In honor of Earth Day, April 22, 2015, the Laguna Beach Garden Club planted pesticide free, native milkweed plants at local schools and in our community. Milkweed plants are the single food source for the Monarch butterfly caterpillar. The Monarch butterflies have been steadily declining for more than a decade, and although scientists are unsure of all of the reasons, the decrease of a healthy food source is thought to be one of the reasons.
Monarch Butterfly Citizen Scientists
On May 30 some of LBGC members, or friends of members, who raise monarchs in their gardens, joined Susie Vanderlip (LBGC’s March Speaker) to become Monarch Butterfly Citizen Scientists (MBCS.) They learned to tag and collect samples to provide data to support the Monarch Health Initiative research done in collaboration with the University of Georgia and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
