Pollinator Gardens for Monarchs

205 South Central Avenue,Medford OR 97501

03 April, 2022

Description

The current status of the western monarch and what we can do in our own gardens to help rebuild populations. Tom will begin by discussing the current status of the western monarch butterfly, and what we can do to help rebuild populations after their recent crash. Monarchs are charismatic emblems of good environmental stewardship, and our recovery efforts have received tremendous popular support. The main focus of this workshop will be a discussion on how to establish monarch waystations – specialized pollinator gardens that include milkweed. Since milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars can eat, we’ll talk about the importance of using native milkweed species. Nectar from flowers is the only food source for butterflies, including monarchs, so we’ll discuss the best native nectar species that flower in the early season, mid-season, and especially late season. Late blooming nectar plants are critical to fuel migrating monarchs and help them build-up fat reserves to sustain them over winter. Tom is a forester who retired after 30 years of working as a nursery specialist for the US Forest Service, and has spent the last 15 years creating pollinator habitat in southern Oregon. He is a co-founder of the Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates, and on the Board of Directors for the Western Monarch Advocates. Tom has given over 120 Monarch and Milkweed Workshops from Hoopa, CA to Manchester, England. This wonderful presentation is on Sunday, April 3, at 2 PM at the Medford Library in the Adams room. Please register by Saturday April 2. This event is set up to accept donations of any size, starting at $5.00. We appreciate your financial support to bring you this great presentation! All attendees will receive reminder emails about the class and any handouts. PPRV follows state guidelines regarding wearing of masks in public events. Wearing a mask in the indoor setting will no longer be a requirement after March 11, 2022 as of this writing. However this may change in the future. We will update any masking requirements as needed. Anyone is welcome to continue to wear a mask for their own comfort level. Again thank you for your interest, and happy pollinator gardening!