How you can help rescue monarchs butterflies
Looking for a quick family friendly Make A Difference Day project?
How about organizing a family, "Seeds for Survival Scavenger Hunt?" Take an hour or so on Make A Difference Day, Saturday, Oct. 25, to collect butterfly friendly seeds. Native plant seeds that you collect are critical to the survival of endangered monarch butterflies and other pollinators, such as hummingbirds, butterflies and honey bees.
Look for collect purple and yellow coneflower seeds, black-eyed Susans, common milkweed, butterfly weed, coreopsis, and bergamot. On the herb side, swallowtails love dill and parsley; spread those seeds in your own sunny flower beds.
On Make A Difference Day, bring these seeds to one of the following drop-off locations. Place the seeds, or seed pods, in dry, clearly labeled envelopes or paper bags (not plastic).
• Friendship Park Conservatory, Mount Prospect Park District, 395 Algonquin Road, Des Plaines. Drop-off time: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Master Gardeners will be on hand to collect the seeds you gathered. They can answer your butterfly gardening and monarch rescue questions as well as specific gardening questions that have been "bugging" you. Learn about establishing a certified butterfly garden. Milkweed seeds will be grown right in the greenhouse.
• Spring Valley Nature Center, Schaumburg Park District, 1111 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg. Drop-off time: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Master Gardeners will collect the seeds you gathered. They are available to answer your butterfly gardening and Monarch rescue questions. Bring your specific gardening questions or ask how your family can grow a certified butterfly garden.
Schaumburg Community Garden Club members will also be on site to point out the butterfly friendly plants growing at the center. If you come prepared with gloves, shopping bags and pruning sheers, they may also be able to direct you to collecting areas for your family's, "Seeds for Survival" scavenger hunt.
For inspiration, visit www.monarchwatch.org or www.pollinator.org.