Staunton Green 2020

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Ken Kesson, a Private Lands Wildlife Biologist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service and one of seven panelists from SG2020’s forum titled Dawn of a New Urban Landscape – The Natives Return, recommends the following species for a butterfly garden and also lists some short native grasses homeowners in Staunton, VA may want to plant in their yards.

Forbs:
Columbine
Sullivant’s Milkweed
Butterfly Weed
Crooked Stem Aster
Tall Joe Pye Weed
Sweet Joe Pye Weed
Prairie Blazingstar
Dense Blazing Star
Beramot
Downy Phlox
Ohio Goldenrod
Ironweed
Grasses:
Prairie Dropseed

For short grass prairies:
Grasses:
Blue Eyed Grass
June  Grass
Side Oats Grama
Little Blue Stem
Prairie Dropseed
Ivory Sedge

Forbs:
Nodding Pink Onion
Heath Aster
Crooked Stem Aster
Cream False Indigo
Purple Prairie Clover
Mistflower
Violet Wood Sorel
Broad Leaved Penstemon
Showy Goldenrod
Prairie Spiderwort
Wild Petunia
Prairie Smoke
Western Spiderwort

Here’s another guide about butterfly gardening that may be helpful for you, too.

BEVERLEY STREET STUDIO SCHOOL PRESENTS
“EARTH IN THE BALANCE (AN ANAMORPHIC ILLUSION)”

"Earth in the Balance (an anamorphic illusion)"

“It’s a small world after all…” Or maybe not!  The Beverley Street Studio School will unveil “Earth in the Balance (an anamorphic illusion)” on Earth Day, Saturday April 17 from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the Wharf Parking Lot, beside the Farmers’ Market in Staunton.  At 12′ x 45′, this work is believed to be the largest painting on canvas ever created in the city of Staunton.

“Earth in the Balance” is a giant image of Planet Earth as seen from Outer Space.  But instead of painting the usual spherical planet, the BSSS artists have created a strangely distorted elliptical blob.  Or so it will seem to viewers until they readjust their way of looking at our much-loved and much-abused planet.  From the right viewpoint, Earth will regain its graceful, familiar proportions.  Then if a spectator poses for a photo op in just the right way,  Earth will appear to spin serenely like a beach ball atop that person’s fingertip!

If a spectator poses just the right way, Earth will appear to spin serenely on its axis atop that person’s fingertip!

It’s optical magic that you won’t believe until you see it for yourself.  The project is free, open to the public, and designed to be kid-friendly and interactive.  Children, pets, and whole families are invited to pose with the picture. Bring your camera, wear a costume if you like, and be prepared to see what it’s like to personally hold the Earth in balance.

Contact: Cleveland Morris (540) 332-6111 or cmmmmix@gmail.com

Mark your calendar…
Dawn of a New Urban Landscape — The Natives Return
7 p.m, April 21, City Hall, Council Chambers

By Bruce Dorries | The Staunton News-Leader, March 7, 2010

As spring marches —or rolls, sluggishly —into the Queen City this month, get ready for captivating close ups and breath-taking panoramas.

Lights, sound, camera, action! Very soon, we’ll see illuminating green scenes, if not yet in the landscape then on downtown big screens.

To begin this preview, two thumbs up for Patagonia’s Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival that begins 7 p.m., March 25 at the Visulite Cinema.

Wild Virginia, an area grassroots organization, hosts the event. The nonprofit works to preserve natural ecosystems in the Commonwealth’s national forests.

Wild and Scenic films portray our beautiful lands and the people of the communities who love and defend them. These movies entertain, but also highlight issues, provide solutions and call for action. That’s my kind of cinema — pragmatic escapism. If that’s possible.

Hold on to your stadium seating —you can take the whole family to see all eight short films at the festival, which runs about two hours. Anything is possible on celluloid.
Click here to continue reading.

The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival.

Wild Virginia is hosting the 2010 Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, Wednesday, March 24, at the Vinegar Hill Theater in Charlottesville, and Thursday, March 25, at the Visulite Cinema in Staunton.  Screenings will be at 7pm.  There will be 16 different short films in all, with an entirely different slate of films at each venue.  Admission is $8 each night and advance tickets are available at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports in Charlottesville and Mint Spring Frame Shop in Staunton.  For more information, see www.wildvirginia.org or contact David Hannah at dhannah@wildvirginia.org or 434-971-1553.

Please join us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/stauntongreen2020

Watch for more announcements regarding our film series with Transition Augusta this Spring, held at Mockingbird (123 West Beverley Street)

Tonight is your chance to comment on how the City of Staunton can enhance, restore and better manage our “green infrastructure” — an important meeting to attend! This is part of Staunton’s collaboration with the UVA School of Architecture.

Come to Bessie Weller Elementary School’s cafeteria to ask questions and give your opinion from 5pm until 7pm (Thursday, November 12).

Tuesday, November 17 the UVA students will hold a workshop with the steering committee to debrief public comments gathered at the Public Open House.  The workshop is scheduled for 9:00 am until 11:00 am in Council Chambers, City Hall.

For more information, check out the City of Staunton’s Planning and Inspections home page announcing the Public Open House.

Have you heard about the growing national debate over clotheslines? As it turns out, clotheslines touch on questions about individual rights, private property, class, aesthetics, the environment.

From a purely environmental standpoint reducing dryer usage (and the dirty electricity that powers it) is a big deal. Some estimates put dryer usage as high as 6% of total household energy consumed. Reducing this energy use saves money and reduces your carbon footprint.

But, some feel that laundry lines reduce property values. They associate laundry lines with poverty. That’s why there is a growing trend to reverse this stereotype.

Here’s an article I wrote recently about the clothesline debate.

How do you think Staunton should address clotheslines? Good thing? Bad thing?

Personally, I’d like to see Stauntonians embrace more clotheslines. But, perhaps they’d need to be concealed from the street so people don’t get upset. What do you think?

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