Monarch Sanctuary Project

Monarch Sanctuary Project Creating sanctuaries of support for monarch butterflies through central Texas.

Did you know that we’ve given away over 50 HABITATS to date?! That’s 50 more sanctuaries of support, y’all!Thanks to a h...
08/20/2026

Did you know that we’ve given away over 50 HABITATS to date?! That’s 50 more sanctuaries of support, y’all!

Thanks to a hefty grant from our friends H-E-B and a NEW collaboration with Hill Country Bloomers, we’re giving away another SIXTEEN kits this fall!

Q. What is a native gift garden kit?

A. Our gift garden kits provide plants for a 100 sq ft, all-season monarch habitat complete with all the native milkweeds and nectars needed to support the monarch migration as they come through Texas in the spring and fall. 🐛

Q. Why do we offer gift gardens?

A. One of our pillar goals with the Monarch Sanctuary Project is to put back pollinator habitats in our local communities. We want to put the power in YOUR hands to create, observe, enjoy and maintain these vital native habitats. 💪🏽

The 16 fall Texas-native habitat kits include:

🌼 3 spring-blooming nectar plants
🪻 3 summer-blooming nectar plants
🌸 3 fall-blooming nectar plants
🌿 A mix of 12 native milkweeds
🌟 10 of the kits will include all nectar plants with a voucher for milkweeds as soon as they're mature enough

Q. What are the requirements of a gift garden?

☀️ Full sun
🚫 No pesticides
👩🏽‍🌾 An installation, maintenance, and watering plan

Q. Who can apply for a gift garden?

A. Anyone (in Wilco/Travis Cty) can apply for the gift garden program! Families, schools, businesses - we need habitats everywhere! We will select a variety of different recipients.

Q. How do we select the gift garden recipients?

A. We will sit down together as a team and review the applications. We’ll select 16 garden recipients in both Williamson and Travis Counties. We’ll consider why you’re applying. Will the garden be visible to the public? Do you intend to use your garden for educational purposes? Who will be maintaining the garden?

APPLICATION LINK IS ON OUR WEBSITE under “Butterfly Garden” (link in bio). Tag someone who needs to read this!

Applications are now OPEN. Last day to apply is Sunday, September 20th. Garden recipients will be notified by email and phone on September 22nd (fall equinox). We can’t wait to read your applications!

Hey! What are you doing this Wednesday morning, June 24th?! Do you have an hour or so free at 9am to come play with us i...
06/22/2026

Hey! What are you doing this Wednesday morning, June 24th?! Do you have an hour or so free at 9am to come play with us in our Lake Pflugerville habitat beds?

Last we checked, they looked GORGEOUS (these plants were clearly showing off during the Pflugerville water restrictions). So, why are we going? Because it's Pollinator Weeeeeeeek! Also, because it's time to tidy them up a bit. After all, they are they official gatekeepers of the park's main entrance.

We just need a few extra hands!

There are 6 beds in total. We'll be doing a little pruning, weeding, seed-harvesting and obviously taking pictures of all of the biodiversity these native plants have attracted in just a few short years.

Shoot us a message (or just show up) to let us know you're coming!

Lake Pflugerville Park
18216 Weiss Ln, Pflugerville, TX 78660

Monarch Sanctuary Project is delighted to table for this event again this year! Our non-profit organization would not ex...
06/10/2026

Monarch Sanctuary Project is delighted to table for this event again this year! Our non-profit organization would not exist without the educational opportunities provided by the Texas Master Naturalist Program, the resources, and the pledge we all willingly take to serve as proud stewards of all things Texas nature. We love to represent our local chapter, share our educational materials, and soak up fresh new perspectives with other nature-loving, like-minded weirdos!

"The Good Water Master Naturalist Chapter is excited to invite the public to our nature and conservation event, “From Balconies to Backyards: Taking care of what you have,” on Saturday, July 18, 2026, at 100 Wilco Way, Georgetown, TX.

