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Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

  • 1.  Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-02-2021 12:54:00 PM
    Hello! I have a butterfly garden issue. Hopefully some of you have a solution.
    We have a raised bed system on one side of our school.

    One bed is for pollinators. Our focus is on butterflies.  (I love bees too, the bosses not so much.) Anyway, we get lots of monarch larvae/caterpillars, but lose so many of them crawling away to find a place to pupate. Some get squished on the sidewalk by distracted students. 

    I have a fairly tall butterfly 'cage' from Amazon for demos but I don't want that to take the place of Mother Nature. Any suggestions on how I can encourage the caterpillars to stay in/near the bed? Thanks to all!

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    Dianna Rose
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  • 2.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-03-2021 11:02:00 AM

    Hi Dianna, how wonderful that you get so many caterpillars on your milkweed! I've seen caterpillars travel several yards away from the plant to pupate. My suggestion is to plant the milkweed in a more remote location, away from the student pathways,  where the kids can go see them but the caterpillars can find safety. Either that or collect them as they get ready to pupate and place them in the butterfly cage. Reminder to plant native milkweed rather than the tropical variety. Here in CA we have to cut the tropical all the way back in winter to protect the caterpillars from OE.  Also, please be sure to ask the nursery manager when buying plants for pollinators if the plants have been treated with pesticides, more specifically neonics, (many if not most will have been, even milkweed!)



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    Peggy Kenney
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-03-2021 03:04:00 PM
    Hi Peggy & Dianna,

    I have a question that is butterfly garden-related, please. Would love some ideas from the community on a cool craft to do with kids ranging in age from 3 years - 12 years old to accompany my lesson on pollinators. Any and all suggestions are most welcome. Thanks so much, Laura NY

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    Laura Finn
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-04-2021 09:28:00 AM
    HI - Its not so much a craft, but a very quick experiment to make a model of a pollinator.  You could use pipe cleaner, or a popsicle stick and then glue a cotton ball to the end of either.  Get two paper plates. Put sand in one,leave other empty and dip the pollinator model into the sand, then shake the sand off to show how a pollinator collects pollen from one flower and dispurses it to the next. You could make it a pretty model by adding construction paper wings or use tissue paper for wings:)
    Good luck

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    [Lynne] [Bussott] [Teacher/Club Director]
    [Summer Garden Club Director]
    [Swedesboro Woolwich Schools]
    [Woolwich] [NJ]
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-04-2021 11:06:00 AM
    That is such a great idea, Lynne, thank you! We could make a pollinator out of the paper plate & tissue paper first (the craft part you suggested) and then do the experiment. I love it. That's perfect for the kids of all ages in my group. Thank you again, Laura

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    Laura Finn
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-05-2021 10:05:00 AM
    Hi,
    Here are a couple of things we do with kids who come to our site on field trips. Feel free to steal them if they are of interest.  

    For the littlest people -- a pollinator life cycle plate.  Divide a paper plate into 4 sections. First section is the egg, so you will need to glue a piece of rice to a cut our green leaf. Second is the larva, so color a piece of rotini pasta like a monarch caterpillar and glue it to the plate.
    Third stage is chrysalis, so color a piece of small shell pasta green and glue it to the plate. 
    Fourth stage is butterfly, so color a piece of farfalle pasta black and orange and glue it to the plate. 

