Avnet Cares recently had 15 volunteers spend a Friday morning working with the Desert Botanical Garden (DBG) employees on their Great Milkweed Grow Out Program. Avnet awarded a grant to support the program this past spring. The program is part of DBG’s conservation research efforts and a portion of Avnet’s funding supports the addition of an intern to help with the research.
The volunteer event took place at Spaces of Opportunity, a 19-acre area of land in South Phoenix that is truly an urban garden. The space was created out of a partnership among a number of organizations, including DBG, and includes a farmer’s market, community garden space and research area. The Avnet volunteers planted milkweed plants, clipped and collected seedlings, and built two retention basins.
The milkweed is a native plant and is the only plant that monarch and queen butterflies will lay their eggs on, and that caterpillars can eat. There are 30 different species of milkweed plants which gets its name from the milky sap contained in its leaves and stems.
Monarch butterflies can be found in Arizona from October thru May and Queen butterflies can be found year-round. DBG is working to expand milkweed gardens into urban ecosystems.
“Monarch butterflies and other pollinators have faced significant declines in the last few decades. Planting habitat, including in-home and urban landscapes, is our best chance at bringing back their populations,” shared Natalie Melkonoff, Plant and Insect Ecology program manager for DBG.
The interactions between plants and insects are key to the health of humans and our planet. Insects are necessary for the success of most of our food crops and 80% of non-cultivated plants. The interactions between plants and insects are also key to building healthy, resilient ecosystems in both urban areas and wildlands.
The Avnet volunteers were happy to help with the work needed in the garden and learned a great deal about milkweeds and pollinators in the process. DBG hopes that other groups and individuals will consider planting milkweeds and expanding their project even further.