The SoPac Trail Pollinator Garden. Photography by Renee Umsted.
Friends of the SoPac Trail recently installed a pollinator garden, and it’s already being visited by monarch butterflies.
The garden, a result of a collaboration between the friends group and Dallas Park and Recreation, is located near the trail’s intersection with Mockingbird Lane.
The World Wildlife Fund has found that the monarch butterfly population has decreased by more than 80% over the past three decades, and the butterflies are now considered endangered.
Each winter, the monarchs migrate up to 3,000 miles from the northeastern United States and Canada to central Mexico.
Their reproductive cycle relies heavily on milkweed plants in the north. They lay their eggs on the plants, and then the plants become a food source for the new caterpillars. But in recent years, increased herbicide use in the U.S. has killed more milkweed plants.
According to a post from The Loop, some of the plants used in the SoPac Trail pollinator garden were purchased with grants from Bring Back the Monarch grants, funded through the Native Plant Society of Texas. These grants are awarded to educate people about monarch conservation and native plants and to encourage restoration of monarch habitats in Texas.
In the video below, made by Randy Elia and shared with the Advocate by District 9 Park Board member Maria Hasbany, watch the butterflies at the pollinator garden.