John Hart Asher, host of the Austin PBS Central Texas Gardener television show, is the keynote speaker.

Asher has almost 20 years of experience designing and building functional ecosystems within urban conditions. He has conducted basic ecological research, offered workshops to professionals and the public, and provided fee-supported ecological consulting.

He works with integrated design teams to translate sustainable design into successful projects that provide varying layers of ecosystems services.

🎤 Meet our Featured Speakers

🌼 Anna Kurtin: Coexisting with Charismatic Minifauna

🌼 Gil Eckrich: Do Less—For More Birds! (And Butterflies, too)

🌼 Roy Johnson: Climate Resilience Around Trees & Gardening

⏳️ Program Agenda
12:30 pm – Doors open
1:00–1:15 pm – Opening Remarks
1:15–2:15 pm – Anna Kurtain: Coexisting with Charismatic Minifauna
2:15–2:45 pm – Break
2:45–3:45 pm – Roy Johnson: Climate Resilience Around Trees and Gardening
3:45–4:15 pm – Break
4:15–5:15 pm – Gil Eckrich: Do Less — For More Birds! (And Butterflies, too)
5:15–6:00 pm – Dinner Break
6:00–7:00 pm – Keynote Speaker: John Hart Asher: Be the Bison!

👀 Regular pricing:
$35 per person for in-person ticket. (Deadline is July 10th, 2026)
$20 per person for virtual ticket. (Deadline to purchase virtual tickets is July 16, 2026)
Register now and circle July 18, 2026 on your calendar for the 2026 From Balconies to Backyards event!"

🖋 Register here: https://mailchi.mp/514257b20e

🧠 Learn more about From Balconies to Backyards.

We love AND ! Always a pleasure tabling an event for a city that has given so much support to our non-profit, and the h...
06/09/2026

We love AND ! Always a pleasure tabling an event for a city that has given so much support to our non-profit, and the health of the monarch migration in Pflugerville as a whole. Represent! This will be a lovely collaboration of some pillar local organizations offering some sage advice about how to support our local pollinators. Go home with lots of actionable solutions and tangible ways to dig in and start helping. Literally! Come through!

With that in mind, our founder, will be giving a short presentation that covers:

🧘‍♀️ A short Monarch Metamorphic Meditation 🦋

📝 A little bit about our organization ✨️

🎤 Introduce our all-star, native-to-Texas, milkweeds and nectars habitat cast and crew🌿🐛

📖 A brief history behind our Pflugerville habitats, what to look for, and how to best enjoy their lifecycles through the seasons.

👀 We will be giving out a PFREE PACK OF NATIVE MILKWEED SEEDS, and selling our absolutely beautiful habitat signs!

"Join us for Pflutter Pfest and celebrate the pollinators and native plants that help Texas landscapes thrive!🦋🐝

Pflutter Pfest takes place on Saturday, June 27 from 9 am to noon at the Pflugerville Public Library (1008 W. Pfluger Street). This pfamily-pfriendly event features educational speakers, hands-on activities, crafts, vendor tables and resources focused on pollinators, native plants and local ecosystems.

Hear from organizations including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Monarch Sanctuary Project, Balcones Canyonlands Master Naturalists, Pflugerville Water Conservation and Travis County Master Gardeners.

Enjoy seed bomb making, bee hotel crafts, a plant swap, a community BioBlitz and opportunities to connect with local experts while learning how to support pollinators at home.

🔗Learn more on ActiveNet: https://bit.ly/43BbzDY"

Antelope Horns milkweed seed pod development to harvest! I took the first pod picture on April 13 and harvested it exact...
05/16/2026

Antelope Horns milkweed seed pod development to harvest! I took the first pod picture on April 13 and harvested it exactly one month later on May 13th.

I watch my plants like a hawk waiting for the VERY short window of time between when the pod splits open naturally (indicating seeds are ready) but before the seeds start wildly flying away like an ethereal Texas snowglobe. If I know I won't have the time to catch them at this perfect stage, I put an organza baggie over it to contain the seeds and floss until I can patiently process them later.

