Reuse, Recycle, Renew, Repurpose from A to Z

Our secretary, Mickey Fraser, gave us an outstanding presentation on recycling from A to Z.  There isn't a letter of the alphabet that she can't cover.  Unfortunately, an hour was not enough time to get through all the ideas she had.  Her presentation will be posted soon.

Dianne told the members about the dangers of microplastics, tiny beads of plastic that are too small to be filtered out by water sanitation facilities.  These microplastics our found in our oceans (and drinking water) and pollute it and the creatures living in it, to their (and our) detriment.  September was microplastics awareness month at IFAS UF.  Be aware by looking at the ingredients in the products you buy, from toothpaste to body scrub.  If you see polyethelene in the list, do not buy the product.  Dianne brought two tubes of toothpaste in, one with and one without the ingredient.  The "named" brand was the one WITH polyethylene.  Bottom line:  read the labels.

And switch to an environmentally-friendly cat litter.  Healthier for you, the cat, and the environment.

On the Wing: The Great Monarch Migration Begins!

Catch up on how North American monarchs spent their summer vacation.  They are officially in migration mode, which means anybody along their flight path should have the "table prepared" for these hungry long-distance fliers.  That means plenty of nectar-laden plants.  Right now, the emphasis is not so much on finding milkweed on which to lay their eggs, as it is to consume enough fuel to finish the journey to Mexico's wintering grounds.  Click the map image to the left to see the summer and fall monarch sightings recorded at The Journey North's Monarch site.
 
Monarch News July 2016 -  It's peak breeding season and the monarchs that will soon hatch are the children of the returning migrating monarch, that will soon die.  These children will have children and grandchildren, and finally their great grandchildren (born after mid-August) will be the long distance travelers who will head out for Mexico in the fall.  Of course, almost none of our Florida monarchs will take that long journey.

Monarch News August 2016 - In  mid-August the "traveling generation" is born.  How do they "know" when to leave, and how is this generation physiologically prepared to travel rather than to breed? 

Monarch Migration News September 2016 - Monarchs in Canada have started the long journey south.  This is the generation that will do the entire flight across the US, overwinter in Mexico, then begin the northward journey to look for places to breed with milkweed to lay their eggs on before they die.  As they stop to nectar along this journey, observers are waiting for the tagged individuals to show up.  By tracking where each butterfly lands, scientists hope to gain a complete picture of this remarkable migration feat! 

Monarchs in our area do not generally join this great migration.  We can expect to see them here for at least the next two months.  In mid-October, however, consider cutting back your tropical milkweed, which will not die back on its own just yet, to encourage them to move south to warmer grounds.

If You Have a Garden and a Library, You Have Everything You Need

Our article, "A Garden and a Library for Garden Week." quotes the ancient Roman philosopher and political figure, Marcus Cicero, who declared, "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."   The Garden Club of Switzerland will be at the Bartram Trail Library from 11-3 on 6/8 and 6/9 to prove the truth of that old saying.   See our list of Nearby Gardens and Local Resources to better enjoy nature and gardening this summer.

Nearby Gardens
Get out and take in some nature and learn about Florida's unique environment.  Here are some nearby locations you can enjoy with friends, family, out-of-town-guests, or all by yourself:

In Duval County:

• The Jacksonville Zoo, 
• The Museum of Science and History,
• The Cummer, 

 In St, Johns County:

• Alpine Groves County Park
• Bird Island Park
• GTM Research Estuary 
• County Cooperative Extension Center/IFAS Demonstration Gardens & Arboretum

Further South:

• Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
• Leu Gardens
• Florida Federation of Garden Clubs
• Florida Museum of Natural History

Local Resources

We'll be featuring our "Best Books" from the St. Johns County Library System on the Bartram Trail Reading Shelf the week of 6/6-6/11.  The books we'll feature, along with other informative and enjoyable reading lists are below:

• Best Library Picks for Everyone (Grouped by Age and Category)
• Summer Reading and Resources for Adults
• Summer Reading and Projects for Young Persons (Grouped by Age and Category)
• Free Gardening Resources in St. Johns County

Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil.

Free Gardening Resources in St. Johns County

Need help with a gardening question or looking for new ideas to brighten the landscape?  Check out these books available in the St. Johns County Library System.  If the book is not housed at your local library you can have it sent to that location using the county interlibrary loan system :

1.   Florida, my Eden / by Frederic B. Stresau.

2.   Your Florida garden / John V. Watkins and Herbert S. Wolfe.

3.   Florida gardening : the newcomer's survival manual / by Monica Moran Brandies.

4.   Landscaping for Florida's wildlife : re-creating native ecosystems in your yard / Joe Schaefer and George Tanner.

5.   Native Florida plants : low-maintenance landscaping and gardening / Robert G. Haehle, Joan Brookwell.

6.   Florida yards and neighborhoods handbook : a guide to environmentally friendly landscaping / Edited by Christine Kelly-Begazo and Rebecca McNair.

7.   Your Florida landscape : a complete guide to planting and maintenance : trees, palms, shrubs, ground covers and vines / edited by Robert J. Black, Kathleen C. Ruppert.

