Gardening for Monarchs – 2-day Workshop – AT

As part of the National Wildlife Federation’s Monarch Stewards Certification Program, the Federation, in collaboration with the Alamo Area Monarch Collaborative, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Native Plant Society of Texas, San Antonio River Authority, and Texas Master Naturalists Galveston Bay Area Chapter, is offering the Monarch Stewards’ third level of training, Gardening for Monarchs & Other Wildlife with Native Plants in your Ecoregion.

To bring back the monarchs and help protect all pollinators & other wildlife we need to create native gardens in our urban & suburban spaces. Through this workshop, participants will learn to design, install, and maintain their own monarch-friendly native gardens —that also benefit many kinds of wildlife—choosing the proper native plants for their ecoregion, site, and weather conditions. Workshop participants will also learn to use their new native gardens as an environmental educational tool.

Main Topics: How gardening for monarchs benefits many other wildlife species

The human benefits of native gardening

Importance of gardening with native plants

Components of a native garden

Creating native gardens, what to keep in mind

Providing themed native gardens

Growing your own native milkweed, the successful technique

Basics of Landscape Designing (includes exercises)

Installing and maintaining your new native garden

Other resources and tools that will help you with your native gardening projects

We will offer Lunch & Learn sessions specific to each state’s eco-regions, where you will learn about the plants you can use to create your own native gardens at home.

The Lunch & Learn sessions will complement the information you will learn in this workshop and registration will be free.

Registration Fee includes:

One copy of the second edition of the book: “Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife” by David Mizejewski, National Wildlife Federation’s Naturalist

Access to digital resources on native gardening

Copy (on notes format) of most of the workshop presentations

Lunch & Learn Sessions about native plants in your region

Further details: Please note that this is an 11-hour training course, divided into two days, with breaks between presentations and individual exercises.

The Trainers

Christine Anastas is a Texas Master Naturalist, Master Gardener and active member of the Native Plant Society of Texas. She has been involved with growing native milkweed plants and monarch citizen science projects since 2012. Her current citizen projects include MLMP, Journey North, Monarch Health, IMMP, Monarch Watch, and is part of the beta testing for the University of Michigan M3 Monarch Migration Project. She has developed and conducted workshops for MLMP training and community presentations on Monarch and Milkweed conservation.

Carol Clark is a Monarch Watch Conservation Specialist, Texas Master Naturalist, and long-time member of the Native Plant Society of Texas. She administers the Texas Native Bee Co-op Facebook page and chairs the Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas committee. When she isn’t busy teaching others about pollinators or native plants, she enjoys looking after her own colossal Monarch Waystation and wildlife refuge in Cooke County.

Kim Conrow has lived in north Texas for over 50 years. She holds a BS in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Education and an MS in Science Education. Kim taught high school biology and environmental science for seven years, is a Texas Master Naturalist, member of the Native Prairie Association of Texas and has worked with the NWF through the Fort Worth Pollinator Ambassador group. She is past President of the Native Plant Society of Texas. She has been gardening with native plants for over twenty years.

Craig Hensley is a Texas Nature Trackers Biologist with Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Craig is a lifelong naturalist and educator, now training community scientists across Texas about iNaturalist and helping document the flora and fauna of Texas. Craig has been educating children and adults about the natural world including monarchs for more than thirty years, as well as native plants and their use in gardens. Craig holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Arkansas Tech University and a Master’s in Zoology from the University of Arkansas.

Lee Marlowe is a restoration ecologist with over 20 years of professional experience working in the field of ecological restoration and natural resource management. Her expertise includes the use of native plants to provide wildlife habitat, water quality benefits, bank/site stabilization and aesthetic beauty in landscapes of all sizes. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from the University of Minnesota, and currently serves as the Sustainable Landscape Ecologist for the San Antonio River Authority and President of the San Antonio Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas.

Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón is National Wildlife Federation’s Senior Manager of Climate-Resilient Habitats and Chief Monarch Strategist. Rebeca holds a PhD in Geomatics Engineering from the University of Calgary, and an MSc in Environmental Engineering. She has almost a decade of experience in monarch butterfly habitat restoration and conservation in the eastern U.S. flyway and Mexico overwintering grounds. As the new Chief Monarch Strategist, she will lead and facilitate the creation of a Federation-wide, science-based monarch conservation strategy, and will work with people at different levels and backgrounds to define the best strategies to implement monarch conservation programs. Rebeca also directs NWF’s Monarch Stewards Certification Program. With 2 recently awarded grants, she is leading the restoration of 150 acres of climate-resilient habitats in south, urban Texas, that will serve as ecological stepping-stones for migratory species, including the monarchs. Prior to joining NWF, Rebeca led or collaborated in 15 research projects, served as a member of the CONACYT physics and mathematics scientific evaluation committee, served as a peer reviewer for the Int. Journal of Remote Sensing, and has published peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.

Link to register:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gardening-for-monarchs-2-day-workshop-february-21-23-2023-tickets-548045387507

Organized by National Wildlife Federation – South Central Regional Center

Cost is $50.00

VMS Code: AT Chapter approved