Crossroads News
Planting the Monarch Butterfly Garden
The Monarch butterfly garden takes shape outside the new science building.
The Science Education & Research Facility is just weeks away from completion and workers are planting the Monarch butterfly plaza. Designed by landscape architect Pamela Burton, this area is intended to provide a feeding garden for the adult Monarchs and includes such native species as purple coneflower and English lavender.
The design includes a graph mapping the Monarch population as recorded in Mexico from 1993 to 2014—showing the dramatic population decline. The final, undesignated bar allows students to continue to record butterfly population data. This living laboratory is intended to give students the opportunity to study and potentially help restore the declining Monarch butterfly population.
