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I've added more content and expanded my Planning and Growing a Butterfly Garden class at OLLI to three Thursday sessions, giving you even more useable information for designing your own!

What: Planning and Growing a Butterfly Garden
Where: OLLI at SOU | Campbell Center, 655 Frances Lane, Room A
Dates: April 4th, 11th, and 18th
Time: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Registration: OLLI website

IMPORTANT: You must be a current member of Olli and be logged in for the "Request Course" or "Add to Cart" button to appear!

This is an interactive lecture course presented from an artistic and amateur scientific point of view and is designed to appeal to all levels of butterfly, gardening, and wildlife enthusiasts.

During the three class meetings, we will review the underlying principles of habitat creation, then go through the steps needed to create multi-seasonal butterfly and pollinator habitats.

We'll discuss:

• habitat
• soil
• basic design principles
• growing from seed
• planting for sustained bloom
• create your own garden design in an interactive exercise

NO textbook is required, and you do not need a large garden to participate. The basic principles discussed can easily be used in small spaces such as flower pots on balconies, small raised beds, or any number of planting alternatives.

Activities outside the classroom are optional and include:

• measuring the area selected to design the student's own butterfly garden
• observing and noting solar aspect
• noting shade areas
• identifying where buildings are in relation to the planned garden

After taking this mini-course, students who install a butterfly or native garden as outlined should be able to qualify for certification as a monarch butterfly way station, a Rogue Valley pollinator-friendly site, or a certified wildlife habitat garden.

New content for this expanded class is based on Eileen Stark's book "Real Gardens Grow Natives," which explores the relationship between native plants and biodiversity in our local ecosystem and points the way to sustaining the local wildlife we so enjoy in our gardens and beyond. This new content will give students the understanding that great beauty can be achieved while simultaneously increasing biodiversity with native plants.