New Butterfly Gardening Club
 

New place, day and time

The new Butterfly Garden Club has landed and its "official" meeting place is:

Fish Hawk
Third Friday of the Month
2pm - 4pm

Hey, I'm so up for this, I'll get us a rec center if you want me to.
Go Monarchs!
Kitty
south of 466A.
pps: road trip to Gainesville butterfly museum!

Nice... I'll keep an eye out for this

count me in. I had my back yard in my cyv planted with plants for butterflies and pollinators.

Please count me in, too.

I'm in as well. Have been working on this in my yard as well.

Butterfly garden club
 

I am not organizing this. Someone else is in charge. Heard it from the garden club at Mulberry. If I find out anything else will pass it on

I belong to several butterfly forums The Monarch butterflies are really hurting this year. Numbers are way down in Mexico. If this keeps up the Monarchs may be gone by 2050. They are major pollinators. What is happening? Other pollinators hurting also - bees, moths, bats. Other butterfly species are also hurting.

Just left my message with Fred Funk to join the club. So excited to think this will happen...
Thanks everyone for working on the possibility.

I am going to start Master Gardener classes 2/12 and will ask UF's smart ones what is going on with monarchs. I had several visit my milkweeds last year but no hatches...

Monarchs
 

Monarchs are very hard to raise in Florida. There are several diseases that they can get. I know if one butterfly breeder who won't raise them as it is not worth the effort. If any spraying was done nearby that affects them. Also you may have see the wasps patrolling the milkweed and wasps take the baby caterpillars back to their young. The anoles eat them or the eggs and it goes on from there. Best thing is to raise them and protect the monarchs from predators but still problems with disease. Hard to trust any milkweed bought in stores as spray free

After frost I plan on cutting the milkweed down to ground. That way growth refreshes and plant grows fuller

Butterfly club meets third Thursday of each month at Canal Street Rec Ctr from 2-4

Off to a Great Start!
 

What a smashing start for this club. Thanks so much to the organizers. I counted 57 people. Here's a photograph. The program was fantastically varied and allowed several of our veteran lepidopter-o-philes to share their expertise.

Thanks for posting!

Butterfly club meeting this Thursday at Canal Street Rec Ctr from 2-4

There is a big movement from Monarch Watch to plant milkweed across the U.S. Without milkweed there will not be any Monarchs. Migration to Mexico was way done this last season. Would like a source for buying milkweed other than Lowe's or Home Depot and something other than Tropical Milkweed.

I have milkweed if anyone needs some.