Garden Tour 2015 Announcement

Trip to National Cathedral - Tour and Tea

February General meeting and Monarch Butterfly Program

Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club

General Meeting and Program – February 8

Bring back the butterflies! Join the Garden Club 3-5pm (note time change due to the Winter Farmer’s Market open from 10-2pm at the museum) for an in-depth presentation on Creating Monarch Waystations from renowned naturalist and conservation specialist, Denise Gibbs.  Learn about the state of various species of butterflies and the basics of butterfly gardening.  To get a jump on the spring, we will launch our own conservation project by propagating the native milkweeds that are essential to the monarch life cycle.  

     

Connecting People and Monarchs
Resources Guide for Parks, Nature Centers & Nature Preserves
Compiled by Denise Gibbs, Monarch Conservation Specialist, Monarch Watch, d.gibbs@monarchwatch.org
in cooperation with Monarch Joint Venture and National Recreation & Park Association
Where to purchase milkweed plants
Monarch Watch’s Milkweed Market http://monarchwatch.org/milkweed/market/
(pesticide-free plugs, species native to your ecoregion)
Other milkweed vendors
http://monarchwatch.org/milkweed/market/index.php?function=search&table_name=vendors
State by state: contact your local arboretum and local native plant society for info on native plant sales.
Free milkweed plants for schools and nonprofits
Monarch Watch http://monarchwatch.org/bring-back-the-monarchs/milkweed/free-milkweeds
Where to purchase milkweed seeds
The Xerces Society’s Project Milkweed “Find Sources of Native Milkweed in Your State, Milkweed Seed Finder”
http://www.xerces.org/milkweed/
Monarch Watch’s Monarch Waystation Seed Kit: http://monarchwatch.org/waystations/seed_kit.html
For Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions: Ernst Conservation Seeds http://www.ernstseed.com/
Collecting milkweed seeds
Nicole Hamilton of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy shows you how to remove seeds from the milkweed
seedpod in this YouTube video-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7LV1tDHK1c
Monarch Joint Venture; hand collecting and mechanical harvesting
http://monarchjointventure.org/news-events/news/milkweed-seed-harvesting-and-prairie-restoration
Maryland Native Plant Society’s guidelines for responsible collecting of native plant seeds
http://www.mdflora.org/Resources/Publications/GardenersGuidelines/gguidelines02.pdf
Native Plant Society of Texas, collecting milkweed seeds, with photos showing perfect time for harvesting
seedpods at http://npsot.org/wp/story/2014/5885/
Creative ideas for sowing or broadcasting seeds
Seed balls http://organicgardening.about.com/od/organicgardening101/ht/How-To-Make-Seed-Balls.htm

                          

Save the dates: April 12  Courtyard Gardening Social and Plant Swap                                         May 16  Garden Tour                    June 6 Strawberry Festival                         Visit our Facebook page: Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club