The 300for300 Pollinator Garden Initiative, our community wide effort to plant 300 new pollinator gardens for San Antonio’s Tricentennial year reached, 150 sign-ups this week. That means we’re halfway to our goal of 300, with about three weeks to our stated deadline of October 21 and our 2018 Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival.
Our previous update August 11 had 81 local gardeners committing to plant nectar and host plants for pollinators and other wildlife. Since, that number has almost doubled as of this writing.
Our map plotting the pollinator habitats has gotten a bit crowded. Check it out, below. Click to view the full, interactive version.
San Antonio’s downtown District 1 still leads the pack with 38 habitats. District 8 comes in second with 21 habitats, and District 2 isn’t far behind with 17. Part of our original goal was to create 30 habitats in each of our 10 city council districts to reach 300. Distract 1 earn the distinction as FIRST to hit that landmark. Congratulations, District 1!
Our map is also a great reminder that butterflies know no borders. People from anywhere can sign up to participate in the 300for300 initiative. We currently have 22 habitats outside San Antonio’s city limits, which is the second largest group of habitats overall after District 1.
Keep in mind that San Antonio has always been known for its hospitality and the city’s embrace of pollinator habitats continues that tradition.
If you have friends or neighbors who might join us, please share this post with them and get ready to start planting! The cooling weather and plentiful rain make this the perfect time to start your own pollinator garden. Monarchs and other pollinators will start moving through the region soon. Have you noticed all those snout-nosed butterflies passing through town? Their abundance suggests a banner year for monarchs, too.
If you’re ready to start your habitat, then sign up on this page or read more about 300for300. If you’d like to purchase a pollinator habitat sign to tout your garden and help educate the community of the importance of wildlife pollinators, you can do so at our online shop.
Related posts:
- Pollinator habitat signs now available
- Vote! For your favorite San Antonio 300for300 pollinator habitat sign
- Planting a pollinator garden? Here’s tips on how to do it
- Cowpen Daisy plays host plant to Bordered Patch Butterfly
- Update: San Antonio 300for300 pollinator habitat map activated
- Mostly native urban butterfly garden outperforms lawn anytime
- New study: nectar plants more important than milkweed for monarch butterfly migration
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At this time I have 7 milkweed plants and quite a few pollinator plants. I had more milkweed plants last year but lost most of them when we had our big freeze. I have one milkweed plant that lost most of it’s leaves. The leaves (I think it wasn’t watered properly while we were out of town). Is there any way to encourage the leaf regrowth. I know we don’t have much time before the monarch’s get here.
I’m no expert, but I would say just chop it down and let it get ready for next spring.
I just got my first Monarch on Saturday in my 300for300 Pollinator Habitat garden, it was loving my butterfly weed. As a first year butterfly gardener (or any kind of gardener at all for that matter), I was very excited. I also had a snout-nosed butterfly visit me earlier in the day. I wanted to send a picture, but could not find any way to do it. If someone can tell me how to include a picture, I would appreciate it. Thanks.
While I am not in the San Antonio area, I am a promoter of pollinator habitat. I volunteer with the Mesquite Parks Department to improve and expand the Butterfly Trail in our Paschal Park. I have expanded my butterfly garden to include both the back and front yards. I collect seeds of native wildflowers during the year and make seed balls that the city hands out at different events. Tow years back the Volunteer Coordinator for the City of Mesquite, Paige Sweeney, wrote a grant proposal. Mesquite was one of four cities nationwide that was awarded a $20,000 grant by Keep America Beautiful/ Lowe’s to be used to upgrade and improve our butterfly trail. We put up new signs and bought native wildflower seed to be used in newer areas of our trail. It is an ongoing effort to expand and improve our pollinator trail. I also keep finding new native seeds to be used in my yard.