By Todd Von Ehwegen, Conservation Education Manager
Lime Creek Nature Center
The Lime Creek Nature Center’s Monarch Mania program was initiated in 2015 to call attention to the plight of pollinators and stir local action to create pollinator habitat. The program is funded by the Maxine Sanberg Memorial Fund.
Over the past three years the program has funded the planting of eleven pollinator gardens and prairie seedings at several schools and non-profit organizations. These plantings consist of native flowers that once grew throughout Iowa’s vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem. A recent tour of some of these gardens demonstrated just how effective prairie flowers are at creating habitat for pollinators.
Our first stop was at Garner-Hayfield-Ventura Intermediate School in Ventura. Only in its second year, this garden was exploding with growth and color. Located on the south side of the school, it is a great one to visit for anyone wanting to see the beauty and variety that native prairie plants provide in a garden setting.
Another second year garden at the Alternative High School in Mason City was our next stop. This is a combination rain and pollinator garden. In addition to plants attractive to pollinators, students planted a variety of moisture-loving plants as well. The plants are thriving on this low spot on school grounds that fills with water after a rain, providing a wet environment that the plants love, and allowing it to soak in slowly which helps reduce flooding. Nectaring butterflies and munching caterpillars were proof positive that this garden is providing critical monarch habitat after only two years.
A visit to three elementary school gardens in Mason City provided more positive pollinator sightings. Harding, Hoover, and Roosevelt schools each have a garden in their enclosed courtyards; and all three of the colorful gardens were thriving and full of bees and butterflies. An interesting observation I made at one of the schools that also had non-native flowers in their courtyard was that all of the pollinators were swarming on the native plants – but there were none on the non-natives. What a testament to the value of NATIVE species to our bees and butterflies!
Our final stops on the tour were at new gardens that were planted this spring.
Students and staff at Lincoln Intermediate School planted a pollinator garden with 268 plants of twenty four species; Newman Catholic School planted a pollinator garden with 343 plants of twenty four species; and the IOOF Home in Mason City planted a pollinator garden with 122 plants of 14 species. All of these gardens were thriving with some of the plants blooming in their first year of growth.
It is not difficult to get your own pollinator garden started at home or on the farm. To find out how, visit our website at: http://www.monarchmania.com.
A fun component of the program is the option to register your garden on our website and receive an attractive sign to post there. Be sure to check out all the pictures of the awesome gardens people have posted; then register your own garden to help us reach our goal of 150 gardens by the end of 2018!
It is very rewarding to create a pollinator garden and watch it grow and fill with bees, butterflies, and caterpillars. And what a great project for children – they will love watching the plants grow and the pollinators buzzing around the garden!
If you already have a garden, perhaps all it needs is a few more species of flowers, or some milkweeds, to make it even more effective in providing habitat for pollinators. Find out how at the Monarch Mania website, or give us a call at 641-423-5309.
