Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay is excited to be participating in Monarchs & Milkweed at Merkle Natural Resources Management Area (NMRA) on Saturday, September 27, 2025, from 10 am – 2 pm. The event is rain or shine.
The Monarchs & Milkweed at Merkle is a butterfly festival that celebrates the fall migration of the Monarch Butterfly. NEW FOR 2025- Guest Speaker: Madeline E. Potter, Faculty Specialist – Entomology & Integrated Pest Management, University of Maryland College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, “Creating Pollinator Habitat with Native Plants” Talks at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.
This family friendly festival will have something for everyone!
- Butterfly Tagging & Release
- Monarch Life Cycle
- Food Trucks
- Kids Crafts & Games
- Garden Tours & Hikes
- Hayrides
- Native Plant Education
Back by popular demand- Costume Contest! Wear your wings or dress as a caterpillar! Judging at Noon. Prizes will be awarded for the best dressed pollinators- youth and adult categories. (Pets are welcome to participate, too!)
For additional information, please contact: [email protected] or 443-510-9920
Members of Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay will be answering native plant questions and giving out FREE community pots of seedling mixes courtesy of Bona Terra Nursery. These seedlings can be divided, then planted directly in your garden or into containers to grow out before planting. Check out Bona Terra’s Seedling Division Guide for instructions and tips for dividing seedlings! And their Native Plant Catalog for additional information on each species.
The mixed seedling pots include:
-the Pocket Prairie Garden: contains Blue Mistflower, Foxglove Beardtongue, Hairy Beardtongue, and Early Goldenrod
-the Pollinator Keystone Garden: contains Stiff Goldenrod, Orange Coneflower, Wrinkleleaf Goldenrod, and Calico Aster
-the Big Butterfly Garden: contains Hyssop-leaved Thoroughwort, Hololw Joe Pye Weed, New England Aster, and New York Ironweed
Common milkweed seeds and swamp milkweed seeds will also be available. Growing milkweed from seeds is easy. You just need to ensure that they get the cold, wet conditions they need during the winter for germination in the spring. Instructions will be provided with all seeds distributed, including the wildly popular winter sowing method that many of our chapter members use.
