Beautiful April

April is one of the nicest months in the Houston area and this one has started out just fine.  We had a short notice work party at the garden this morning.  Helping and enjoying the Monarchs were Judy R and spouse Richard.  Thank you for your care and love given to the Monarch's.  And Helper #1 certainly appreciated another man to help dig and wheelbarrow the mulch for a change.

Kathleen M joined in this morning with Turk's Cap to plant.  We had purchased 12 bags of garden soil to fill in some of the front berm bed and mulch was added to the all the beds.  Chuck B trimmed the shrubs and fixed the watering system where a couple were leaking and creating a mud hole.

Children are already in the area to hunt the plastic Easter Eggs being set out by parents. I hope they avoid the beds.  It didn't seem to matter that I requested parents not to hide eggs within the beds and to watch for snakes and bees. They were putting them there anyway.  All the beds are looking really good and Spring like!  Lots of caterpillars and Monarch's.

Another first.   We had an inquiry  about the ability to "rent" the garden for some wedding pictures.  They were encouraged to use it as they wish at no charge... but that a donation could be made if they choose.   The garden would be a nice setting for pictures for weddings, proms, birthday, or a Quinceañera celebration also known as "Fiesta de quince años"   (celebration of a young woman turning 15)  See this link for more.    Mercer Arboretum is a very popular venue for such things.

It is very satisfying to see the garden enjoyed by so many people for so many different reasons.

Can't Have Too Many

I've heard it said that one can never be too thin or have too many silk blouses. And if you maintain a butterfly garden you for sure can't have too many milkweed plants.  Monarch lava (caterpillars) are eating machines and they only feed on the leaves of milkweed plants, also known as Butterfly Weed. A few can strip a two foot plant of all its leaves in a couple of days, so keeping the plants replenished in the garden takes some planning and effort.

Here are pictures taken on Friday of seedlings in our greenhouse and of larger plants purchased locally.













 If you look closely at the larger ones you will see they already have caterpillars at work on them as shown in the closeup just below.








Look for the two sets of arrows like this >>>>>>> and <<<<<<<<<<<<

Want to see these guys up close?   I picked these off our plants at home and took them to the park on Saturday afternoon where they can eat their fill without killing our seedlings.

CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS COMING SOON... (The "FANS" are gathering)

        One of the main reasons for the butterfly garden is to serve as a learning tool for children.  The Norchester Garden Club ladies put on programs for day care and home schooled 4 and 5 year olds.  In the last two years 267 kids have gone through and over 108 are scheduled for this spring.   Along with educational stories and games, a simple craft is part of the program.  Here butterfly fans are getting their handles applied.  These will be colored by a child to take home as a memento.

If you have an interest in helping out with these 45 min. programs, drop an email to
matzke.garden@sbcglobal.net

Monarch Update

This from the national Monarch Watch people.  (Reminder.. our garden is a certified Monarch Waystation.

Greetings Monarch Watchers!

Spring seems to have sprung a bit early across the U.S. and we know many of you are anxious to hear how the monarchs fared over the winter in Mexico (we've been anxious too!) - we have that news for you and more this time around so please take a minute to read through this brief newsletter and share it with anyone you think might be interested. We have a number of other projects going right now and we will posting a lot of new information via our blog (http://monarchwatch.org) in the coming months so be sure to check in from time to time :-)

Happy Spring!

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Monarch Population Status
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The size of the overwintering monarch population in Mexico is usually released in late January or February. Early reporting helps all of us plan for the season ahead. Unfortunately, for reasons that are not clear, this report wasn't released to the press until the 15th of March - at the end of the season and a week after the first monarchs from Mexico had made their appearance in Texas.

The total for all colonies, as reported to the press, is 2.89 hectares. There is good news and bad news in this number. The good news is that the population was larger, by almost a hectare, than we expected. The bad news is that this number represents the 4th lowest total for the monarch colonies recorded since the winter of 1994-1995. Further, this population represents a continuation of a trend - the 8th consecutive population below the long term average.

For those interested, we have posted further discussion (with much more detail) via our blog at http://monarchwatch.org/blog

A Fun Project

Here is a very nice publication from Texas A&M that describes vegetable gardening in a container.  This could be a nice project for children, grandchildren, or apartment dwellers.
Just click here.

And stop by the Butterfly Garden when you have a chance.  The Monarchs are starting to show up.

ABCS Celebrates

Today most of the original founders of Association for Better Community Schools (ABCS) met at Matzke Park around the new monument that commemorates their work to save these 20 acres from becoming a strip mall many years ago.  A fine brass plaque tells the story.  Not only was ABCS the major force in saving the park, but ABCS also has been the major player in the creation of the Butterfly Garden and the barrier free playground.  .. ..ABCS...  a small group of dedicated people for whom many others can be thankful.

Thank You Ladies

Georgine F., Kathleen M., Cathy C. and Carol C.
A nice work day in the Garden on Friday.  Two flats of new plants in and lots of weeds out.  There is always more to do.  We are never "done", we just decide when to stop.

Romance in the Garden ?

Well, maybe romance for some at times, but when the task is grubbing out the weeds under the roses and fence.. not so much.  This morning was cool, however, so we "got right to it."... the weeding, that is.

   After four years, we have lost most of the Knock Out roses.  It is obvious now that we have pruned out the dead stuff.  Something besides the drought killed all but two.  Originally, we had alternate plantings of the climbers and the Knock Outs and they were solid along the fence... Now we have obvious gaps, but they will fill in if we can keep the fence up now that it is less protected.

Also after 4 years, our irrigation timer failed sometime in the last few days so we will look into a replacement off the internet.  Some hand watering may be needed over the next few weeks if you happen to be visiting the garden.