Just a few months ago, a small spot along the Virginia Aquarium’s Nature Trail next to General Booth Boulevard was a nondescript patch of lawn.
Tens of thousands of seeds and lots of sunshine later, the area is in full bloom, with native grasses and wildflowers drawing in pollinators that are crucial to local ecosystems.
“Our focus here is mostly the insects,” said Brian Roosa, the aquarium’s general supervisor of facilities. “While they're feeding or collecting the pollen, nectar, things like that, the insects will also fertilize the seeds, so the seeds are viable and ready to go for next year.”
The new garden is tied to a wider effort by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, of which the Virginia Beach aquarium is an accredited member.
The association has placed a growing emphasis on boosting pollinator populations and educating the public about them, which the aquarium “takes very seriously,” Roosa said.
Pollinating insect populations have dropped dramatically in the U.S. and worldwide because of a mix of threats, including pesticides, loss of habitat, invasive species and changing climate conditions.
The population of the eastern monarch butterfly, for example, is down by about 80% over the past few decades. The statistics are similarly alarming for honeybees.
Roosa said these species are critical to a sustainable environment and play a key role in agriculture.
“The very food we eat, everything in the grocery store, the pollinators are the reason we have most of those products,” he said.
The easiest way to help is by giving pollinators a place to eat.
The aquarium picked a sunny spot that was also convenient for guests to see. Then workers pulled up weeds, tilled and amended the soil with nutrients.
They used hundreds of pounds of composted soil to build up the area, which had become full of gravel. Then they scattered seeds from a local nursery and hoped for the best.
Michael Bluey-Molina, a building maintenance technician, said the aquarium is testing which species thrive in the garden to replicate elsewhere.
“We will see what happens moving forward after trying this out,” he said. “The fact that we are seeing some caterpillars, some actual butterflies in the area, I think, is a very good sign.”
Aquarium officials hope visitors will be inspired to try out their own backyard pollinator gardens. Milkweed, in particular, is key for monarch butterflies.
“Even a small patch is not only beautiful, you're helping,” Roosa said. “If everyone did just a little patch, that is a lot of pollinators we can support.”
And there’s a bonus: “You don't have to mow that area.”
