Pollinator Garden Workday At City Hall

A native plant pollinator garden is coming to City Hall!

Did you know that the Western Monarch butterfly population has been plummeting at an alarming rate? As recently as 1980, researchers estimated that over 4.5 million monarch butterflies spent the winter in California. Last year, the Western Monarch Count recorded a peak population of just 9,119 monarchs, a 96% decrease from the 233,394 in 2023.

In an effort to restore pollinator habitat and the monarch butterfly population, the City of Solana Beach has been a member of the nationwide “Mayors’ Monarch Pledge” since 2021. This pledge requires participating cities to commit to at least three (3) actions to restore and enhance habitat for monarchs every year. As a part of this, the City is taking action by working with local volunteer gardening group, the SeaWeeders, and the Climate & Resiliency Commission to propose and plant a pollinator garden in front of City Hall this Spring!

This pollinator garden directly addresses and positively impacts the population of monarch butterflies and other pollinators by providing viable habitat at City Hall, supporting measure 4.2.7 Coastal Habitat of the Climate Action Plan Update as well. This will attract pollinators, including Monarch butterflies, and thereby support the health of all plants in Solana Beach. This pollinator garden also will include native plants that are low water intensive to account for the specific environment of the area.

The SeaWeeders and the City will be hosting a workday to uproot old plants and start planting the garden! Please join us at City Hall on Saturday, June 7th at 8 am – 12 pm if you are interested in getting involved.

The SeaWeeders will be selling native narrowleaf milkweed plants for your own home garden as well! The cost is $13 for a 2-gallon pot. Please send your order request to sbseaweeders@gmail.com by 5pm on June 2nd, if you would like to take one home!

We hope to see you there!