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| OHCC LIVING | NOVEMBER 2024 |25 November can seem bittersweet for butterf ly lovers. It's a signal that we are approaching the end of another season, as our Monarchs retreat to their winter homes later this month. At the same time, it means that our fall and winter plans for an even more successful year in 2025 are well underway. The SMB Club is already working to prepare at least four new areas within OHCC for planting, in addition to the main sanctuary and the half-dozen additional spaces that have already been developed. We are hoping for even more space to dedicate to our butterf lies as OHCC (led by the Landscape Committee) works to become eco-friendly. This expansion will help to ensure that the number of butterf lies – Monarchs and other species – that call OHCC's common areas and back yards home, will continue to increase. Our expansion plans were made possible, of course, by the great success of the Butterf ly Ball. Not only did it get rave reviews as an elegant evening, but it was a tremendous financial success as well. Our heartfelt thanks go to all the donors who made our auctions possible, and of course to the energetic bidders who contributed so generously. The funds we raised that evening will go directly into planting the milkweed and nectar plants that will host and feed the next generation of butterf lies in OHCC. Finally, a brief reassurance: along with the string of unusually foggy, damp mornings we experienced in late September and early October, came a blight that you may have noticed affecting the appearance of your milkweed. It takes the form of tiny brown spots on the undersides of milkweed leaves. This is caused by the unusually damp conditions, and especially affects plants that get a lot of shade. Do not worry – it does not affect the health of eggs, caterpillars, or butterf lies, and it will disappear when the milkweed goes dormant for the winter. Written by Myra Esler Save the monarch butterfly