THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508010100
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
I have the prettiest crop of zinnias in my yard this year and when zinnias do well, as far as I'm concerned, they are hard to beat as a summer flower.
They do double duty all summer long. First of all they are not only brilliant in the yard, but every week they provide a big bowl of flowers, in all the hot colors of summer, for the dining room table.
Secondly, their presence attracts more beauty to the yard than I could ever add with more flowers. Already a pair of goldfinches, the male - with his brilliant yellow body and black wing bars - and the olive female are feeding on the zinnia seed heads. The birds sit on the zinnia tops and peck out seeds, the perfect photo opportunity for a wildlife magazine.
I learned recently that seed-eating goldfinches actually nest later in the year than most birds in order to feed their babies from summer flowers as they go to seed.
A bright pink zinnia with a yellow goldfinch on top more than doubles the value of that flower, I say.
But the most value for my zinnia money comes from the butterflies that are attracted to the multi-colored blooms. Just about every time I go outside I can see black, tiger or palamedes swallowtails feeding on the zinnia nectar. Zinnias with their flat surface full of tiny petals provide nice walking around room for butterflies to use while feeding.
Other smaller, less showy butterflies also are attracted to the zinnias. I think I've had as many butterflies this year as I've ever had in the past.
That perception might have something to do with how I've changed, too. Although I have always loved looking at butterflies, several years ago, I might not have noticed the abundance or lack of abundance of butterflies in my yard or what they were feeding on. That's all different now with the coming of the Butterfly Society of Virginia.
This group, formed here in Hampton Roads in 1992, has really pointed out the assets of butterflies and what a wonderful addition they are to any garden. In the process, they have educated us all about butterfly conservation and the need to protect their habitat.
Recently their professional quarterly newsletter, full of butterfly information by Virginia experts, confirmed my thinking about zinnias. An article on a butterfly survey by Virginia Tech scientists reported on the five most attractive plants to nectar gathering butterflies in the Virginia Tech Horticulture Garden.
In order of attractiveness, the plants were butterfly bush, purple coneflower, zinnia, gomphrena (globe amaranth) and coreopsis. Butterflies in my yard fly back and forth between the butterfly bush and the adjacent zinnias with equal relish, it seems.
Soon the Butterfly Society will be making their presence known in a very public way. The group has sold enough special Virginia license plates, featuring the state insect, the tiger Swallowtail butterfly, for the plate to go into production.
The new licenses should be arriving this week. So look for them on automobiles around Hampton Roads and the next time you renew, request one for yourself if you like it.
To get a feel for what the butterfly society does, attend its Summer Garden Tour for Butterflies and Flowers from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday (rain or shine) in Norfolk. Admission is $5 ($4 for members) for five gardens. Single garden admissions are $2.
Four gardens are in Edgewater: Patricia Rawls' garden, 5200 Studeley Ave., Julia Bristow's, 5408 Studeley Ave., Evelyn Redwood's, 6233 Powhatan Ave., and Vi and Eliot Breneiser's, 6301 Eleanor Court. Buddy Shafer's garden, 7107 Grayfalcon Drive in Hunt Club Point, also will be open.
Refreshments will be served at the Eleanor Court garden and a plant sale, featuring butterfly nectar plants, will be at 5409 Studeley Ave. across from the Bristow garden.
Among the tour's interesting features will be the monarch and black swallowtails that former society president Julia Bristow raises on her back porch. Shafer's garden is planted exclusively for butterflies and hummingbirds.
If you are interested in joining the Butterfly Society of Virginia, send a check for $15 annual dues to Treasurer, 276 S. Parliament Drive, Virginia Beach, Va. 23462. If you want to find out more, call 499-0333.
P.S. BACK BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE is sponsoring a teacher workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.. Saturday to provide teachers with the skills and information necessary to effectively plan environmental education field trips to the refuge.
Call 721-2412 for reservations and information.
PAINTING THE PAST: Casey Holtzinger's Watercolors of Virginia Beach is on display at Francis Land House through Aug. 25. The original works are accurate renditions of historic buildings and scenes in Virginia Beach. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Multi-colored blooms of zinnias, with their flat surface full of
tiny petals, provide nice walking-around room for nectar-feeding
butterflies like this black swallowtail.
by CNB