HEARTWOOD CHAPTER

March signals the return of warmer temperatures and the Monarchs return to Texas from wintering grounds in Mexico.  Coastal and Texas wintering surviving Monarchs will also start looking for Milkweed to lay eggs.

Currently in Houston, Monarchs are being seen throughout a wide area.   If you have milkweed, you most likely will have eggs or soon see eggs.

Naturalists, Gardeners, Teachers are reporting sightings of Monarchs and eggs on their milkweed.   See Journey North mentioned below to find how to see the map of migration.

Many garden centers now have milkweed available for purchase.  Most likely what you will find is called butterfly weed.   This milkweed most commonly found commercially is Tropical Milkweed.   You may see this milkweed called by several names.   The scientific name is Asclepias Currassivica.   You may find a several different colors of Tropical milkweed,  scarlet, orange, white or golden.    They may be called different names which can be confusing.  Tropically Milkweed is by far the easiest milkweed to grow from seed, cuttings or plants.

Native Texas milkweed is trickier to start and I will continue discussion of these natives in future Monarch Butterfly Talk editions.

Great citizen science projects which are easiest to get involved with are:

1.  Journey North -    teachers, gardeners, naturalists post their sightings to this site.

     http://www.journeynorth.org/

2.   Monarch Watch -   sponsored by University of Kansas,  Monarch waystations, fall tagging

      www.monarchwatch.org

In future Monarch Talk episodes,  I'll explain the importance in more detail of each of the citizen science programs involving Monarchs.

The Monarch migration is an awesome thing.   This migration is something which is in danger of being lost due to habitat loss, pesticide use, harsh weather conditions, etc...

Please help the Monarch by planting milkweed in your garden/yard and become involved in one of the citizen science projects.

The citizen science projects mentioned here count as Texas Master Naturalist volunteer hours.

Linda Currie - Texas Master Naturalist - Heartwood Chapter