Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

Search Results for: overwintering

Poppy Bloom

This year it looks like the western monarchs will be able to feast on some awesome native plant blooms in California. The heavy rains this state has been experiencing over the winter have been making up for the long drought. Sprouting of several species is already being seen in the Antelope Valley … [Read more...]

Birthplaces of Eastern Monarchs

You, like I, have probably taken for granted the monarchs overwintering in Mexico are borne in the the northern states of the eastern migration route, since the Midwest seems to be the most predominant migration route. However, by analyzing stable isotopes* from the bodies of over-wintering monarchs … [Read more...]

Fall Habitat Maintenance

Now that the weather has gotten cool and the leaves are off the trees, we humans often think we have to tidy up our landscape. Since there are no more pretty flowers blooming and the colorful red and bronzes of the grasses have subsided, we are tempted to get out the mower and cut everything down.  … [Read more...]

Frogs in my Pool

Typically throughout the spring we get a couple of frogs in our pool, but during the past few weeks this fall we've gotten a number of frogs in our pool as well. I wrote to my friend Dick Nikolai who recently retired from the Wisconsin DNR. This is what he said about this new phenomenon and the … [Read more...]

Excellent News for Eastern Monarchs

Just released -- the Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP) and World Wildlife Fund Mexico just released the 2015-16 eastern monarch numbers and the overall population has increased! Monitoring indicates the monarch population is occupying 4.01 hectares. That's more than three … [Read more...]

Good News for Western Monarchs

The news from Xerces Society is that the count for the wintering western monarchs is up from last season. Just a little, but it still warrants a hurrah! I'm anxious to hear the count for the monarchs in their Mexico winter quarters. On Feb 25th 2-3pm EST, Monarch Joint Venture and the National … [Read more...]