You know the saying..."If you plant it, they will come!"
This year we are offering a wide variety of native milkweed species including: Showy, Swamp, Prairie, Whorled and of course, Common. We also have a variety of native perennials including late Summer bloomers that are essential to the Monarchs for their long migration to Mexico.
We will have our ever popular "Habitat in a Bag" that includes both milkweed and perennials as well as the "Caterpillar Care Package" --a smorgasbord of plants for a variety of butterflies; Bronze Fennel for the Swallowtail and Pearly Everlasting for the Painted Lady Butterfly (Bonus: some of the plants already have caterpillars). These bags would make a wonderful Father's Day gift or a gift for a new graduate. How about one for a neighbor or friend?
Planting milkweed is the best way we can help bring the monarch population back from the brink.
Date: Sunday June 4, 2017
Time: Noon till 3pm
Where: Milwaukee County Parks parking lot: 9480 W. Watertown Plank Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53226
Note: Enter off of Discovery Parkway and watch for our signs.
Help support the Friends of the Monarch Trail and all the pollinators!
For more information about the Friends of the Monarch Trail activities, please visit us at www.theMonarchTrail.org |
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In early 2001 I proposed to the DNR and the mayor of the 'burb that I live in that once a year on a Saturday homeowners could come to the parking lot at City Hall and on a FCFS basis, until the supply was gone, they could choose a small (therefore inexpensive) planting or seeds that they could plant in their yard to support the needed habitat for the Monarchs and for the migrating birds. I suggested that the DNR could answer questions and also have hand-out material about the plants, the Monarchs and the birds. I proposed approaching the business community for the minor amount of funding this might need. I was flatly rejected by every council member, the mayor and the DNR expressed no interest. Just think how far we could have gotten in 16 years and think of where we could be if other communities had gone along. So they crapped on spending a couple of thousand dollars(if that) of donated money once a year on this idea. All they would have had to do was be willing to let us use the parking lot on a Saturday and to just be there and take part. This kind of resistance to positive things goes to show another reason why this metro area lags behind the rest of the country.
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