8.   The Florida gardener's book of lists / Lois Trigg Chaplin and Monica Moran Brandies.

9.   Natural Florida landscaping / Dan Walton and Laurel Schiller.

In addition to library books, you can use the free or low-cost horticultural resources from the St. Johns County Extension Center of the University of Florida, including Master Gardener Plant Clinics, the monthly Horticultural Newsletter, classes, and events.  Open the PDF document, Help for Gardening and Landscaping Questions to read about these resources and to locate helpful websites, including the UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) website, www.solutionsforyourlife.com.

The Monarch's Fate is in Our Hands

Our monarchs are short-trippers, not long haul travelers

Our Monarch Committee held a meeting last month to discuss plans for supporting the monarch species that we felt by this time should have been declared endangered.  A report from monarch advocacy and scientist groups is below.    While there is little we can do to make the wheels of government turn more quickly, there is much we can do as individuals to protect the monarch in its Florida habitat.  Our efforts last year were only the start.  See what you can do to give pollinators a fighting chance for survival. And thanks to Carolyn for the photo here.

We plan to continue the effort to support monarch waystations at Alpine Groves, Trout Creek, and Saturiwa.  We will be at the Bartram Bash, Saturday, April 23 at Alpine Groves.  And we will have a presence at the Bartram Trail Library the first week in June during National Garden Club Week to raise awareness for the need to support monarchs and all our local pollinators.  Check back with us in mid-April for the date!

National News on the Efforts to Save Our Monarchs

• Just when it was announced that monarch numbers were up

• An unusually severe late-winter storm decimated the monarchs just before they would have begun migrating

• The US Fish and Wildlife service failed to issue its scheduled finding on monarch endangered species status and was served with a lawsuit for their inaction

On February 26, the survey of monarch numbers was announced:  the population has rebounded to 68 percent of its recent 22-average.  While this is encouraging news, the numbers it still represents a decline of 78 percent from the population highs of the mid-1990s.  The species must reach a much larger population size to be resilient to threats posed by its ever-increasing habitat loss and increasing weather anomalies influenced by climate change.  In January, instead of issuing a finding on the status of monarchs under the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, the US Fish and Wildlife  Service  announced that it will provide a total of $3.2 million to support monarch conservation projects.  According to Tierra Curry, Senior Scientist for the Center for Biological Diversity, "... it isn’t even enough to restore 1 percent of the habitat that’s been lost."  --  back  --

The delay in issuing a formal finding regarding the monarchs' status as an endangered species resulted in the filing of a lawsuit on March 10, 2016 by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Food Safety charging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failure to issue a finding within the required-12-month period . See:  Lawsuit Launched for Endangered Species Act Protection of Monarch Butterflies  --  back  --

As for the encouraging news in February of monarch populations rebounding, the severe weather typical of this year's strong El Niño took its toll shortly after the lawsuit was filed.  See the reports on monarchs and the weather in their wintering grounds in Mexico:

Journey North 3/10:  Monarchs Start to Leave Mexico for the US.

Journey North 3/11:  Strong Storm Hits Monarch Sanctuary

Journey North 3/15:  Monarch News: Impact of Storm in Mexico

Journey North 3/20:  Letter from the El Rosario Sanctuary

Journey North 3/22:  Likely Storm Mortality in Mexico

Journey North 4/7:  Storm Survivors Arrive in Texas on Tattered Wings

It may be more important now than ever to preserve the monarchs in Florida as potential sources to repopulate the mid-west species.  --  back  --

Photo from Letter from Estrela, Journey North

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E-Cycling is the New Recycling

Recycle your electronics!  Here's how to e-Recycle.

Monarchs in Mexico

We in this area are noticing signs of spring: earlier sunrises, birds singing, and, of course, warmer temperatures. It will be several weeks before we'll begin to see monarchs arriving. If you are curious about what they do in their absence, consider subscribing to Journey North, a website dedicated to tracking and understanding the many animal species that migrate, including monarch butterflies. When you go to their website, hosted by the Annenberg Learning Foundation, you can select the animals of interest to you, such as the monarch. You can also register with Journey North to be able to post your sightings of migrating animals and to have emails highlighting various migrating animals sent to you. Recently the emails they've sent have detailed the monarchs' amazing overwintering activities in Mexico and the challenges they face from loss of habitat there.

• Monarch Migration News, February 18, 2016 
• Monarch Migration News, February 11, 2016

Generally, the monarchs living south of the Florida Panhandle overwinter in south Florida and the Caribbean. However, the majority of the mid-western US and Canadian monarchs travel enormous distances to their winter destination in the Michoacan region of Mexico. Most of the area they reside in has been an official Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve since 2008. Despite the area being protected by law, pervasive illegal logging of the pine and fir trees that shelter monarchs between December and February continues to reduce their habitat. The fact that the monarchs can survive the frigid temperatures of some of the highest mountains in Mexico is due to the unique microclimate those forests create.  In the driest and coldest of Mexico's seasons, the trees shelter the butterflies from the worst of the cold, and the morning winds bring clouds of moisture to keep the monarchs hydrated.  In addition to the protections afforded by the climate, the monarch has it's own remarkable survival adaptations to potentially fatal cold.  If you are interested in learning more about these amazing facts, please take a few minutes to read the Migration News links above.