    Pollinator relay -- this works well with the 3rd through 5th grades.  
    Supplies: brown and yellow striped vest or pinnie (honeybees); black and yellow striped vest or pinnie (bumblebees); 2 "hives" (small plastic baskets), 2 yellow silk flowers attached to 2 small plastic baskets, 2 red silk flowers attached to 2 small plastic baskets; 30 small yellow pompons (about 1-2" in diameter); 30 small orange pompons.
    Setup:  Place a hive for each bee team (2) in a location where they can line up behind the hive -- place the vest in the hive; Place the yellow flower baskets in line with the hives (1 for each bee team) about 20 feet from the hives -- drop 15 yellow pompons in each basket; place the red flower baskets about 20 feet beyond the yellow ones, add 15 orange pompons to each basket. 
    Play: Divide the group equally between honeybees and bumblebees. The first bee in line behind their designated hive puts on the vest. the bee will run to his/her yellow flower and pick up a single pompon, then run to the red flower and drop it off while picking up an orange pompon. The bee will run back to his/her hive and drop off the orange pollen, remove the vest, and hand it off to the next bee to put on and repeat the procedure. The hive with the most pollen in their hive when every bee has had a turn wins. 


    --
    Michelle Zupan
    Curator 
    Hickory Hill & the Tom Watson Birthplace
    502 Hickory Hill Drive
    Thomson, GA  30824
    706-595-7777
    FAX: 706-595-7177

    Visit us at www.hickory-hill.org or on Facebook.
    Follow us on Twitter: HHEducation

    Historic homes of the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc. 






    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-04-2021 10:07:00 PM
    Hi Laura-

    You might want to check out the Pollinator Patch Program that KidsGardening put together with Cabot for some quick and easy pollinator activity ideas. You can download it and find out more at: https://www.cabotcheese.coop/pollinator-patch/.


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    Sarah Pounders
    Senior Education Specialist
    KidsGardening
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-04-2021 10:56:00 PM
    Hi Laura, I did something similar to what Dianna did with the sand though we used different colors of glitter. We drew the flower on a paper plate, labeled the flower parts, generously  coated the stamens with glue sticks, then had the kids place the plates all over the garden and go to each "flower" and pollinate with their glitter, having them touch the glue as they did so that their fingers picked up the different colors of glitter to mimic pollen. Could use a Q-tip rather than fingers too ��
    Anyway, the kids had fun seeing all the various colors of "pollen" and took home a pretty flower paper plate too.
    I've seen some ideas on Pinterest using Cheetos..
    I'm going to check out Sarahs suggestion as well, I'm sure there will be some great ideas there!

    Peggy



    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-05-2021 07:01:00 PM
    We did a very simple preschool craft. Take a coffee filter. Have children color filter using colorful markers. Then spray or mist with water. It will be like a tie-dye butterfly. Use a pipe cleaner and twist to form antennae or use a clothespin as the body- add googly eyes or add color for eyes.

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    Doris Ing
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-06-2021 11:39:00 AM
    On the flip side, you can talk about how flowers communicate and encourage the kiddos to build their own flower using some of the flower strategies. Different shaped, colored and sized flowers are meant to attract different pollinators. Then you can add the flower anatomy as a scaffold for older builders.  Materials can be pretty simple to accomplish this, scrap paper, chenille sticks, pony beads, markers, etc. The project can be very open ended.

    It is fun to watch the kiddos come up with unique designs!

    Example:

    Bullseye Pattern 

    • The color change tells pollinators that there is nectar in the flower 

    Spots Pattern 

    • This tells pollinators to follow the spots to the flower's nectar 

    Flaring Petals 

    • These petals are a great place for insects to land 

    Stripe Patterns 

    • This tells pollinators to follow the stripes to the flower's nectar 

    More resources
    https://www.foxleas.com/flower-shapes.asp
    https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/Plant_Strategies/visualcues.shtml
    https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/80-attracting-pollinators

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    Chelsey Bardgett
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-09-2021 01:14:00 PM
    Thank you Michelle, Sarah, Chelsea, Doris &  Peggy. So many great ideas. I appreciate everyone's awesome suggestions. You've pollinated my brain with excellent gardening ideas. :)

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    Laura Finn
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-05-2021 10:08:00 AM
    Hi Dianna,

    The monarch larvae are trying to keep from being cannibalized in their chrysalids by other voracious monarch larvae, so they want to get as far away as possible from the milkweed.  You can either put fine mesh netting around the entire raised bed or move the milkweed to a less trafficked area.  

