The Gardiner Lab OSU

Last of the summer blooms in our Cleveland pocket prairies! September bee sampling is underway.

Katie Turo and I were interviewed today about our Pocket Prairie study!

Flowering milkweed is a resource for butterflies, bees and many other nectar and pollen feeding insects. However, allowing all milkweed to go to flower might not be ideal for developing monarch caterpillars. Research from the Landis Lab at Michigan State University finds that butterflies are more likely to lay eggs on new growth from milkweed plants that are cut back. This is not to suggest that you should cut back all your plants, the Landis Lab recommends rotational cutting scheme that will allows both flowering plants and new growth to be present. Find the link to their report below.

Monarch butterfly research update – May 2019 Michigan is an important state for supporting the summer breeding population of monarchs. Here is an update on what we do and don’t know about increasing egg laying and survival.