Discover how to “put your garden to bed” for winter without evicting your winged guests with the legendary Maraleen Manos-Jones, a passionate butterfly expert with over 50 years of butterfly wisdom!

Maraleen will share stories and images in a powerpoint presentation about the challenges facing monarchs and all pollinators, including climate change, and what we can do about it. She’ll offer tips on putting our gardens to bed and providing winter habitat for wildlife. Some butterflies overwinter in their chrysalis, some as adult butterflies. We’ll venture into the Catskill Center’s garden to see what is growing and who is visiting!

With over 50 years of experience as an award-winning environmental activist, author, educator, artist, and master gardener, Maraleen brings a unique perspective to the world of butterflies. In 1977, she became the first woman from the U.S. to discover the monarchs’ overwintering habitats in Mexico. She is an eyewitness to the profound changes in the monarch population, the challenges they face in every stage of their lives, and has worked to protect butterfly habitats both in Mexico and the States.

She has lectured at prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and the Royal Botanical Gardens, and her accomplishments include the 2022 Pollinator Advocate Award and leading efforts to end glyphosate spraying around Catskills reservoirs. Maraleen has also created public, private, and school butterfly gardens and authored The Spirit of Butterflies: Myth, Magic, and Art. Learn more about her inspiring work at www.spiritofbutterflies.com.

This event is FREE with a suggested donation of $10.00. Registration is required.

This program was created in partnership with Catskill Mountain Roots. Catskill Mountain Roots,organized by former Daily Freeman photographer Tania Barricklo, works to create community through gatherings, events, education and exploration of nature in the Catskill Mountains.