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The Native Plant Society of Texas is making available small financial awards in amounts of up to $400.00 to public garden sites through its Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas program. The grants are available to groups including schools, nature centers, and other organizations for native plants in new or existing demonstration gardens or “Monarch Waystations” with habitat for migrating Monarchs and other native pollinator species.
Application must be made by February 9 and successful grant proposals will be awarded by March 1. The application process and eligibility criteria is described on our website at https://www.npsot.org/wp/monarchs/.
Texas provides important breeding habitat as well as migratory habitat as the Monarchs travel to and from their wintering grounds in Mexico. The availability of native milkweed host plants and associated nectar plants, essential for maintaining Monarch populations, have declined throughout Texas. Herbicides, herbicide resistant crops, frequent mowing of roadsides, parks and open areas, pesticides and continued drought have all affected monarchs and the plants they depend on for successful journeys to and from Mexico.
The Native Plant Society initiated the program known as “Bring Back the Monarch to Texas” in 2013 to raise public awareness for Monarch conservation and the importance of native milkweeds and nectar plants that are essential to reproduction by Monarch butterflies, and to restore Monarch habitats through the Texas migration flyway.
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: Bill Hopkins
