Category: Updates

Tiffany was on the list to receive a DC Natives pollinator garden in her Capitol Hill community in 2022. Upon meeting DC Natives’ Thorne Rankin at her home for the planting, Tiffany signed up to be a Block Captain, stirring interest among her Ward 6 neighbors about becoming part of D.C.’s pollinator pathway.

As a personal trainer in Washington, D.C., Tiffany decided to conserve her energy and stepped down from her Block Captain status after two years. Her love for the organization, however, led her to finding a new role this year – one that may just have led to you hearing Tiffany’s voice on the phone or seeing her email pop up in your inbox.

“I’ve been able to focus my time on taking care of the people interested in DC Natives,” said Tiffany. “I have been setting up the database, checking things five times and finding and fixing errors. I’ve been called eagle eye. I became responsible for the Zoom calls, emailing everyone on the spreadsheet that has shown interest, and inviting them to the Zoom calls. Thorne has been really happy with the fact that I will reply to everyone. Even on the day of the Zoom meetings, I will remind folks, because there’s always so much going on.”

DC Natives’ reach grows because of volunteers like Tiffany, whether behind the scenes or in the garden trenches, and we appreciate it! For Tiffany, DC Natives is not just another nonprofit organization. As a recent Connecticut transplant, recreating community was important, but challenging for many reasons–one being COVID.

“I moved to DC in 2019 before the pandemic,” she recalled. “The first four years with COVID were really kinda rough. I asked myself ‘why did I leave my community in Connecticut for 20 years. It’s hardest to move as a grown person. DC Natives is one of the organizations I credit with actually making me love living here. DC Natives has really brought me so much joy.”

Want to learn more about Tiffany? We asked her our favorite questions.

Q: What’s your favorite pollinator garden plant?

A: Hyssop. I just love it and how the leaves smell. You can make tea from hyssop leaves. My hyssop has so many bees. I get really excited about that.

Q: At what point did you realize you were a gardener?

A: I don’t even think I’m a gardener, no I do. I have imposter syndrome. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but my neighbor is like, ‘I watched what you’re doing, and I’m doing the same.’ But, I think it was when the garden was planted in the fall of 2022 and by the next year, spring 2023 when everything started coming up. I went away for a few weeks, and thought, ‘these are my babies.’ After the first natives came up, I’ve just gotten more excited over each year.

Q: What’s your favorite part about being a block captain/DCN member?

A: I like being part of this organization and community of people who want to do something good for the environment. It brings me a lot of joy. Plants bring me joy. I like the people in the group. Everyone is really nice and I’ve enjoyed being welcomed into the group, helping other people, and helping to move the mission of the group. 

By Assata Schroeter

Living through such a difficult and disheartening social climate as today’s, it’s immensely important to recognize and celebrate each other. The state of the job and housing market can be scary to consider. Add to that federal funding cuts to financial aid, gun violence prevention, environmental protection causes, and changes to our country’s budgeting. Amidst the current social climate, we have seen many federal workers lose their jobs due to widespread layoffs and budget cuts.

Community is key. Raising awareness, educating others, and looking out for ways to help families in need is one way our community can feel supported. Small steps like these are essential to that bigger picture. 

Lifting the Spirits of Mother, Daughter with Pollinators

To give back some positivity to a family who has continuously put so much effort and love into our community at large, despite both losing their livelihoods, DC Natives volunteers gathered on a rainy Saturday morning in June to create a garden for Dr. Helen Jackson and her daughter Zakiya. This was an effort to honor their careers and shared passion for gardening, even though the DC Natives planting season had come to an end.

Helen, a nuclear physicist with a patent under her belt and decades of experience, had a job offer rescinded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office following the presidential hiring freeze, while Zakiya’s organization, The Expectations Project, a nonprofit dedicated to a better and equal academic future for marginalized Black and Brown communities, was defunded in 2025.

The DC Natives pollinator garden created in Helen’s Capitol View yard honors the essential work the duo have done, paving the way for Black and Brown leaders through impactful education. Federal workers like Helen and social justice leaders like Zakiya daughter are essential to the betterment of communities. We cannot overlook their contributions.

Click here to watch Helen and Zakiya’s garden transform.

