The Flutterby News Spring 2016 Volume 9, Issue 1 2016 Grand Opening Our award-winning Panhandle Butterfly House will celebrate its 19th grand opening this 2016 season. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 7 at 10 a.m. and the house will be open until 3 p.m. Special festivities include: Monarch Market where you will find many butterfly items for sale Butterfly Bazaar PBH Plant Sale will offer Pollinator Friendly host & nectar plants Santa Rosa County Master Gardeners will be available to provide answers to your horticultural questions The Navarre Krewe of Jesters will offer meals for purchase A variety of native butterflies inhabit the inside and outside gardens. All stages of the butterfly life cycle may be observed on nectar and host plants. Come learn about our native Florida butterflies! And take a look for improvements that our volunteers have accomplished during the winter! Visit our website: www.panhandlebutterflyhouse.org or our Facebook page for more information! The Panhandle Butterfly house is a program of: And supported by: INSIDE THIS ISSUE Volunteer 2 Host Plants 4 Contributors 5 Support the PBH 6 Start Small & Think Big 7 VISIT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE FOR MORE UPCOMING FUN ACTIVITIES
YOU COULD BE A VOLUNTEER Volunteers at the Panhandle Butterfly House have the opportunity to make valuable and enriching contributions to the community, learn about butterflies and butterfly gardening, meet people, and have fun! Volunteer a few hours, 1 day week or 1 day a month. Or get more involved, it s all up to you! Schedules are flexible. Below is some information on some of the types of activities we do, what volunteers do, and contact email links. We hope to hear from you soon! Contact us if you have a talent you would like to share. The volunteers below are our largest groups but we have need of lots of individual skills. We can always use volunteers! Email us today at pbhvolunteer@gmail.com MONARCH MARKET MARKETEERS Our interface with folks in our Monarch Market. Do you enjoy sales and meeting new people? Become a Monarch Market Marketeer! When we are open to the public our Monarch Market is open in our reception area. This is a very small area set aside as a gift shop with educational publications, tee shirts and other butterfly or pollinator/ insect items. We will train you to be knowledgeable on the products we sell and how to use our cash register. If you enjoy interacting with folks, can handle money efficiently and would like to help out contact our Monarch Market Manager today. BUTTERFLY GARDENERS Our volunteer gardeners will learn about growing and maintaining plants that attract butterflies and their caterpillars and help maintain our vivarium and outdoor gardens. In the early Spring we get the inside and outside gardens in shape for the new season. We generally open in April. During the months we have visitors (April to September) in the gardens we keep the gardens fresh with new plants, rotating plants, pruning and preening our gardens. There is always standard garden maintenance to be done such as weeding, mulching, dead heading, all the things a normal garden requires. Willingness to help is more important than the greenness of your thumb. You will work along side Master Gardeners from our Panhandle area in a gorgeous location by the Santa Rosa Sound. Come and join us. This is such a worthwhile effort! Contact us to become a gardener at the Panhandle Butterfly House. 2
DOCENTS Join our team of docents at the Panhandle Butterfly House. Docents are trained volunteers who contribute by educating and helping visitors gain a better understanding of butterflies, gardening, and the natural habitat in which butterflies thrive. As a docent you greet and guide visitors in the outside vivarium with our live butterflies, provide casual interpretations and manage the Butterfly House resources. Docents work Thursday, Friday, or Saturday 9:30 AM 3:30 PM while the PBH is open. Our docents generally work several times a month (full shifts) or more frequently in split shifts. To prepare you to be successful, training required. After your training, we team you to work with experienced docents, and continue to support your involvement by providing new, updated information. Please consider this exciting opportunity to make a valuable and enriching contribution to the community, interact with the public, and have fun! For more information contact our docent coordinator at pbhdocents@gmail.com GROUP TOUR GUIDES/KIDERPILLAR CLASSES Become a Tour Guide for the Panhandle Butterfly House. Are you interested in educating and helping visitors gain a better understanding of butterflies, gardening, and the natural habitat in which butterflies thrive? Then you will enjoy joining our Tour Guide Team at the Panhandle Butterfly House! Tour guides are trained volunteers who educate visitors about Florida butterflies, butterfly gardening, their importance in the ecosystem and their natural habitats. You will guide groups of mostly children on tours and school field trips on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays, usually two to three hours at a time. We team you with experienced volunteers, and continue to support your involvement by providing new, updated information whenever needed. For more information about becoming a tour guide please email us. Still not sure? Email us at pbhvolunteer@gmail we ll help you find the best fit for your interests! 3
