Ten years ago, the monarch butterfly was in serious trouble. Its numbers had cratered to the lowest level researchers had seen since the current monarch population monitoring programs began in the mid-1990s. Although the monarch has rebounded from that low point enough for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to upgrade its status in 2021 from “threatened” to “vulnerable,” its numbers are still more than 90 percent below where they were three decades ago.
One of the biggest threats the monarch faces is habitat loss. The iconic black-and-orange butterfly only lays its eggs on milkweed, because milkweed is the only food a monarch caterpillar eats. The plant is absolutely necessary for survival as the monarchs make their epic annual migration to Mexico.
That’s where Blank Park Zoo’s Plant. Grow. Fly. program (PGF) comes in.
PGF provides “easy, region-specific garden recipes to help you plant the flowers and grasses that our native butterflies and bees need the most” through its website. Although it’s a Blank Park Zoo program, it’s not limited to Des Moines or Polk County. Anyone around the state can participate, as can people in other states. The zoo launched PGF when the monarch population was at its lowest point, and the program is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
“In 2014, we were looking for an initiative,” Christine Eckles, the zoo’s chief engagement officer, told Little Village. “We were supporting a lot of programs for animals that were far away from us, like rhinos and giraffes — which is great, because all those animals need our help. But we also knew that we needed to do something in our own backyard — something our community could really get behind.”
People love butterflies. The monarch is the best known of all butterflies, and in 2014, it was facing a dire future. Eckles said the zoo likes to take inspiration from the great naturalist Jane Goodall’s approach to problems: find the positive in any situation and figure out a way to take action.
The action needed to help the monarch was clear. Supporters planted milkweed and other nectar plants for the butterfly to feed on after emerging from their cocoons, and throughout their adult lives.
Of course, nectar plants are also vital for bees, and even if some people avoid them, everyone recognizes their importance as pollinators. PGF’s garden plans work to support pollinators of all kinds. The gardens are also good for songbirds.
“Songbirds need places to gather seeds, eat insects, find water and shelter,” Eckles said. “You can create a nice little habitat for them when you plant native plants, trees and shrubs. You’re creating a little ecosystem in the garden that native songbirds will benefit from. creating a food-web for the birds right in your own backyard.”
People are encouraged to register their gardens with PGF, and provide some basic information about them through its online form. That information lets the zoo, as well as the organizations it partners with in its conservation efforts, such as Iowa State University and the Monarch Joint Venture, a better understanding of the resources available to pollinators and songbirds in local areas around the state.
Over the last decade, a total of 1,773 gardens have been registered with PGF. The goal this year is to get that number up to 2,024, for obvious reasons.
“It’s a good, fun goal, but it is going to be a bit of a stretch,” Eckles said. “But I think we can do it.”
For Eckles, one of the best things about PGF is that “it’s a way to have some fun gardening, while also thinking about the local environment and taking action to help nature.”
“Every garden matters,” she said. “You can start small — that’s great — and go from there. If you fail the first year and the plants don’t grow, that’s OK. Try again.”