Turning Obstacles into Opportunity

In addition to career challenges, we all experience obstacles on the home front, whether it is dealing with repairs, preparing a home or apartment for a storm, or maintaining a healthy city garden. The latter has been Helen’s Achilles’ heel, but she’s always found a way to navigate what’s come her way using her decades of experience and passion.

“I just did whatever I could to increase the yield for whatever amount of space I had,” said the southeast D.C. resident. “We had difficult situations like steep slopes, so I did some terrace gardening. When I first moved to D.C., I was in an apartment, so I just had tons of pot … I used a balcony, I had cinderblocks- 2×12 stacked. And they were all filled with pots where I grew stuff.” 

DC Natives prides itself on creating pathways for pollinators and cultivating community. While we were unable to impact the course of their career, we thought a pollinator garden would be a welcome bright spot for Helen and Zakiya. Research featured in the National Library of Medicine has found increasing evidence that exposure to plants and green space, and particularly to gardening, is beneficial to mental and physical health, so we wanted to help lift the spirits of a deserving family. 

“While so much terrible stuff is happening in our climate,” said Zakiya. “It’s good for building a mutual aid muscle when we’re engaging in community this way. And I think we need mutual aid to survive.” 

At DC Natives, spring is the season that we tend to love most as all the native plants start to grow again, and the time comes to start putting most of our vegetable seeds and seedlings in the ground.  

While the return of mosquitoes each spring in the District might feel like the arrival of a nemesis, it’s important to remember their ecological value. These native insects serve as a crucial food source for creatures like native bats, and surprisingly, even contribute to pollination, playing a vital role in the lifecycle of plants, serving as a food source for the dragonflies among the water lilies at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Recognizing their place in the food web doesn’t mean we have to endure their disease-carrying potential and irritating bites, which can persist well into the fall. Thankfully, there are earth-friendly strategies we can employ from late April into early November to gently reduce their presence around our homes and neighborhoods. 

The Lifecycle of a Mosquito 

To understand how to mitigate mosquitoes, you have to know their life cycle. Most mosquitos need fresh water that has stagnated in order to reproduce, which is why you find them thriving near ponds, puddles, in the base of planter pots, bird baths, or any other spot that has water that has been sitting for some time. Mosquitos are also most active in early morning and late evening. 

After mating, the female mosquito lays her eggs in the stagnant water. Soon after the mosquito larvae hatch from the eggs and eat microorganisms in the water in order to grow. Within two weeks the mosquitos change into non-feeding pupa. Then, in just a few days a fully grown adult mosquito emerges. The males feed on nectar from the garden, but the females feed on nectar but also blood in order to grow their eggs. 

Introducing the “Bucket of Doom” to Control Mosquitoes 

Many methods exist to help reduce or control mosquitoes. A key step in the process is to remove all standing water around your property. Turn empty plant saucers or containers over, freshen up the water in your bird bath regularly, and pour out any residual water that collects in these outdoor containers. Remember, any place that water has been sitting for a few days is a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes.  

We’ve created a simple info sheet on a low-cost & effective way to control mosquitos on your property using the “Bucket of Doom.” Here is where you will need all readily available from your local hardware store or left over: 

• A dark blue or black colored bucket 
• Mosquito bits or dunks 
• Brewer’s yeast 
• A piece of fabric, hard board, or a piece of wood the length of the bucket 
• Water

Frequently Asked Questions

Working with Mother Nature to Deter Mosquitoes

Be patient with the process as it may take time for you to notice a difference. For better results, enlist a few of your neighbors to install their own mosquito control buckets and to at least remove standing water on their property. Creating multiple buckets will significantly disrupt at the larval stage. While you will still see some adult females, their larvae will not survive the Bti bath, resulting in an overall decline. 

Beyond the “Bucket of Doom,” several other earth-friendly strategies can help manage mosquito populations. The most crucial step remains eliminating all standing water sources on your property. For larger water features like rain barrels, consider using the mosquito dunks. When outdoors, protect yourself with insect repellent. Additionally, you can encourage natural mosquito control by creating a habitat that attracts their predators. Observe Kenilworth Gardens, a local “swamp” that remarkably doesn’t suffer from mosquito pest issues due to the dragon flies and consider how to draw in wildlife that feeds on mosquitos, such as certain birds, dragonflies, bats, salamanders, lizards, frogs, and spiders. Supporting these natural predators is a sustainable way to utilize Mother Nature’s own methods for keeping mosquito numbers in check. 

