By Peter Roos
Helping to Save the Monarch Butterfly
According to an early 2024 report from WWFwww.worldwildlife.org, eastern migratory Monarch butterflies are threatened, just like bees and other pollinators, primarily due to loss of food sources due to drought and to poisons used on U.S. crops by farmers and homeowners. Experts measure the status of the species by the size in acres of the Monarch’s hibernating areas in the Mexican forest. Monarchs travel up to 3,000 miles from as far away as Canada. The report said the area had shrunk from 5.5 acres in 2023 to 2.2 in 2024, a decrease of 59%. A population of 45 acres in 1996-1997 was the largest recorded and the smallest, 1.7 acres in 2013-2014.
The St. Petersburg Garden Club has been trying to help the Monarch butterflies with a garden designed to attract them, nourish them and help them reproduce. Members volunteer their services to maintain the Club gardens and premises. At least two of the Garden Club’s members, Helen Tilden and Vickie Finch, residents of Treasure Island’s Blind Pass Lagoon Condominiums, decided to start a butterfly garden at home. After losing that garden to high storm tides three times in 2023, they began using above-ground pots that could be moved to higher ground when storms threatened. All the plants the duo uses are Florida native and Florida-friendly plants bought from Tampa Bay nurseries, that attract butterflies and other pollinators.
The Blind Pass Lagoon’s butterfly garden actively attracts black and yellow swallowtail, common buckeye, gulf coast fritillary, long tall skipper, painted lady, and white peacock butterflies in addition to the monarch butterflies. It is now a certified butterfly garden as well as a certified Monarch garden. This specific certification requires the use of native plants, milkweed, a water source, and no use of chemicals. The Blind Pass Lagoon’s butterfly garden has native plants, five types of milkweed plants, and two butterfly puddles. “We started with one pot. and we now have 25.” The potted plants allow for pollinators to have a constant source of food. Along with that, the pots are a safe place for caterpillars to prepare for the chrysalis stage. Tilden even watched a Monarch butterfly hatch from the edge of a pot. Tilden loves that the butterfly garden “brought everybody here to appreciate nature, because they’ll stop and say thank you or how pretty it is.” This gardening duo encourages everyone to start a butterfly garden no matter where they live. They emphasized that anyone can do this. “Even if you live in the apartment, you can attract butterflies if you just have a pot on your balcony. That’s all it takes.” said Tilden.
There is a public butterfly garden at Florida Botanical Gardens, 12520 Ulmerton Rd., Largo, open daily 7am-5pm, with free admission and great reviews. If you are interested, visit there to learn more and talk to your favorite local nursery about planting a butterfly garden.