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Monarch Waystations

The chapter is currently working with the Bend Seed Extractory to create and maintain a monarch butterfly way station.

​Read the steps below on what's been happening.

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Step 1:  Remove bunch grass clumps and weeds from the garden, then top dress with a soil amendment in preparation for fall planting. This work can happen at any time during the Bend Seed Extractory’s normal business hours, and can happen either as a group or as individuals are available. We have volunteer forms available to fill out and return on your first visit.  After that, volunteers can stop by as their schedule allows.  Please bring your own gloves and tools - we will provide a dump site for everything that is removed. Once the grass and weeds are removed, placement of the “muddy pool” can happen and existing drip hoses and sprinklers can be repositioned as needed to accommodate new plantings and existing milkweed plants.  
 
Step 1 will also include the development of a plant list. We shared the list that MACO (Monarch Advocates of Central Oregon) developed. We will come up with a list of plants that will 1) bloom throughout the Monarch’s season in Central Oregon, 2) provide nectar during that period, 3) be available from local native nurseries, donation, or even from harvesting on USFS land (with the appropriate permits, of course). 
 
Step 2: Planting should occur in the early fall since we are working our way out of the spring planting season. Once the site is prepped from Step 1, we’ll send out a note about plants from our wanted list that we have and plants that we need. We can organize more about either purchasing or digging what we need for fall planting. 
 
Step 3: Once we have finished planting this first patch of ground, we would like to branch out to another portion of the Seed Extractory grounds that will allow us to do a bit more experimenting with seeding and planting. 
 
Step 4: Hopefully we will arrive to step 4. This is where monitoring and reporting of monarch activity can happen. We discussed how rearing of caterpillars might occur. We can talk more about this as we get closer to this step, but it doesn’t hurt to think about future plans now.