Marvelously Made is now an official Monarch Waystation! After hosting dozens of monarchs this fall, the children are excited that our habitat is now included in the World Monarch Waystation Registry. A plaque will be displayed in our garden.
We are contributing to the preservation of Monarchs and the continuation of their spectactular migration.
Monarch migration is one of the world’s greatest natural wonders. Each fall, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to twelve mountain areas in central Mexico. The majority fly east of the Rocky Mountains on a path through Texas.
A monarch has the astounding ability to find the same Oyamel fir tree where generations before it spent their winters! Unfortunately, this amazing phenomenon is in danger.
In the US. Development is consuming habitats at a rate of 6,000 acres a day. In order to survive, they need milkweed to feed larvae and energy sources for adults. They found that in abundance at Marvelously Made this year!
We recently cut back our tropical milkweed to prevent the butterflies from continuing to breed here, increasing their susceptibility to disease. This discussion lead to wondering about native milkweeds.
So our monarch adventure continues as we begin to experiment with different types of native milkweed seeds. Older children will work on stratification of seeds over the Winter to get them ready for Spring planting.
So much wonder. So much learning. So much fun.