Clichés and rhyming weather lore passed down through the generations supposedly predict weather patterns and seasonal changes. Naturalists and amateur forecasters enjoy correlating these sayings to what they observe in nature to suggest what the future might bring. Though idioms such as “no weather is ill, if the wind be still” have become part of our culture, most of the predictions are unreliable. The few that are valid are those based on underlying scientific cause-and-effect relationships, such as the response of plants, animals and insects to changes in atmospheric and environmental conditions.

If you’re new to gardening, the term “green manure” might conjure up unpleasant images. Though it sounds like a strange animal byproduct or perhaps the newest eco-friendly soil additive, green manure actually relates to a centuries-old agricultural technique that enhances the soil. Farmers and vegetable gardeners strategically rotate crops after harvest or when soil demonstrates a need for nutrient replenishment. Rather than leaving the land fallow, they plant a “cover crop” of red clover, winter rye, alfalfa or similar plants.

Seduce them with floral color, then clobber them with education. Robert S. Hebb’s strategy for the creation of a Richmond botanical garden 25 years ago was easier said than done: build a world-class educational facility and tourist attraction filled with plant collections, display gardens, teaching areas and a research program. Hebb, first executive director of what would become Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, had trained at the Harvard University arboretum and the Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum of The New York Botanical Garden, so his knowledge and experience were extensive.

They come for more than just the plants. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is one of Richmond’s most popular wedding sites. Some visitors find its romantic nooks to be a perfect proposal spot. New moms connect there for a little exercise and a picnic lunch with children in strollers. Some go to the garden for a respite from high-stress, high-tech jobs. One Ginter member who had been through cancer surgery came to the garden with his wife to spiritually heal and reconnect with nature.

1897: Lewis Ginter died at age 73.
  1913: Grace Arents, Ginter’s niece, bought and remodeled the abandoned Lakeside Wheel Club. She added a second story and made it a convalescent home for sick city children. Eventually Arents moved into the house with her companion, Mary Garland Smith, and called it Bloemendaal in tribute to the Ginter family’s Dutch ancestors. She developed gardens at Bloemendaal, which means “valley of flowers.“

276,800 - plants in the permanent collection
  272,000 - visitors in 2008
  28,666 - hours of volunteer service in 2008
  12,000 - member households
  9,000 - types of plants
  600 - active volunteers
  100 - approximate number of weddings on grounds per year

A viable habitat is what initially attracts bluebirds, but food availability is also important. Most of the year, bluebirds enjoy insects caught on the ground. In autumn, they begin reverting to blackberries, elderberries, bayberries and fruits of the sumac, deciduous holly, Virginia creeper, poke weed, juniper and dogwood. When berries become absent in late winter, the birds welcome mealworms, which can be purchased at some pet-food stores, bait shops and online. Another treat can be made by combining one part peanut butter with six parts cornmeal.

Like owls and woodpeckers, eastern bluebirds prefer nesting in cavities of dead oaks and pines. More and more of these natural nesting habitats have been lost through the years, however, as woodlands and open fields have been developed. Bluebirds initially adapted by nesting in rotting wooden fence posts, but they have been replaced with more durable metal poles. As a result, bluebird populations waned until conservationists and birders began setting out bluebird houses or nest boxes. This eco-friendly activity continues to prove successful when the following tips are kept in mind.

The entryway is one of the garden’s most critical design elements because it creates that all-important first impression. Whether fashioned of wood, brick, stone, steel—or simply crafted through the deliberate arrangement of trees and shrubs—the garden entry should extend a warm, inviting welcome. Ideally, it piques the visitor’s interest and beckons him to cross the threshold to experience what lies beyond.

Many of the Richmond area’s rose gardens are showing the effects of an abnormally rainy spring and summer. Excessive moisture has created conditions that support black spot—a fuzzy-looking, dark-colored fungus that appears on leaves and slowly defoliates the plant. Since roses rely on their leaves as a source of the sun’s energy, a reduction in foliage often translates to less vigorous growth and less flowering.

A symposium, “Green Tonic: Urban Gardening for Health and Wholeness,“ will be held Aug. 4-5 at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The symposium will look at community greening models, the infrastructure and public policies that help them succeed and examples of neighborhoods that have benefited from community gardens. The event will be held 3-9 p.m. on Aug. 4, and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Aug. 5.

It’s inevitable. Plant a vegetable garden, and insects will come. So how should environmentally conscious gardeners respond? They should begin by increasing their knowledge and understanding of insects, suggested entomologist Karen Kester, a Virginia Commonwealth University associate professor of biology. “Just because a bug is on your plant doesn’t mean it’s eating your plant,“ Kester said. “Learn to identify insects because there are good bugs and then there are bad bugs.“

Botanical-themed works by Henrico County middle-schoolers are on display in the Robins Visitors Center at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Lakeside.  For seven years, Lewis Ginter has partnered with the Henrico County school system to offer rotating student art exhibitions, said children’s education coordinator Kelly Riley.

Packages marked “handle with care” began arriving at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this week. It’s hard to imagine more fragile contents than butterflies—actually chrysalides—in the pupa stage of their metamorphosis.

Establishing a butterfly habitat is as simple as choosing the right plants. Your garden will need host plants, which caterpillars feed on, and nectar plants, the food of adult butterflies. “Butterflies like waves of plants, not onesies and twosies,“ said Peggy Singlemann, horticulture director at Maymont. “With a mass grouping, they don’t destroy your one plant. They have more food to choose from.“