If you have any questions, please message us on Instagram, Facebook, or by emailing dcnatives.org@gmail.com.

Spring is not only in the air, it’s in the earth and your pollinators are now anxiously pushing through to bring sustenance and joy to all! For those of you who have had your pollinator gardens for a year or two, you may think you’re used to what’s to come, but you may find something unexpected brought to you by a neighboring hummingbird or bat from a few blocks away. For our newbie DC Natives awaiting your first bloom, you are likely excited by the unknown. However you identify, DC Natives is here to give you a few tips on what to expect from your budding spring pollinator gardens. Make sure you take photos and videos to capture your pollinators’ metamorphosis and their visiting friends. Email us and share your pics or tag us on Instagram and Facebook.

March: Worry not; you likely didn’t see much activity until this last week, but if you have bulbs or ephemerals, they may have popped up a bit earlier. Now is a good time to start “cleaning” the garden. If you put leaves in your bed, unbury them now. Pulling weeds and cutting stems is optional, but do identify and pull out any diseased plants. If you need help identifying a weed or diseased plant, send us an email or write us on Instagram, and we will get back to you. As a reminder, 60-70% of native bees burrow underground to lay eggs. Please try to leave the soil as undisturbed as possible and resist the urge to add mulch right away. 

April: Baptisia, yarrow, penstemon, geranium, coreopsis, and phlox will probably start flowering. Consider mulching with any leftover fall leaves. 

May: All of the above should be in bloom, but don’t worry if your echinacea is behind as they tend to be late bloomers. You will likely notice green shoots for summer bloomers like milkweed, liatris, monarda, and mountain mint.

While you wait: If you want to stay busy and set up a sustainable home for your pollinator visitors, consider providing a nesting site for solitary bees or an area for butterflies to take shelter during inclement weather. Want to learn more about that? Join us for First Flower Friday, our demonstration garden series.

Earlier this month, our very own Block Captain, new Board Member, and Master Gardener Rodrick West was presented the 2025 District Sustainability Award by the DC Department of Energy and Environment, which celebrates local businesses, organizations, and individuals committed to sustainability.

Rodrick is a dedicated Ward 7 resident and profoundly impacts his community and all of DC through his various roles and activities. As a RiverSmart Homes Ambassador serving Wards 7 and 8, he promotes eco-friendly practices and advocates for sustainable living among residents.

He is also a UDC Master Gardener, which showcases his expertise in horticulture and his commitment to nurturing green spaces. His volunteer efforts extend to supporting the Anacostia Watershed Society, where he contributes to preserving and improving the health of the watershed.

In addition to his horticultural and environmental work, Rodrick collaborates with the Mayor’s Office, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC), and participates in local clean-up initiatives, demonstrating his dedication to civic engagement and public service. 

Congratulations, Rodrick, and thank you for making DC a more resilient city!

Meet DC Natives Block Captain Adam, a DC native himself who hails from Congress Heights in Ward 8 and now reps North Michigan Park in Ward 5. Adam signed up to become a DC Natives leader to connect with his community and also for selfish reasons, he confessed.

“I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to be neighborly. Also, if I’m able to improve the pollinator population in my area, it would improve the crops that I grow,” said Adam, who has a micro farm and is just starting mycology or growing mushrooms. Adam runs SoufEast Farm, which provides “culturally significant produce for the diaspora.”

Q: What’s your favorite pollinator?
A: Bees. Because they are fuzzy and I’ve been told that if you vibrate at a certain frequency then they return that vibration at a healing frequency. Also, beekeepers have the longest living professions.

Q: At what point did you realize you were a gardener?
A: I’m a farmer or a land steward. I want to be more of a land steward. I am trying to make money off the land so that’s what makes me a gardener.