That said, I want to be clear about our seed collection ethics:

🌎🌱 We never collect all the seeds. We take what we know we will grow, and we let the rest continue on to their unknown destinations to do big work.

✅️ We only collect from our own personal habitats or approved habitats by independent land owners, park spaces or businesses.

🙏🏽 If you find yourself curious, please be respectful and harvest with care.

We're joining Families in Nature again this year at Fall in Love with Nature Day tomorrow (Sunday 4/26) ! We LOVE, LOVE,...
04/25/2026

We're joining Families in Nature again this year at Fall in Love with Nature Day tomorrow (Sunday 4/26) ! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this event!!! Come
out for a day of outdoor fun for all ages. Enjoy activities like archery, fishing, forest bathing, live
music and fun prize opportunities, while exploring Austin’s closest state park!

As always, our table will have educational materials, and we will be giving away a fabulous selection of native nectar plants:

🌼 Red Turk’s Cap, Flaming Acanthus, Fragrant Mistflower, Gregg's Blue Mistflower, Zexmenia and Purple Skullcap

👀 Fall in Love with Nature Day is a free event, but (unless you have a valid Texas State Parks Pass) paid admission to McKinney Falls State Park is still required at the gate (currently $6 for people ages 13 years and up; free for kids 12 years and under).

See y'all outside! 😘 🐛

PS- On a very personal note, the event photographer 📸 is my husband and it's our anniversary weekend! ❤️


We call her Big Mama G. We don't know how old she is but she is majestic and sassy. She lives next to our Pflugerville g...
04/14/2026

We call her Big Mama G. We don't know how old she is but she is majestic and sassy. She lives next to our Pflugerville greenhouse near the pond, and the seeds she offers up every year produce the most incredible powerhouse Green milkweed babies! She is a testament to why sourcing local ecotype plants is the way to go. They're already accustomed to the exact soil under our feet. Planting local ecotypes is literally like hiring the best candidate for the job!

Big Mama G is a Green milkweed (Asclepias viridis). Green is one of our largest milkweed plants in Texas with lush, sizeable leaves that support many hungry monarch mouths!



Stop everything you're doing and look at this absolutely glorious representation of Plateau Milkvine (Matelea edwardsens...
04/10/2026

Stop everything you're doing and look at this absolutely glorious representation of Plateau Milkvine (Matelea edwardsensis)!!! This shade-loving, vining milkweed is endemic to Texas and is found in woodland rocky soils, usually climbing up the base of another plant.

Peep the intricate veiny design in those green, star-shaped flowers! Are you KIDDING me?! ☠️

Best life right here for these two fat cats. They should be filling up within the next day or 2.Zizotes is such a rockst...
03/25/2026

Best life right here for these two fat cats. They should be filling up within the next day or 2.

Zizotes is such a rockstar milkweed. Look at those lush 🍃 leaves!

03/25/2026

We’re officially calling this an unofficial production - as they have supported our initiatives from day 1, at every turn. Including hosting our Wildflowers and Wings event suuuper last minute!

It seemed perfectly fitting that our Garden Giveaway recipients were able to park their cars and load up their native garden giveaway plant kits curbside-style, y’all. That’s 600 sq ft of habitat going back where it belongs!

And the Milkweed Giveaway? It was such a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye to 1000 of our beloved milkweed! But what a thing to imagine the roots of those native plants soldiering their way under the ground, into your gardens and across our ecoregions.

As always, we loved providing digestible education for all ages and walks of life. Yep, we even had celebrity guests! Monarchs, in any stage, have this delightful way of inspiring curiosity and wonder in all of us.

And on this beautiful first day of spring, the Monarchs (and H-E-B) brought so many unique people together. New friends, old friends, family: Community. In support of such a noble cause:

For the Monarchs. For the Milkweeds! And for the survival of their great migration.

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801 US/183
Leander, TX
78641

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