Monarch butterflies are once again passing through the Phoenix-area as they migrate south from Canada and the northern U.S. Now, the city of Phoenix is asking residents to help these pollinators along their 3,000 mile journey.
On a hot, sticky morning, Mayor Kate Gallego is getting her hands dirty planting milkweed outside Phoenix City Hall.
“Phoenix is a major point on the migration, and we've lost a lot of the original habitat,” she says.
The city participates in the Mayor's Monarch Pledge, which is a National Wildlife Federation program to create pollinator habitat. So planting milkweed and other pollinator-friendly plants in September has become an annual tradition here.
“The milkweed is the only plant that the monarch caterpillar will eat,” explains Tricia Balluff with Phoenix’s Office of Environmental Programs.
“So it's really critical for their life cycle to have milkweed out around the city, especially for their migration.”
Balluff says anyone in Phoenix can plant milkweed in their yards. Seed packets are available for free though the city and at the public libraries.
Gallego says this is a major effort and some of their biggest plantings have taken place at the city’s mountain parks and along the river front. But the goal is to create a monarch habitat throughout downtown.
Another goal — or rather bucket list item — for this mayor?
“One day, I want to go to Mexico and see the end of the monarch migration,” she says. “I am told it is one of nature's most spectacular shows.”
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