Mark your calendars for the Ninth Annual Monarch Blitz on July 25 – August 3 to support Monarch butterfly conservation. The Monarch Blitz invites people across North and Central America to go outdoors and share their sightings of Monarch butterflies, eggs, caterpillars. chrysalids, and milkweed plants. These observations help researchers identify and prioritize actions to better conserve our emblematic Monarch butterfly. Visit MonarchBlitz.org for more information.
Each year, millions of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) make the journey from North America to Mexico’s Sierra Madre Mountains, flying thousands of miles to their winter home. The migration is one of nature’s most amazing phenomena. Stand amid the fir-covered mountains and witness this awe-inspiring spectacle firsthand as the monarchs flutter, dip, and swoop overhead. Pacific Horticulture hopes to travel with you to Mexico on February 7 – 12 next year, provided the pandemic allows. You’ll see countless butterflies roosting in the early morning, as well as in flight at midday, feeding on wildflowers, and drinking at streams.
This tour will be escorted by Pacific Horticulture Society Board Member Richard Hayden, who lives in Los Angeles and works for the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County where he is the Special Assistant to the President and Project Liaison engaged in the reimagining of the La Brea Tar Pits Museum and 11 acre landscape. He served as the Garden Director for the Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden, a 2.5 acre public garden in Palo Alto, California from 2017 to 2019. He began his career in public horticulture as the Head Gardener for the Nature Gardens at the Natural History Museum of LAC after enjoying a 25 year career as a Los Angeles based landscape designer. He is strong proponent and communicator of resilient, organic garden practices including soil health, wildlife habitat, climate appropriate plants and water conservation. He has a BA in Theatre and Film from the University of Michigan, and a certificate in Horticulture and Garden Design from UCLA. Richard is also an ISA certified arborist.wildlife habitat gardens, the soil food web, and sustainable garden practices. He has dedicated his career to connecting people and nature through the stewardship of public gardens.
For complete itinerary and information visit https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/tours/mexico-monarch-migration/
Jose Luis Alvarez is a Mexican tree nurseryman, who has for decades been growing trees for reforestation projects. In 1997, he created Forests For Monarchs (FFM) also known as La Cruz Habitat Protection Program (LCHPP), an innovative non-profit designed to restore the Monarch’s forest habitat and at the same time give indigenous people a desperately needed source of wood for cooking, heating and building houses.
On Friday, August 26 at 1:30 in the Parkman Room of the Education Building at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, Alvarez will discuss monarch evolution, migration and population changes. He will also review the science which led to the discovery of over-wintering grounds, and the effort to reforest them. The lecture will also bring this topic home as Alvarez addresses Monarch habitat issues in the US, and the work being done to stabilize the Monarch population.
Vermont Woods Studios and founder Peggy Farabaugh are excited to sponsor his tour and hope to see the Monarch’s winter and summer habitats be restored. Learn more about Vermont Woods Studios at http://vermontwoodsstudios.com/monarchs and Forests for Monarchs at http://www.forestsformonarchs.org/.
Lecture Fee: $12/member of Massachusetts Horticultural Society, $20/non-member. Register online at www.masshort.org.
At Garden in the Woods in Framingham on Sunday, June 26, learn about the monarch butterfly — its natural history, the reasons for its decline, and the many conservation efforts that are currently underway along its migration pathway. Katie Banks Hone of The Monarch Gardener will also discuss how you can help the monarch in your own yard by planting a native pollinator garden. After the lecture, we will walk around the Garden to see plants that support monarchs. $24 for NEWFS members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.newfs.org/learn/our-programs/conserving-and-gardening-for-monarchs.
The Wild Ones (www.wildones.org) is compiling a national butterfly host and native nectar plant list that will become available on their website. In an effort to gather the most accurate native plant data possible, the Monarch Committee, is looking for input. To help, send them a list of the common milkweed native to your locale. List your geographic area and up to five plant species. Additionally, they are asking for any local native butterfly host and nectar plant lists for your region.
Send your data to Pam Wolfe, co-chair of Wild Ones, Wild for Monarchs at florawings@earthlink.net.
A Harvard Museum of Natural History Travel Program will take place Sunday, January 20 – Friday, January 25, 2012, entitled The Kingdom of the Monarchs. One of the world’s most astounding natural events occurs each year in North America, featuring one of its most unlikely creatures, the delicate monarch butterfly. Up to 300 million monarchs set flight on a remarkable 2,500-mile journey from the northeastern U.S. and Canada to their ancestral wintering grounds in the volcanic mountains of central Mexico. Until recently, the location of their breeding grounds remained a mystery. How an infant generation of butterflies finds it anew each year is still an enigma. Join this small group to experience this moving phenomenon, as well as Mexico ’s charming colonial villages. The full itinerary and PDF of trip brochure will be available soon at www.hmnh.harvard.edu/travel/t_na_monarchs13.htm. $2,995 per person, with a $545 single supplement, if needed. Photo from www.nathab.com.
Enjoy a unique exhibit combining photography, text, and video celebrating the life story of the Monarch butterfly, now through September 30. The exhibit shares with visitors the poetry and beauty of the Monarch butterfly and expands the viewers understanding of the extraordinary life story of the Monarch. A wealth of information is provided for the visitor interested in creating a garden designed to support adult butterflies and their caterpillars.
Location: Matz Gallery at the Sawyer Free Library 2 Dale Avenue Gloucester, MA
Admission: Free
Gallery Hours: Monday-Thursday 8:30-8:00, Friday-Saturday 8:30-5:00
For more information, log on to www.kimsmithdesigns.com.
