The Monarchs thank you!

All of us at Pinecone would like to thank all of you who attended our Monarch lecture and "Release" last Saturday. It seemed everyone enjoyed the educational part and of course the children were thrilled being able to tag the butterflies fragile wings and then let them free to fly!

We especially are happy to see that by spreading the word about these beautiful creatures being endangered, we will have others interested in caring for the Monarch's future.

Mark your calendar!  Saturday, September 13th  at 10:00am is  "Monarch Madness"  at Pinecone Perennials. We plan on releasing many Monarchs that have hatched at our nursery and some that have come to life at the garden center.This event will be especially exciting for the children who will be welcomed to assist us tag, and release these beautiful creatures. You will hear the dramatic story of the Monarchs, and see all live stages of  this most colorful butterfly's life cycle.  We will have refreshments and treats for the young *lepidopterists. *The study of butterflies and moths is lepidoptery, and biologists who specialize in either are called lepidopterists. As a pastime, watching butterflies and moths is known as butterflying and mothing.     Rain date: Saturday, September 20th  Rob is a steward of the Monarch Watch Organization. He is living his passion of assisting the organization in saving this endangered, beautiful Monarch butterfly. He combs the wild, grassy roadsides all summer to find the native Asclepias plant (which is also becoming extinct because of all of the herbicide use and mowing)This plant is the only food for the butterfly and so we implore you all my friends, to include a few of these perennials in your gardens.  Quick Tips: The days are growing shorter now and cool nights aren’t far behind. This is the time of year to think about scouting for insects if your plants are outside. Scale and mealy bugs really can get a hold on your plants so it important to check the bases of plants, in between and under the leaves for insects there. If discovered, treat with Neem oil, cinnamon oil, Horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. Remember that these insects reproduce every week to 10 days so 2-3 treatments are usually needed to get any newly hatched insects. The eggs are impervious to most treatments. One of the advantages to Neem Oil is that the neem weakens the insects exoskeleton and acts like a hormone and helps prevent the next life cycle from happening, like laying eggs or morphing from a nymph stage to an adult stage.