Welcome to Gardening for Hot People! This episode we talk about: Lepidoptera, milkweed, late season nectar, why butterfly bushes are Skittles, why butterflies flit around, the pollinator wars, mummichogs, The Monarch Gardener’s superhero origin story, planning out your native seed plantings, and manage to keep things light even when this ish is serious.

Katie Banks Hone (AKA The Monarch Gardener) has been gardening for her entire adult life. She was a 2012 recipient of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Slow the Flow grant. This helped her transform her family's Ipswich River-front property from the traditional foundation plantings they inherited from the former owners into a haven for wildlife.

In the spring and summer Katie runs a native plant nursery in Topsfield, MA. And year round she brings her knowledge and wonder of the monarch butterfly to community groups in the form of lectures and classes. Find out more at themonarchgardener.com


Stuff we mentioned:
- Indian Skipper: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Hesperia-sassacus
- Monarch weigh station: https://monarchwatch.org/waystations/
- Piping Plover bird: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piping_plover
- Monarch Watch: https://monarchwatch.org/
- Monarch Joint Venture: https://monarchjointventure.org/
- Grow Native Massachusetts: https://grownativemass.org/
- NOFA/Mass: https://www.nofamass.org/
- Native Plant Trust: https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/
- Monarch Gardener website: http://www.themonarchgardener.com/
- The Monarch Gardener Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1A9sysqGwA/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- The Monarch Gardener opens MAY 9TH 2025
OPEN 10-3 FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS:
MAY 9-JULY 26 AND SEPTEMBER 5-20
AT 180 IPSWICH ROAD, TOPSFIELD MA​​