Current Projects Where Have All the (Wild)Flowers Gone? After hearing from inquiring minds around the Commonwealth curious about the seemingly-declining number of wildflower beds along our highways, Scenic Virginia set about to get some answers. In February, representatives of Scenic Virginia, the Federated Garden Clubs of Virginia, Keep Virginia Beautiful, and The Garden Club of Virginia met with VDOT officials to discuss the current status of the program. We learned — to the surprise of no one — that the VDOT Wildflowers program has suffered recently from a lack of funding. With more budget cuts forecast for most state agencies, there is little-to-no-chance that additional monies will be available for beautifying our roadsides in this way. That said, there are ways for individual citizens to help raise money for the Wildflowers program. The easiest way is to switch to a Virginia Wildflowers license plate. The specialty license plate costs $25 extra a year, $15 of which goes to a dedicated fund for the Wildflowers program. Our goal is to double that funding source by doubling the number of Wildflowers license plates on our roads. To make the switch, visit www.dmv.virginia.gov, and click on Plate Purchase under Online Transactions. From there, click on Buy and then scroll down the list to Wildflower. By the way, you can transfer a current message plate (e.g. SCENIC) to the new design. Let’s work together to make Virginia’s roadsides as beautiful and safe as possible. For more information, visit VDOT’s Wildflowers program website.

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