Bertram garden club program on monarchs and milkweed Jan. 7

FROM STAFF REPORTS

BERTRAM — One of the best things you can do to help the monarch butterfly — which cuts across the Highland Lakes on its migrations south and north — is to plant a weed. Milkweed to be exact.

And being that it’s a weed and grows naturally in many parts of Texas, how hard of a task can that be?

Milkweed and other native nectar plants serve as monarch “waystations,” spots for the butterflies to refuel and lay their eggs. After the caterpillars hatch, they feed on the milkweed before building their chrysalises and transforming into more monarchs.

On Jan. 7, the Prairie Flower Garden Club is hosting a program about growing monarch-friendly plants at 2 p.m. at the Joann Cole Mitte Memorial Library, 170 N. Gabriel in Bertram.

Master Gardener Sylvia Williams will share tips and ideas regarding milkweed propagation and planting as well as on other native plant species. Williams, who lives outside of Bertram at Stonebridge Gardens, knows a bit about gardening and reclaiming areas after she and her husband took a mesquite-filled pasture and turned it into, basically, a little garden paradise on the prairie.

This is one of the many programs the Prairie Flower Garden Club will host throughout the year. The club meets regularly in Bertram and is open to anyone interested in gardening, plants and other related topics.

Check out the Jan. 7 meeting to learn more about milkweeds and monarchs or the garden club in general.

editor@thepicayune.com