“Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas – Creating a Monarch Waystation” (Native Plant Society of Texas)

Featured Presentation:

Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas – Creating a Monarch Waystation

By Cathy Downs

Texas provides critical habitat on the primary migration pathway of Monarchs to and from their wintering grounds in Mexico. The availability of spring native milkweed host plants, essential to assure successive generations continuing north, has declined in Texas along the migratory flyway. Abundant fall nectar plants, essential for increasing fat content for the long overwintering period of Monarchs heading south for the winter, have also declined. This has happened through development and agricultural practices as well as other issues. How can Texas help in the effort to create and restore Monarch habitat? Learn how to provide daily resources to Monarchs on their journey by adding just a few native plants to the existing landscape.

About the speaker:

Cathy Downs has worked with butterfly conservation and habitat since she became a Hill Country Chapter Master Naturalist in 2005. She partnered with Monarch Watch as a Monarch Conservation Specialist in 2012. Cathy currently chairs the Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas (BBMT) program for Native Plant Society of Texas (www.npsot.org) and is a certified Monarch Larval Monitoring Project educator (www.mlmp.org).

Her favorite passion is working with children in the field and she encourages everyone she trains to bring children into the garden with them for monitoring larva and using nets!…“they have better eyes, smaller hands and they are closer to the ground” Cathy has proudly provided over 65,000 children with natural science or outdoor education.

Cathy was born and raised in New England and retired to Comfort, TX in 2004 from a 30 year career owning and operating her own retail businesses.

Mark your calendars, this will be a special presentation

6:45 pm – Meet & Greet, Social Time & Refreshments;

New Time – 7:15 pm Chapter Meeting Followed by Presentation

Where: Houston Arboretum – 4501 Woodway Drive, Houston, TX 77024