Monarch Waystation at Clear Lake
June 24, 2016
On the south side of Clear Lake at the corner of SR 120 and Fountain Beach Drive is a “Monarch Waystation”. Rick Eckert has planted 150 Asceoepias turbosa, a variety of Milkweed, which like moderate to full sun, and 150 of a mixed variety of flowering nectar plants for adult butterflies.
According to, monarchwatch.org/waystations, each fall, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to overwintering areas in Mexico and California where they wait out the winter until conditions favor a return flight in the spring. The monarch migration is truly one of the world's greatest natural wonders, yet it is threatened by habitat loss in North America - at the overwintering sites and throughout the spring and summer breeding range as well. To see the migration animation click here.
Monarch Waystations are places that provide resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration, according to, monarchwatch.org/waystations. Further, without milkweeds throughout their spring and summer breeding areas in North America, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration each fall. Similarly, without nectar from flowers these fall migratory monarch butterflies would be unable to make their long journey to overwintering grounds in Mexico. The need for host plants for larvae and energy sources for adults applies to all monarch and butterfly populations around the world.
