Welcome to The Monarch, our luxury “hotel” for butterflies. This pollinator garden was added to The Lorraine Cherry Nature Preserve on October 21, 2023. We wanted a place for Monarchs to stop over and recharge as they migrated. However, we also wanted a city refuge for our native butterflies as well as our native bee, wasp, and fly populations. We are growing many native plants, including: Prairie Blazing Star, Illinois Bundleflower, Partridge Pea, Gulf Vervain, Texas Coneflower, Blue Mist Flower, Lyreleaf Sage, Gulf Penstemon, and a variety of local Milkweeds, including Green, Orange, and Zyzotes.

Our pollinator habitat beautifies the space, increases native biodiversity, increases pollination services and biological control of “pest” insects, and provides community engagement and learning opportunities. Like this one, pollinator gardens are often for smaller scale gardens in urban areas..

We have planted native plants as they are considered the best choice for many reasons. They are good sources of food, have an abundance of nectar, are low maintenance, and generally pest free and drought tolerant. They shelter wildlife and are naturally beautiful. These valuable garden plants feed not only Monarchs, but they save butterflies in urban areas, can be adapted to fit in smaller gardens, and have many colorful variations.

The Nature Preserve is about so much more than our trees. It is a place of refuge in our busy urban environment for wildlife as well as people. Please be kind when you visit, realizing that you are a visitor to our urban animals’ homes. Please do not remove anything from the Nature Preserve, or move anything about within the preserve. Using our designated paths and trails preserves this thoughtfully created space for generations to come. Please stay on the paths (and keep your dogs on-leash and on the paths with you at all times) in an effort to foster more livable spaces for our plants and animals. It is only by working together to preserve our amazing piece of urban nature that we will have moments with flowers, trees, birds, butterflies, and our neighbors.