MLT Valentine Garden monarch effort a growing success

PHOTO: The Mahoosuc Land Trust Valentine Farm Conservation Center’s gardens are a draw for both human and winged visitors. (Submitted photo)

BETHEL — The Habitat Garden at Valentine Farm Conservation Center, part of Mahoosuc Land Trust, had a successful third season, as both human and pollinating visitors enjoyed the lush garden.

More than 3,900 visitors from across the U.S. and as far away as Germany and Dubai visited the garden from July through early October. Hundreds of monarch butterflies and other pollinators also visited the drifts of black-eyed susans, spikes of liatris, sunbursts of orange Mexican sunflowers and towering yellow blossoms of cup plant.
The Habitat Garden was also the main focus of MLT’s first Monarch Festival, which would not have been complete without the show-stopping blooms and the ever-present monarchs. The garden was also a destination throughout the summer and early fall for painters, photographers and other artists. The shade pavilion provided a meeting place for the grouips Age-Friendly Bethel and How Can I Help?
Volunteers and visitors also safely tagged every one of the 168 monarch butterflies in the garden while they fueled up on nectar for their long migration to Mexico. The effort is Mahoosuc Land Trust’s way of supporting Monarch Watch by contributing data to further understanding monarchs, their migration, and the factors causing their decline.
Plans are already underway for the garden and trail at Valentine Farm in 2022. To stay connected, sign up to receive our e-newsletter by sending your name and email address to info@mahoosuc.org.