16 | OHCC LIVING | OCTOBER 2022 |
Save The Monarch Butterfly
August turned out to be quite a test. The
intense heat day after day took its toll on the
garden. Milkweed plants started to lose their
leaves very early, depriving the Monarchs of
their food. Nectar plants weren't much help
either, as it took longer for them to blossom
again. Unfortunately, we lost many plants
that were too young to withstand the heat.
Our volunteers worked endlessly to keep the
garden watered and the caterpillars fed. In
spite of these challenges, we still saw a huge
influx of new caterpillars that will repopulate
the garden once again.
The arrival of cooler weather allowed us
to replace many plants and restore the food
supply for the rest of this season. In addition,
we installed boxes to provide information to
garden visitors; one pamphlet shows the
match between flowers and butterflies, and
other describes a our Save the Monarch
Butterfly Club. We thank the Woodchucks
for designing and assembling the boxes. We
also added a new puddler (water station) for
the Monarchs.
Our official signage went up on the fence
beside the gate. One sign is our official
notice of being a pollinator habitat. The
second outlines the rules we ask you to
observe while in the garden. In spite of the
brightly colored sign about keeping the gate
shut to prevent predators from entering, we
were disappointed to see how many times it
has been left open. Residents also reported
people taking their dogs into the garden.
Please observe these simple rules to ensure
that our garden is safe for the butterflies.
On a happy note, we planned the Grand
Opening of the sanctuary with an official
ribbon cutting and refreshments for the
entire community. More information on
this successful event will be in the next issue.
Thank you all for participating.
