When I started Evergreen Garden Club in the fall of 2004, its main purpose was to provide student enrichment through hands-on activities using an outdoor environment such as the school grounds. The first group, now adults in their mid-twenties, researched local butterfly species and host plants to enable a well thought out conversion of an…
Yesterday, falling short of my daily writing goal, I failed to publish my blog. I worked on it, of course, but it failed to come together as I wanted, in part due to time spent looking for my own photos to share on the post. This morning I was able to finish it. I wrote…
It’s mid-August! This means that it is time to start tagging monarch butterflies! The monarch’s life cycle is amazing! Monarchs undergo what is referred to as a complete metamorphosis, or change in form. This is accomplished through four stages. Stage 1 Stage 1 is an egg. It is a tiny, pale yellow oval, usually found…
Today, I was reminded that in the world of monarch conservation, timing is everything. This has been a slow year for my summer conservation hobby of raising monarchs. The adults were slow to show up in my yard. The ability to find eggs and larva has been arduous at best, depite the plethora of milkweed…
My involvement in monarch conservation has spanned for almost two decades! Some, in our local community, might even refer to me as the butterfly lady! Teaching first my garden club students (over 500 hundred during the lifetime of the club) and then, neighbors, community members from other organizations such as Lion’s Club, church groups, and…
Last night, something magical happened in our yard! For many years, I raised monarch butterflies. This year, I have yet to see any eggs or larva on our milkweed plants. We have three patches of milkweed in our yard, each a different kind native to our area of the country. For almost two decades, I’ve…
Last week, Journey North, an organization that monitors migrational species and phenological changes posted that several citizen scientists had reported Monarch Butterflies in Wisconsin! Already?! Really?! My milkweed is not even up! This is the very reason I am suspicious of these reports. None of the observers made the report with a photo, but some…
All photos are copyrighted by Carol Labuzzetta, whether watermarked or not. No permission exists to duplicate without the express permission of the photographer.
Ten years ago I had my Evergreen Garden Club students participate in a large Citizen Science Project. It was co-hosted by Monarch Watch and NASA (yes, that NASA). Monarch larvae were sent into space via the space shuttle to arrive at the International Space Station. At the same time, project participants, including those in my…
All Photos are my own images. Please do not copy or reproduce in any way without my express permission. © Carol Labuzzetta, 2019.