    --
    Michelle Zupan
    Curator 
    Hickory Hill & the Tom Watson Birthplace
    502 Hickory Hill Drive
    Thomson, GA  30824
    706-595-7777
    FAX: 706-595-7177

    Visit us at www.hickory-hill.org or on Facebook.
    Follow us on Twitter: HHEducation

    Historic homes of the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc. 






    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-04-2021 04:33:00 PM
    Hi, try having tomato cages or other sturdy structures near the plants so they can create their cocoons on those. I have seem them in the craziest of places but they truly love edges or overhangs. I think structures nearby would help save your caterpillars.

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    Amy Sidran
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    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-04-2021 04:35:00 PM
    Hi, create areas near your plants for them to build their cocoons. Possibly tomato cages or other structures would be perfect.

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    Amy Sidran
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    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-04-2021 10:01:00 PM
    Hi Dianna-   I have tried using tomato cages to encourage monarchs to make their chrysalis in our pollinator bed before, but I have not had not too much success with it -- but I did some reading and found suggestions of adding tree branches and other natural materials instead (so perhaps the metal of the cage was not attractive to them).  Honestly, most of ours still took off, but we got one to use the limb we placed.  I have noticed they really seem to like brick walls too ---

    Unfortunately, I think most of our caterpillars are not making it to this point and many are disappearing when they are very young which we think is due to wasps eat them, so we have considered placing a bigger net around them to protect them for a completely different reason.  Have you ever seen the big butterfly tents that can cover a whole bed? Your bed would have to have all the elements to keep them alive - but it is not as restrictive as the smaller ones.  Here is an example that Gardener's Supply offers but I bet you could find some DIY instructions too: https://www.gardeners.com/buy/pro-butterfly-nursery-raised-garden/8597747.html. We have not made the move to this yet --- but maybe someone else in the community might have tried something like this and could weigh in?


    ------------------------------
    Sarah Pounders
    Senior Education Specialist
    KidsGardening
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 16.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-04-2021 06:09:00 PM
    Hi Dianna - I would love to see photos of your garden at your school.  Our school has a reading garden.  In it's day it was beautiful, but the pergola overhead has been falling apart,  and no one is allowed there until they take it apart.  Just would love to see yours and get ideas to get inspired.
    Thanks!
    Lynne

    ------------------------------
    [Lynne] [Bussott] [Teacher/Club Director]
    [Summer Garden Club Director]
    [Swedesboro Woolwich Schools]
    [Woolwich] [NJ]
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 17.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 04-05-2021 02:11:00 PM
    Hello Dianna! 
    Sounds like a lovely project you have started! My initial question is what kind of plants are you growing? Like Peggy  mentioned, monarchs need milkweed plants to be successful. Using native plants is a helpful to ensure you are getting native pollinators as well. Another consideration could be looking at all of the pollinators in your area.

    Kids Gardening has a cool lesson plan.....https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/KG_Pollinator.ActivityandLessonPlan.Kit_.pdf

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    Chelsey Bardgett
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    Original Message


  • 18.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 05-19-2021 12:19:00 PM
    Not a question just a picture of Darby Library's garden. We filled it with established plants and seeds.   This is Darby Library's (PA) butterfly garden. It has established plants and seeds.
    I will be ordering Painted Butterflies to grow and release soon.


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    Susan Borders
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    Original Message


  • 19.  RE: Butterfly/Pollinator garden advice

    Posted 05-19-2021 03:28:00 PM
    My students and I care for a pollinator/prairie restoration garden that is alongside our school.  To help with the loss of caterpillars we planted some bushes between the milkweed and the sidewalks to give the caterpillars a place to pupate.  Of course our garden is fairly large so that may be why our approach works.  We do sometimes find a chrysalis or two on the exterior walls of the school.

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    Rebecca Newsom
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    Original Message


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