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Monarchs have a place to rest
By Elise Franco
YOUNGSTOWN
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Horticulture Educator Anita Wesler among the many flowers on display at Fellows Riverside Garden.
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Butterfly at Fellows Riverside Gardens.
The Monarchs can smell the MetroParks from miles away.
The Butterfly Garden in Fellows Riverside Gardens’ Family Garden recently was designated a Monarch Way Station, said Anita Wesler, horticulture educator.
Wesler said this means the flowers and plants in that particular garden provide the resources that Monarchs and other butterfly species need to sustain themselves as they migrate to Mexico.
She said the garden, which is a part of Mill Creek MetroParks, was designated through Monarch Watch, an educational program based at the University of Kansas.
“Monarch Watch is an organization trying to help preserve the Monarch butterfly,” Wesler said. “Their goal is to have a way station every 10 miles.”
Jack Moss, landscape supervisor, said the way stations are vital parts of the Monarch’s life.
“They help in the conservation,” he said. “It keeps them moving because their population is declining.”
Wesler said the butterflies are able to detect the flowers they feed on, such as milkweed, from up to 10 miles away.
“They’re just starting to migrate, so we’re just beginning to see them,” she said. “They might stop to feed on some nectar then they go on their way.”
Wesler said the MetroParks has two other way stations — One at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield and one at the Ford Nature Center in Youngstown.
Linda Kostka, Metro-Parks marketing and development director, said the new designation is just one more positive thing to add to the MetroParks’ list of accomplishments.
“It’s a positive thing that we do that maybe people don’t know about,” she said. “We’re glad this is one of the places the butterflies stop.”
Kostka said the butterfly garden fits in perfectly with the park’s mission.
“We’re about wildlife preservation,” she said. “If we can help the Monarch’s migration process out, it’s great.”
Wesler said the garden, which was planted nearly 10 years ago, is a teaching tool.
“It’s a great way to draw children into gardening, because children love butterflies,” she said. “They learn having a way station is really something they can do in their own garden at home.”