Mutual 2 has LW’s first certified Monarch Waystation
by Christine Harris
Mutual 2 Landscape Chair
On Aug. 30, Mutual 2 became the first mutual in Leisure World to have an official, registered and certified Monarch Waystation—that’s a habitat providing the necessary resources for monarchs during their breeding and migration seasons. The beautiful byway located on Monterey Road by Building 14 along the Westminster wall was certified by MonarchWatch.org.
Each fall, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to mountains in central Mexico where they wait out the winter until conditions favor a return flight in the spring. The monarch migration is one of the world’s greatest natural wonders yet it is threatened by habitat loss at overwintering grounds in Mexico and throughout breeding areas in the United States and Canada. MonarchWatch works to create places that provide resources necessary to produce successive generations of monarchs
The garden is filled with Mexican bush sage and other plants attractive to birds and butterflies. and sustain their migration routes.
The Mutual 2 butterfly garden is one of 31,000 habitats registered by Monarch Watch across the U.S. The LW project has been in the works since last year. Under President Peggy Keller’s leadership, it became reality in April 2020.
This was a true community project: Jose Anguiano from J& J Landscaping dug the ground, installed sprinklers and planted 34 small plants. The initial design consisted of five boulders, milkweed in the center, two concentric circles of lantana and Mexican heather, four Buddleia, also called butterfly bushes, and two Mexican sages in opposing corners. Gradually, more plants were added: sunflowers (grown from seeds), black-eyed Susans, mandevillas and cassias, donated by Debbie Cobb, Dave Mueller and Barbara Berget (from Mutual 8). Mueller also added a beautifully scalloped edge.
Sunflowers are a nectar bar for butterflies and hummingbirds. The garden is designed to attract different types of butterflies: swallowtails, sulphurs, monarchs, queens, painted ladies, mourning cloaks and skippers.
The milkweed is growing fast, and gardeners hope it will be ready for the monarchs when they return because their caterpillars have a ravenous appetite. Each will eat one big leaf per hour. When they are fully grown, caterpillars will sometimes wander far away from their host plant to pupate.
Milkweed was planted in the center of the garden to discourage them from crawling onto the grass and dying.
Leisure World residents who want to raise monarch caterpillars should remember:
• Caterpillars sometimes die for no apparent reason, but most often it is from poisoning (milkweed plants that have been treated with pesticides by the wholesaler).
• Pesticides, whether they are organic or not, are deadly for insects.
• Caterpillars and chrysalises can be infected by tachinid flies. Little white threads will hang down from the chrysalis; infected caterpillars should be destroyed, as the flies lay eggs in chrysalises and maggots will emerge once the host has died.
• Milkweed plants can get infested with aphids. These are little orange spongy critters with black legs that suck the plant dry. In so doing, they compete with caterpillars for food. If you see them on plants, remove them because they have an incredibly high rate of reproduction.
Everyone is welcome to come and visit this little piece of wilderness by Building 14, close to the Westminster wall. You will love it.
