Monarch butterflies need our help to survive their long migration. In response to this need, The Gertrude Windsor Garden Club, a member of Garden Club of America, has created a certified Monarch Waystation at Woldert Park, located at 501 W. 32nd St.

The Gertrude Windsor Garden Club members, in conjunction with the City of Tyler Parks and Recreation Department, will dedicate the Monarch Butterfly Waystation at 11 a.m. on May 5 at Woldert Park. There will be a butterfly release after the dedication.

Monarch Waystations are important to the Monarch butterflies’ survival because much of their habitat in the United States is lost every year due to land clearing, the use of pesticide-infused seed, new housing, commercial development and mowing roadsides and empty lots.

With so many of their resting areas destroyed, waystations provide the butterflies with milkweed plants where they can lay their eggs. Without plants from the milkweed family, monarchs cannot reproduce. Waystations also provide nectar sources and shelter to sustain the butterflies as they migrate though North America as well as attracting other butterfly species.

The Monarch butterflies we see in East Texas in Spring and Fall spend their winters in Mexico’s central mountain range and summers in the northern United States. These butterflies travel up to three thousand miles. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, two-way migration every year.

For more information on the dedication for the Monarch Butterfly Waystation at Woldert Park, please contact Tyler Parks and Recreation at 903-531-1370.

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