4 Feed the Butterfly Babies Plant Host Plants
Let s Grow Some Butterflies! PBH Plant Sale May 7th 10 am to 3 pm Sponsored by: Panhandle Butterfly House & Santa Rosa Gardens
Support the Panhandle Butterfly House! Your help is needed so that we can continue our mission of educating the public on Butterflies and their important role in our environment Why Donate? The Panhandle Butterfly House relies on voluntary donations for operational funding and on volunteer support to maintain the building and gardens located on Highway 98 at the foot of Navarre Beach Bridge. A major expense is purchasing butterflies to maintain a consistent inventory of varieties, because an individual butterfly may live only 3-4 weeks. It costs $14,000 annually to buy butterflies from our Florida supplier. Each weekly shipment costs $350.00. We work hard to grow our own butterflies, and these do contribute to our display, but we can t collect and grow the quantity and variety of butterflies required for our exhibit. Donate by Check Mail the check to Panhandle Butterfly House, P. O. Box 5208, Navarre, FL 32566 Donate by Debit Card, Credit Card or PayPal Visit our website www.panhandlebutterflyhouse.org Donate by Cash Come visit us at 8581 Navarre Parkway, Navarre, Florida When you link to Amazon.com from our website and purchase ANY items the Panhandle Butterfly House receives a small referral fee. This fee is included in the regular price of the item you are purchasing, do there is no additional cost to you. Come see us FIRST when you are going to Amazon.com to shop!! Like us on Facebook! Visit us on FB to see upcoming events, such as a talk on Host Plants, our upcoming butterfly plant sale and more fun & education activities! Purchase a brick to be placed in the pathways around the Panhandle Butterfly House. What a nice way to remember someone or just to show the world you support the PBH. When you subscribe to the Navarre Press through our link the Panhandle Butterfly House will receive a credit towards future advertising equal to 1/2 of your purchase. Thanks in advance for subscribing
Let s Grow Butterflies: Start Small, A well-planned butterfly garden provides an opportunity to attract butterflies to your garden. While there are several necessary components to creating a butterfly-friendly garden, if this is a new concept, Start Small (what can I do now?); Think Big (what has been successful and how can I expand?). Components of a Successful Butterfly Garden Butterfly nectar sources: Have a variety of plants with different sizes and colors of flowers as these attract and feed adult butterflies. Consider the time when the plants bloom and plant for the seasons. Butterfly host plants: Host plants provide a place for female butterflies to lay their eggs on. These plants will serve as a food source for developing caterpillars. Shelter: Plants provides protection from temperature extremes, storms/rain, winds, and predators as well as a location for roosting/sleeping. Water: Butterflies do drink water! Place a shallow bowl with rocks for the butterflies to land. Be sure to change and clean the bowl routinely - daily if possible. Start Small It isn t necessary to have a large garden to attract butterflies. If you are just now starting a butterfly garden or if you have limited space, it s best to start small. Consider container gardening. That is, create a few large pots with plants. Establish one or two pots with host plants; several others with nectar plants. What butterfly to attract? Start small means to focus on one or two butterflies. Think Big o Black Swallowtail - Plant parsley, fennel, and dill to attract the female Black Swallowtail to lay her eggs on these host plants. All of these herbs are easily grown in containers. o Common Buckeye - The female Common Buckeye is attracted to wild petunia (ruellia) and she will lay her eggs on this host plant. o Nectar plants for both butterflies might include pentas, zinnias, or gaillardia. All of these are easily grown in containers. After one season of container or small scale gardening, assess your success. Are you ready to expand? Consider location, soil conditions, time you want to invest, and the butterflies you want to attract before expanding. Regardless of the size of your butterfly garden, every step is beneficial toward encouraging butterflies and pollinators. By Patricia Fandt, PBH Docent Trainer