Photo: Tiger Swallowtail on Joe Pye Weed, Elaine Mills
Audubon at Home ambassadors gathered on February 1 for their annual – and delicious – brunch, at which AAH co-directors and county coordinators updated them on the program's progress over the past year. It has now been 10 years since AAH first certified a Wildlife Sanctuary, as of the brunch, the program has certified 683 properties on over 6300 acres.
Guest speaker Laura Beaty spoke about introducing native plants into a landscape. A former staffer for the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, she now serves as the propagation chairperson for the Virginia Native Plant Society. Ambassadors benefited from Laura's keen observation skills and excellent story-telling about the insects and other wildlife that depend on the native plants in her own garden.