Q: What is your favorite part about being a DC Natives Block Captain?
A: Meeting my neighbors. I know that there is a certain visual juxtaposition in that I look a certain way, but I am perceived in a different way. I enjoy enhancing certain people’s ideas of DC locals or DC natives.

We did that! You did that! DC Natives goal was to not just increase pollinator-attracting plants throughout the District. Our goal was to also create community–and we are proud to say we’ve been able to do both this year.

With 34 new gardens planted in the spring, 43 gardens planted this fall, and 1500 native pollinator plants planted in 6 of 8 wards, we are buzzing with excitement (see what we did there?)

We are thankful to our volunteers, donors, board members, block captains and our growing family of DC Natives gardeners. Your support and excitement continues to fuel our efforts to connect more District residents to pollinators, and each other.

DC Natives is proud to bring together residents from different walks of life and varying levels of gardening. Can you believe we started six years ago in Ward 7 with only 10 gardens? Today, thanks to generous donors, inquisitive residents and community partners, we have planted over 350 residential gardens. We have also answered the call to partnership in order to create community gardens, youth gardens and neighborhood gardens. And we’re not done yet.Your end of year, tax-deductive donations, your word of mouth and your volunteerism helps DC Natives grow. Let’s keep it going! Thank you for support.

Several DC Natives garden owners have a green thumb. They can tell a weed from a wildflower, a shovel from a spade, and bee balm from scarlet sage. The beauty about the DC Natives model, however, is that our garden owners are also novices. Residents that are a bit timid around , just learning that bees can be our friends, and that .How do we know this? Because we love spending time with our community, you share your garden experiences, and oh, yeah: we sent you a survey earlier this year.

And oh, did we listen to what you had to say! We heard that many of you wanted more support and education in caring for your gardens. So what we did was convene with our board of directors and came up with First Flower Fridays, DC Natives Demonstration Garden Series! 

We kicked things off the first Friday in April, providing hands-on instruction right in the gardens of community members. We met at the homes of our co-founders Ms. Anne Miller and Ms. Peaches Dorsey to spruce up their pollinator gardens after the winter, plant a few new plants and have some refreshments. 

Throughout the spring and summer, we journeyed across Wards 7 & 8, doing demonstrations, pouring libations, and spreading the gospel of pollinator magic! We’d like to offer a big thanks to those who hosted including Lia Cheek, Zerline Hughes Spruill, Anne Miller and Peaches Dorsey, Lee Keeling and Synta Keeling, who held a very informative FFF around pollinator gardens and renting your home through Airbnb. Who knew pollinators could also attract a second income!

Now that the cooler seasons are upon us, our First Flower Fridays will reconvene in the spring. We hope you’ll join us again or for the first time as FFF is a great way to meet other DC Natives gardeners, brush up on skills and learn new things! Invitations are sent via email so keep your eyes peeled!

Native pollinator plants, bees, and butterflies are great for the environment and all, but for Aubri O’Connor, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2024, bee balm, blazing star, and coneflowers were lifesaving. In addition to taking steps to beat cancer, Aubri added to her to-do list caring for her DC Natives pollinator garden.

“Having something to work on, to get out of bed for, to be excited for, that was sometimes the only thing that got me moving some days,” said Aubri who is the producer & artistic director of Nu Sass Productions and owner & KJ for Kostume Karaoke. “The garden doesn’t need me every day, but it does need me to show up regularly, which was perfect because it doesn’t exhaust me but does motivate me. I’ve also found a certain sense of connection to the process. We planted in the fall, just before it got cold, so all these lovely blooms and greens turned grey and receded just as I was starting to feel the worst effects of radiation. But I know they’re ok, they just need to rest and be reclusive right now, much like myself.”

A Community Gathers

Aubri began the DC Natives’ community pollinator garden journey in the summer but as she was prioritizing her healthcare she was unable to make the deadline for preparing her garden for the fall planting season and the time for the last plant order passed. When we heard about Aubri however, our renegade garden team jumped in action and community members generously shared plant divisions, to help create a thriving, ready-made pollinator garden to bring new life to the hilly front yard of her home that she just moved into this summer.

