Monarch Waystation Project

In 2019 SAWIG received funding from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation to begin a project aimed at restoring habitat for the monarch butterfly. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall of 2019 SAWIG created a “monarch waystation” – essentially a garden built specifically to provide the necessary habitat for monarch butterflies to complete their life cycle. 

The garden includes:

• Over 50 native swamp milkweed plants, which are the only plant on which the monarch butterfly will lay eggs

• Three types of native flowering plants, to provide nectar sources for the butterflies

• Netting on which the caterpillars can form their chrysalis

• Lots of sunshine and moisture for both the milkweed and the monarchs

This project was very successful, and in just the first season over a dozen monarchs successfully emerged as adult butterflies. This is a great achievement! What was originally a mowed lawn became a habitat for a species threatened by loss of habitat. This garden now forms part of the North American network of monarch waystations, a program by Monarch Watch.

If you want to know more about this project, or would like to start your own Monarch Waystation, get in touch with us!