**d flowers for nectar, the great spangled fritillary's host plant is actually native violets, such as Viola sororia, the common blue violet.

Female butterflies lay their eggs on or near colonies of violets, and the young emerge in the fall and immediately overwinter. If you see spiny black caterpillars on the heart-shaped leaves, that's the great spangled fritillary! While intimidating in appearance, the spikes are not venomous at all, and merely make the caterpillar look like a biker gang member because it makes them look unappetizing to predators.

You can invite great spangled fritillaries to your garden by having patches of native violets, and planting an assortment of native flowering plants, such as mountain mints, milkw**ds, bonesets, inonw**d, Joe-pye, and more.

04/23/2026

Tradescantia virginiana (the Virginia spiderwort) is a clump former that's among the earliest and longest blooming native plants in our garden. With white, pink-purple, or blue-indigo clusters of 3 petalled flowers, the blooms attract native bees and butterflies alike in the spring and again in the fall.

The common name has nothing to do with arachnids; 'spiderwort' refers to the viscous aloe-like sap which dries into web-like threads when a stem is cut. Similar to daylilies (which spiderwort is related), individual blooms only last one day before dissolving and being replaced with more.

Spiderwort plants have gained potential as an indicator of radioactive contamination. The delicate filament hairs of the stamen of Tradescantia are highly sensitive to radiation, changing color from blue to pink when exposed.

Some say thsee plants are w**dy, but our plants spread 1 foot or less in three years, are easy to move around, and haven't seeded too thoroughly. These are hyper local to us and occur naturally throughout our neighborhood, and we love seeing their reliable spring and fall blooms. Seed collected last season is beginning to germinate and we'll have Virginia spiderwort in the autumn and future years!

04/22/2026

Pictured: the nursery supervisor guards the latest plant crop from ne'er-do-wells ... when he's fully conscious and not sunbathing, at least.

WBN nursery stock will be updated with new items on our online shop on (or shortly after) May 2nd. We're excited for what we'll have available soon! Check us out in person at the Lewis Ginter Spring Plant Sale next Thursday (4/30) & Friday (5/1)!

We've been sowing seeds since January, with plenty more still to do. We get a kick when we spot seedlings finally popping out of the soil.

Happy gardening, y'all! Hope the spring season treats you well! Thank you for planting native!

04/18/2026

Eurytides marcellus is aptly named the zebra swallowtail butterfly for its vivid white and black striped wings.

An important note is that the host plant for the zebra swallowtail is exclusively the pawpaw tree, or species within the genus Asimina. This butterfly's range is entirely dependent upon pawpaws being present in the habitat, and it is rarely found away from moist woods, lowlands and streams where its host plant thrives.

Reintroduction of pawpaws to a habitat has been shown to promote repopulation of zebra swallowtails. While some butterflies live only a matter of weeks, the zebra swallowtail may live for up to 6 months, spending 2-3 months as a striped caterpillar munching on pawpaw leaves. The butterflies have short proboscises, and feed on nectar from easily accessible plants such as milkw**ds, buttonbush, and the boneset families such as Joe-pye w**d.

This butterfly is unlikely to be spotted in urban settings, and unlike most other butterflies it stays low to the ground, and has an erratic, quick-paced flight pattern. If you see the zebra swallowtail, you can bet that pawpaws are somewhere close by.

Credits: photo by Gigi Moffett on iNaturalist

04/17/2026

I was interviewed as part of a WRIC article on invasive plants! I appreciate the opportunity to touch on this subject alongside an amazing local community group like the Invasive Plant Task Force-Richmond!

A full year was dedicated to removing as many invasive plants as we could on our 0.5 acre property. Smothering several square yards of english ivy and periwinkle with a deep layer of fresh wood chips. Cutting stems of privet, exotic wisteria, porcelainberry, and painting a small application of herbicide to the fresh wound. Manually pulling, pulling, pulling — one square foot at a time.

I continue to feel discouraged. But I remember that I move a lot faster than plants do, and if you do a little each year there's less to fight than before.

A garden is a work cultivated in time. You don’t need to do everything all at once. Even small steps are a gain. Your yard, big or small, is part of a larger fight plenty of others are getting involved in.

Take photos to document progress and look back on previous years. Fill open and cleared problem areas with native plants, like the ones that love to spread (mountain mints, goldenrods, asters, wood asters, perennial sunflowers). If needed, apply an herbicide directly to invasive plants, but do so in small, easy to control volumes, and in a safe and low-exposure way.

And if you have the time and energy to spare, join a local group near you to fight invasive plants in our public spaces. Consider if your support is going to large businesses that contribute to the problem of invasive plant spread. Support smaller, nature-conscious and local producers! Every little bit helps!

(Thank you Audrey Polverari for letting me part of the interview!)

Invasive plant species have been rapidly swallowing Richmond’s green spaces for years, squashing crucial biodiversity. Without adequate city funding for the James River Park System (JRPS), voluntee…

04/12/2026

Papilio glaucus, the eastern tiger swallowtail, is the state insect of Virginia, and boy howdy are they emerging in droves from their overwintering pupas!

You may see this widespread butterfly flittering about, seeking sweet nectar from a wide variety of flowers, males and females entangling themselves in the air in a courtship dance. The males are always yellow with black stripes, while the females can be either yellow or dark in color.

Their caterpillars host on a range of plants to reproduce, including trees of the Magnolia family: tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana), as well as wild black cherry (Prunus serotina), among others.

These butters are perhaps the most likely to be spotted, as they are quite large, with wingspans up to 5.5 inches. Multiple broods range from spring to fall, ensuring they have a lasting presence.

Attract swallowtail butterflies to your garden with a selection of plants that cover all blooming times! Fall pupas often overwinter in leaf litter, so leave the leaves alone!

Credits: Photo by mefisher on iNaturalist