“It literally brought tears to my eyes,” said Aubri. “People just kept showing up with plants out of their own gardens, inspired to help me when I needed it. So many people gave their time, their energy, their resources, and their love to help a near stranger! I’ve only been in NE DC for 6 months, after 17 years in Petworth. It was an amazing affirmation that I made a great choice picking my new neighborhood, and that I already have a blossoming community here.”

Fun fact: anyone can create their own pollinator garden with divisions from neighboring pollinator garden owners. Simply plant your plant divisions, use leaf mulch, leave areas wild and make sure you’ve got those flowers and grasses in a sunny spot where they can thrive. An added benefit is meeting neighbors and perhaps even exchanging pollinator plants every season. D.C. Natives planted 77 pollinator gardens this year, and Aubri was number 77.

“Having people to laugh with, ask questions, learn … I think this program is as much about growing communities and connections as it is about growing the plants,” said Aubri. “I can’t wait until my energy is back and I can return the favor to my neighbors!”

The Health Benefits of Gardening

According to The Nation’s Health, planting and gardening is beneficial to everyone’s mental and physical health. Fresh air and sunshine boosts our mood and decreases stress. The physical requirements of gardening help reduce heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.

“We were pleased to add Aubri to the DC Natives family and get our hands and knees dirty again for this project,” said Executive Director Thorne Rankin. “DC Natives’ members are heavy on community building and when we heard about Aubri and all of the neighbors who were ready to jump right in, it reminded me that our mission to cultivate beauty is not just about planting, but is a testament to the human condition.”

Aubri, who is also a fundraiser and nonprofit manager, said she learned about DC Natives during the pandemic on Buy Nothing, a website and Facebook group that promoties resilient communities through a gift-economy platform (also known as free stuff). Because she was renting in Petworth at the time, she was unable to plant on her property, so she waited until this year when she purchased her home in northeast D.C.

“Once I was able to own my own home, one of the first things I did was look up the program again (as well as the DC seed exchange, the river smart program, and the lawn tools lending library!),” she recalled. “After the wave of emotion, I felt really motivated; I think I had twice as much energy on planting day as I had all week. I’m really looking forward to both my garden and myself bursting into life this spring when we’re both ready and able. It sounds cliché, but it really did help to remember that all things need to have a winter phase in order to grow, and it was ok for me to as well.”

In February 2024, DC Natives shared a survey with our community of pollinator garden program participants in an effort to improve our work. We’re deeply grateful to dozens of community members who took the time to respond to the survey, and are humbled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received.

Community members who participated in the survey were among people who have worked with DC Natives to create a pollinator garden since 2017. 93% of respondents said they see pollinators like butterflies, bees and hummingbirds in their gardens. It’s no surprise given 91% said they regularly watered, and 84% said they weeded their gardens regularly.

We are proud to see participants in our pollinator garden program continue to engage with the beautiful spaces we’ve created together.

I LOVE my garden. It has been a source of joy. Working it helps my anxiety, it has given me a point of connection with my neighbors, and it is a beautiful entry point for our family home.

DC Natives program participant

We were also proud to see that our community feels our pollinator garden program is largely accessible. 88.5% of survey respondents said our program was accessible to people with all levels of gardening ability, 65% said it is accessible to people of all ages, and 71% said it is accessible to people from different income levels. Participants shared that we could improve our accessibility to people with different levels of physical ability, with only 40% saying our program is accessible to people in all levels of physical ability. Our team will be working on improving this aspect of our program to reach more neighbors. 

What I need is support, support, support!

DC Natives program participant

Nearly 95% of respondents said they felt supported by DC Natives in varying degrees throughout their pollinator garden process. Participants said they found our support with garden design, planting, and access to plants most helpful. 94% of respondents said they had a positive experience with DC Natives and would like to continue partnering with us to maintain their gardens.

Community members had great suggestions for how we can support them going forward. The suggestions we heard most frequently were access to more educational opportunities for gardeners to learn about native plants and maintenance. Participants suggested we create videos featuring native plants on our social media, host webinars or classes, and distribute regular emails about taking care of gardens throughout the year and in different seasons.

We’re excited to hear our community wants more engagement and partnership. To respond to this need, DC Natives is launching an educational program called First Flower Fridays: The DC Natives Demonstration Garden Series.