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40 | OHCC LIVING | JUNE 2023 | Save The Monarch Butterfly Have you ever planned a party – made the arrangements, cleaned the house, prepared the food – and the guests of honor showed up late? That's a little bit like the feeling at the Butterfly Sanctuary, where our SMB Club volunteers have been planting milkweed and other plants, tidying up the garden, and generally making the site beautiful in preparation for an invasion of Western Monarchs, Cloudless Sulfurs, Cabbage Whites, Mourning Cloaks, and assorted Swallowtails that hasn't happened yet. The persistently cool weather through March, April, and well into May has slowed their arrival, although a few hardy pioneers have been sighted, the first eggs have been spotted, and a few caterpillars have emerged. Still, things are happening much later this year than normal – a sign, we hope, that the summer will be a season of catching up and population growth. As we wait for our butterflies, the SMB Club has been busy planning other exciting activities. Our June membership meeting is coming up on Wed., June 14 in Abravanel Hall. This is a joint meeting with the Garden Club featuring a very special speaker, Lucy Warren, former editor of California Garden magazine, a Certified Master Gardener, a founding member of the San Diego Horticultural Society, and a noted writer. Lucy has co-authored two books on California Native Plants, and that is going to be the subject of her talk. The meeting begins with refreshments and conversation from 9:30 to 9:45 am, followed by Lucy's presentation. This promises to be a highlight of our early summer calendar. Preparations also are already well under way for THE social event of the fall season, a fabulous Butterfly Ball. Mark your calendars for Fri., Sept. 22 for an evening of wonderful food, entertainment, and many surprises. Among the highlights will be a silent auction, and we are asking our members to donate items we can use for fundraising. This will be our major initiative of the year to raise funds to buy plants for the Sanctuary and other parts of our community in pursuit of our goal of helping to ensure the survival of the Western Monarch. You will receive a flyer soon. PS – we have had many inquiries about buying our famous butterfly T-shirts. You can buy them online by going to https://forms.gle/ LCFJkt46qxhbkVFw8. Garden Club May was a busy time for the Garden Club with our Annual Spring Garden Walk and lunch, we thank all the participants, organizers and homeowners. It was another successful Garden Club OHCC event and we hope you enjoyed it. Butterflies and the garden have a symbiotic relationship. Butterflies depend on the garden for food and shelter and the garden needs the butterflies to pollinate it. That's why it is so appropriate that the Garden Club and the Save the Monarch Club will be joining together to present our June meeting. The Garden Club is excited to be hosting the Save the Monarch Butterfly Club for the June 14 monthly meeting. We would like to thank them for providing the speaker, our treats and door prizes. The speaker, Lucy Warren, is a longtime regional gardening professional who writes a regular article for the San Diego Union Tribune. She is also an expert on Native California plants, which is the subject of her program in June. We need to keep pollinators happy, by including native plants which bloom over the growing season to attract the butterflies. Please join us for this informative and fun meeting. If you are not a member of either club yet, both clubs' welcome new members at the meeting. "No garden truly blooms until butterflies have danced upon it." ~K. D'Angelo. Social time and refreshments begin at 9:30 am, and the program begins at 10 am. Be sure to check the share table by the side entrance.

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