Monarch Waystation Garden:
a look back at our first year

Background:

One of our frequent speakers, the extension agent from a nearby part of the UMD system, sent us the details about a possible Monarch Alliance grant to establish a Monarch Waystation Garden for our community. We saw it as a way to develop not only a community resource but also enable us to improve our individual knowledge bases, skill sets and home landscapes. A team of 3 members -- Lucy Williams, Kathy Huey and Judy Snyder -- were put together and partnerships were developed with Potomac Valley Properties (PVP), owner of The Woods, and WHOA, the homeowners' association. It took Judy about 3 weeks to write the grant and develop the garden map, deciding which plants to ask for in what quantities and where they should be planted within the garden. The grant consists of a plant voucher for native plants which will form the butterfly habitat The club will provide the funds for the infrastructure and development of the garden from a fundraiser in July.

On February 1, 2022 we were informed of the success of our application and planning began in earnest. After a visit from Miss Utility and a conversation with the head of the Berkeley County Water system, we determined that the initial location would have to moved about 20' to avoid a water main line. A new garden plan, using the same plants requested, was developed since the new site configuration was a little different.

Early preparation work:

In early March, PVP staff assisted us by removing the existing ornamental grass and sod. Mulch was obtained from the Grapevine Recycling center and local recycling volunteers and members assisted with the collection of newsprint and cardboard to create a weed barrier. A work party on March 26 tilled the area, amended the soil with 20 bags of conditioner and laid down the natural weed barrier, covering all with 3 cu yards of mulch. Over 25 members and community volunteers supported this effort.

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A new 325-gallon rain water storage tank was purchased and installed at the site and we added a trellis and two clematis plants for beautification when we did our planting.

The planting of over 500 plants, almost all native to this area, was the weekend of June 3-5. The Monarch Alliance provided 322 of the plants while the rest were donated by members. Over the course of the installation, we had 36 volunteers (representing 22 individuals since some came on multiple days) and over 200 hours of work. Members were joined by several volunteers from the community.

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Thanks to Dan Tabler for the aerial photos!

Watering and reapplying deer repellant treatments will be ongoing tasks but we'll be happy to see our garden grow over the months ahead. Members can volunteer for monitoring the garden by using the Signup Genius app: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0544a5ae2da4fc1-monarch.

At the two-week point, more plants are blooming and we've added permanent plant labels in the garden.

We are proud to announce that the Cacapon Institute has awarded us a grant to pay for the purchase and installation of our rain barrel! 'Also we are working on an anonymous donation in order to buy a bench to install so visitors might stay and enjoy the garden. Stay tuned!

On July 2, the club hosted a Woods Garden Tour, to raise money to support our garden. As one of the tour stops, we answered questions and provided lots of handouts, pollinator flower seeds and cute little butterfly snacks made with goldfish crackers, sandwich bags and pipe-cleaners. We also installed the official Monarch Alliance Waystation Garden sign.

We've planted some coneflowers at the garden and are planning other additions soon. Our first documented Monarch butterfly sighting (with photo) was taken this morning August 4th by Lucy Williams. Thanks Lucy!

As of August 31, the garden continues to grow and fall blooming has started. Here is an aerial shot, courtesy of Dan Tabler, of the garden after three months growth. A park bench has been installed by Randy Wishmyer so there is an added incentive to visit and soak it all in! The bench cost was donated by an anonymous community donor.

Monarch Mania 2022!

On September 24, 2022 we hosted our first public event at the garden -- free activities for kids ages 3-18 and their parents and grandparents. There were four stations, each with at least one activity that related to Monarchs or various aspects of our pollinator garden. A highlight was the planting of over 100 crocus bulbs by the children and adults in attendance. Many were marked with a tag with the name of the planter. We sponsored a "first sighting contest" to encourage them to check the garden through the late winter and early spring, in order to be the first to see a crocus emerge in the garden. We offered a nice prize for the winner.

We were visited by several Monarchs who stayed around supervising before heading south on their journey to winter in Mexico.

Photos from Monarch Mania 2022!

Throughout October, our garden was still looking gorgeous with many fall blooming plants showing off. Since the garden is adjacent to the location where the Trunk or Treat activity for kids was held, Lucy decorated the garden for Halloween and Patti and Brian, Lucy and Pat represented the club at the event.

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Spring Crocus Sighting -- Contest Winners Announced

The Warpinski brothers were the first to document the blooming of the crocus bulbs in the Monarch Garden on February 19th. They won a pollinator garden kit, complete with soil and compost, available at Pollinator's Picnic in early June.

Pollinators' Picnic - June 3, 2023

We planned another free family event, Pollinators' Picnic, in the spring to encourage kids and families to start or add-to their own pollinator garden.

With the assistance of Colonial Farm Nursery who geminated various native plant seeds that we bought online, we provided pollinator garden kits for the nominal donation of $10. Each contained a fabric 30 gallon grow bag, 8 native plants, 6 packets of seeds, and various resource materials that we developed. We also had individual plants for a nominal donation and gave away free packets of seeds.

Kids, whether they got a garden kit or not, could choose from among various accessory kits for the garden: Butterfly Puddler, Bee Waterer, Mason Bee House, Insect Sampling Tool, Sunflower Garden Decoration (with seeds), Butterfly/ Bird Buffet (an easy feeder), and How to Make Seed Bombs, These free kits contained most or all of the materials needed to make the project.

In addition, we invited outside groups to have an exhibit: the pre-teen beekeepers from Honey Moon Apiary; Becky Guthrie from Monarch Alliance; Melanie Files and Rick Lowman, Master Composters; and Ken and Maryann Valcourt from the Woods recycling group who played a garbage bag game with attendees -- everyone getting a prize.

If you would like more information about activities open to the community at the garden, please fill out this interest form and we will send you more information when available.