Garden club and church preschool collaborate on monarch butterfly habitat

It’s not happenstance that has Laguna Presbyterian Church surrounded by monarch butterflies this summer.

Volunteers made a concerted effort last spring to attract the winged insects by planting milkweed, which they are drawn to, flowers and vegetables as part of an upgrade to the church’s preschool garden.

The Laguna Beach Garden Club paid for the soil, plants and wood for the planters and started planning the renovation in February, club President Jorja Puma said.

Club members and preschool staff created two planters, one rectangular and the other L-shaped for a total of 20 square feet, and filled each with soil and plants.

Club member Sharael Kolberg selected the plants, including native and tropical milkweed species; vegetables such as corn, peppers and squash; and Russian sage and lantana.

Preschool officials collaborated on the project with the garden club, which holds its meetings at the church.

“It’s important for kids to see nature and to feel the earth and how it changes,” preschool Director Anne Herzog said.

During the school year, kids water the plants at recess while preschool staff members pull weeds and prune branches. Staff members take on greater caretaking roles in the summer when school is out.

Herzog said tending a garden emphasizes Christian principles, such as a seed transforming into a fruit-bearing plant.

“One of God’s gifts to us is he shows us new life,” Herzog said.

Puma hopes children learn about monarch butterflies and develop an appreciation for growing produce by taking care of the garden.

“[Monarch butterflies] are dwindling in numbers, so we’re trying to promote as many people planting milkweed as possible,” Puma said.

Habitat destruction and pesticides threaten monarchs’ survival, according to the National Wildlife Federation website.

Female monarchs lay eggs on milkweed plants, which provide an exclusive food source for caterpillars before they morph into butterflies. The plants contain glycoside toxins that are harmless to the monarch but poisonous to its predators. The caterpillars feed on all the parts of milkweed plants and store the toxins in their body.

Monarchs’ distinctive wing pattern of orange with black veins warns predators that they are foul-tasting and poisonous.

The butterflies do not live more than a few weeks and are found throughout the United States. They travel north to Canada and during winter make their way to Mexico to escape the cold.