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Virginia Living Museum Offers Extensive Earth Day Programming & Native Plant Sale Returns for 35th Year

By thevlm In Press Releases

Newport News, VA (April 8, 2022) – Come celebrate Earth Day Weekend on April 23 and 24, 2022 at the Virginia Living Museum!  We all live on this wonderful planet we call Earth, and that means we can all do our part to learn about how it works and how to help conserve nature’s beauty. Here at the Virginia Living Museum, we love teaching all about our state’s environment and how to take action against climate change. Over this weekend, guests will take part in a wide array of activities designed to show just how interesting and fun conservation can be.

Earth Day Weekend celebrations at the Virginia Living Museum include a Planet Protectors Camp-in, a Vermiculture Composting Workshop, special Behind-the-Scenes Bobcat and Reptiles and Amphibians Tours, planetarium shows, Animal Meet and Greets, and Pop-up Discovery Boxes.  The Green Teens will be hosting a Community Conservation Action Project in which guests can collect data on birds visiting the museum’s feeders as part of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch program which monitors bird abundance across North America.

The community is invited to bring in donations of old/unwanted/unused items as part of the weekend’s “Give Away to Give Back” program.  For example, the Virginia Living Museum will accept used but clean towels, sheets, blankets, and washcloths for animal care use across many departments, nursery pots of all sizes for expanding the native plant sale, and used but clean athletic shoes for Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program.  

On both Saturday and Sunday, AZA Party for the Planet Toolkits and trees from the Virginia Department of Forestry will be given out while supplies last.  Advance ticket purchase is recommended for Earth Day Weekend admission, Behind-the-Scenes Tours, and the Vermiculture Workshop at www.thevlm.org. Reserve your tickets now!  

Native Plant Sale Back for the 35th Year

The Virginia Living Museum hosts one of the largest native plant sales in the country, which will be held on April 23, 24, 30, and May 1, 2022.  Museum members receive early access on April 21.  Nearly all of the plants at the sale have been grown in the Holt Native Plant Conservatory, and the variety of species offered is so extensive that the Horticulture Department receives calls from around the country inquiring about the native plants and trees grown at the Virginia Living Museum.  During the sale, the Horticulture Department team will be available to help gardeners choose plants based on the planting site and the desired style of their overall garden design.  Many gardeners choose native plants in order to attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and other wildlife to their yards.  

“The real goal is to introduce the gardening public to the incredible variety of native plants that will do well in the landscape, and to provide gardeners with a source of native plants that are not harvested from the wild,” points out Darl Fletcher, Horticulture Curator at the Virginia Living Museum. “Native plants are good choices for area gardeners because native plants are better suited for the area, support native wildlife, and provide interesting and colorful beauty for the garden.  

Admission to the native plant sale is free and open to the public.  

The Virginia Living Museum is a leader in natural living exhibits! Native Virginia mammals, plants, marine life, reptiles, amphibians, and birds are presented and honored for their ability to connect people to nature through educational experiences that promote conservation. An independent 501(c)(3) organization, the Museum is a successful public/private partnership with the City of Newport News and all guests. Accredited by both the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the American Alliance of Museums, the Museum’s high standards are its hallmark, as only fourteen institutions share this designation in the country. It is a certified Virginia Green attraction dedicated to environmentally friendly practices. Located at 524 J. Clyde Morris Blvd., Newport News (I-64, exit 258-A) it is open 9 to 5 daily. Learn more at thevlm.org, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or call 757-595-1900.