January 05, 2025
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Streator monarch garden volunteers to begin planting Saturday

6 residents have said they also will plant gardens at their homes

By Derek Barichello
Angela Lappa, a 2nd grade teacher at St. Dennis School, holds a Monarch Butterfly before it flies away. The school raised a kaleidoscope of Monarch Butterflies and released them Tuesday. Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Lockport.

The Streator Monarch Mission begins Saturday. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Gary Middendorf)

The Streator Monarch Mission begins Saturday.

The volunteer effort was given approval Wednesday by the Streator City Council to move forward with planting a pollinator garden at the west entrance of the Hopalong Cassidy Canoe Launch, flowers and native grasses between the levy and the Vermilion River, and a buckwheat field to the north of Marilla Park; and to add perennial flowers to the planters by the incubator; and to plant a sunflower patch in the area west of the incubator.

The Park Board had recommended the projects April 13.

Nina Vaughn, who initiated the effort, said work begins 9 a.m. Saturday at the canoe launch. She’s rented a sod cutter and said anyone is welcome to help with the effort. She said 200 pounds of buckwheat seed has been ordered for Marilla Park and she’s going to acquire the sunflower seeds for the incubator before the weekend.

Vaughn said she’s not only excited about the citywide projects but also by the homeowners who have chosen to plant their own gardens. She said six people have told her they will plant a garden.

The monarch butterfly, Illinois’ state insect, last summer was listed as endangered on the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species.

Streator’s sites will be eligible to become Monarch Waystations. These are places that provide resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration, according to the program’s website.

Without milkweeds throughout their spring and summer in North America, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration to Mexico each fall. Similarly, without nectar from flowers, these fall migratory monarch butterflies would be unable to make their migration. Anyone interested can go to https://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/#register for more information on how to create a waystation.

Anyone interested in volunteering with the Streator Monarch Mission or getting more information about planting can go to the volunteers’ Facebook page.