MEI and MPP meeting

Monarchs in Eastern Iowa members and Muscatine Pollinator Project members met in a "Meet 'n Greet" session on Sunday, March 4th at the East Side Recycling Center in Iowa City.  The purpose of the meeting was to become more familiar with each other's groups and share information.  It was a very informative meeting!

Muscatine Pollinator Project (MPP) is quite an active group.  Among the things they are involved with are teaming with Muscatine Community College greenhouse to grow pollinator plants, working with schools, planting pollinator gardens and developing a 16-acre pollinator prairie in Muscatine, One of their members is a bee man and the group has partnered with a local brewery to produce "Pollinator Ale" out of the honey, from which they receive a portion of the proceeds.  You can read more about the MPP at this Google search link.

Besides MEI members, we also had representatives from The Nature Conservancy-Muscatine Co., a Johnson County Master Gardener associated with Iowa City Monarchs, Naturalists from Muscatine County and Iowa County, and the Environmental Services Manager from Bridgestone Bandag (which has a pollinator garden at their Learning Center).

A good group!

Below are some photos from the meeting, taken by Monarch in Eastern Iowa's volunteer photographer, Larry Long.

Organizers Barb and Patty from MEI, and Dave Cooney from MPP.

We had a good turnout!

Kelly Guilbeau (right), from Milkweed Matters tells about

distributing milkweed seedballs during the RAGBRAI ride.

If you wish to ride with Milkweed Matters this year, click the link!

John Koch, Muscatine Water Resources Manger,

displays signs they had made. 

Mom and son attended because this young boy is

very interested in butterflies.  He is holding a collection

passed down to him from his grandfather.

At the end of the meeting two women who had gone

to Mancheros, Mexico to the J&M Butterfly B&B

presented photos of their adventure to see the

overwintering monarch butterflies clustered in the trees.

Happy 2018

Courtesy of Alice Linhart (MEI member)

As we start this new year, make some plans to help our monarch butterflies.  Plan your pollinator gardens, order seeds and figure out the best time to plant them in pots, or to plant outside, pore over seed catalogs and order plants, update your monarch-rearing containers.  Lots to do!

One thing you might consider is adding YOUR yard to the Monarch Watch Waystation program.  Read about it at
www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/certify.html

Or, you might consider approaching your town council and mayor about taking the Mayor's Monarch Pledge.
www.nwf.org/MayorsMonarchPledge

Think about ways you can help expand knowledge about the plight of the Monarch Butterfly.  Could you give a presentation at your child's school, or a kids' club (girl scouts, boy scouts), or how about an adult club you may belong to or know of ... or for a neighborhood group (get them excited) or at your local library, or church group?

And ...it's not too late to do some Winter Sowing in containers.  Your milkweed will start growing when conditions are right, and you can then transplant them.

Or just take some time to explore monarch butterfly web sites on the internet ... learn learn learn!

Another year down

Thanks to Carla Knutson for this photo of the monarch
butterfly Christmas Tree she and her daughter created
for a festival of trees event.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Monarchs in Eastern Iowa facebook group members have done another WONDERFUL job of raising monarchs from eggs and caterpillars this year.  Although all the numbers may not be in yet, in 2017 they have so far raised and released over 6,100 monarch butterflies to fly south to Mexico to overwinter.  This compares to 6,280 in 2016, 3,075 in 2015 and 972 in 2014, the year we started our group.  So, in all, we've raised nearly 16,500 monarch butterflies!

This doesn't count all the eggs and caterpillars that members have given out to neighbors, organizations and friends to raise.  I think we are doing a fantastic job in our little corner of Iowa!

WINTER SOWING
It is time to think about winter sowing milkweed seeds.  For more information read an old post about winter sowing 

UPCOMING EVENT
Also find out about an upcoming fundraising event, Butterflies, Bees & Brews, Sunday, December 10th,1 to 4 p.m. at Contrary Brewing in Muscatine, put on by our friends, the Muscatine Pollinators group.  Muscatine native James Patchett will be a guest speaker to discuss sustainable rooftop gardens. An admission ticket includes one free drink stub.
Read the article   
Event Page:  Butterflies, bees and brews

FROM MONARCH WATCH - NEED SOME MILKWEED?
The Spring 2018 application is now open for habitat restoration projects located in the Monarch Milkweed Corridor.  This application is for large-scale (two acres or more) native habitat restoration only.  Read about this program

Monarch Watch still has funding for free milkweeds for schools and educational non-profits. This grant is separate from the above restoration grant and allows one free flat per qualified applicant, to be planted in a public garden:  Read about this program