Protecting Our Pollinators!

Our program year begins this month, and we're looking forward to an autumn filled with exciting field trips and enjoyable events.  See what's ahead by browsing our Events and Calendar page posting, "Hittin' the Road October and November."

But don't think we've been on vacation this summer!  Our pollinators are in trouble.  So much trouble that one species, the American monarch butterfly, may be listed as an endangered species by the end of this year.  Our Monarch Committee was busy this summer learning about butterflies, contributing to the general store of knowledge about them, and providing native milkweed habitat for the monarch in particular.

In June we held our first butterfly count in Alpine Groves Park as part of the NABA 4th of July Butterfly Count.  We published our adventure, Butterflies Count, in the local Creekline, and wrote a follow-up article, How High Does the Swallowtail Fly? for the August edition on how to identify the butterflies commonly found in this area of the county.  Our companion posting at this website, Butterflies, Our Blog, and a Full Moon, features a slideshow of the butterflies that call our Freedom Butterfly Garden home.

In the meantime we were scouting all available sources for native milkweed in order to create Monarch Waystations to support the monarch's life cycle.  In July we finally hit paydirt:  white aquatic milkweed (aesclepias perennis).  The article, "Monarchs on the Brink," in the September 2015 edition of the Creekline describes where and how we established these native milkweed at Trout Creek Recreation Center and at a longleaf pine farm and conservancy near Racey Point, Saturiwa.  Summer camps were still running at Trout Creek and we partnered with the county Master Naturalist, Ayolane Halusky, to explain the importance of native milkweed to monarch caterpillars.   Many of the children not only knew about the monarch butterfly lifecycle, but were also aware of its precariously low population numbers.   We were able to show them some very happy caterpillars lunching away on the milkweed we'd installed!

To find out more about Monarch Waystations and the great "Native vs. Tropical Milkweed" debate, click the More link below.

Native milkweed is, however, only one component of a complete Monarch Waystation:  a site that supports the monarch's entire lifecycle needs.  The concept of a Monarch Waystation as described at:   www.monarchwatch.org/waystations.  Thanks to our garden club member, Mickey Fraser, who turned her own yard into a Monarch Waystation and got the rest of us engaged in this effort.  Our posting "Support Your Local Monarchs," features many resources that will help you understand the monarch lifecycle and the challenges monarchs (and other pollinators) face, from loss of habitat to use of pesticides.   Buying pollinator-friendly pesticide-free plants, especially native varieties helps get the message back to our commercial growers that we consumers are putting our dollars where our values are.  Earlier this year we achieved certification for our Freedom Butterfly Garden as a Monarch Waystation.  One garden at a time, we're getting there!   And the National Garden Clubs is giving affiliated clubs a helping hand.  See their Million Pollinator Garden Challenge page.

TO DATE, NATIVE MILKWEED IS HARD TO COME BY.  THE TROPICAL VARIETY CAN SERVE AS A LARVAL HOST FOOD, BUT MUST BE CUT BACK IN LATE SEPTEMBER.   Studies by the Royal Society Scientific Community and scientists such as Jaret Daniels of the University of Florida have implicated tropical milkweed, as a possible vector in the transmission of pathogens in winter-breeding monarchs.  Tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, is not native to northern Florida, however, it can survive right through January in our region.  When native milkweed dies back in the fall, the tropical variety persists, and it is susceptible to infestation by the protozoan pathogen, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE).  This microorganism can infect monarch eggs and caterpillars that feed on compromised tropical milkweed.  It shows up in the adult butterfly causing severe wing deformations that not only shorten the animal's lifespan, but can possibly be passed along to the eggs or the milkweed and infect subsequent generations of monarchs.  Native milkweed naturally dies back when the weather is cooler.  With no more milkweed, monarchs will migrate to healthier locations, or at least stop breeding until the weather warms and new healthy milkweed grows again.  This response prevents the spread of the disease, ensuring a healthy lifecycle for monarchs.  If you are unable to obtain the preferred native plants, be conscientious about cutting tropical milkweed right down to the ground in the fall!

Remember to check out the events we have lined up this fall at our Calendar and Events page.  And note that District IV is offering the Environmental Studies School Course II, "The Living Earth Land & Related Issues" to be held September 23 & 24, 2015 at the Garden Club of Jacksonville, 1005 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, FL. The public is welcome to register.  Registration by September 15 is required. Please download the course registration form for information.