Hollars win monarch garden challenge

Julie and Randy Hollar won first place in the city of San Marcos Discovery Center’s MiGreat Challenge monarch butterfly garden contest.

At their home in Mockingbird Hills, the Hollars have several different gardens that attract wildlife. They said they enjoy watching the birds that come to visit and, of course, the butterflies.

“I’ve been planting seeds since I was about 10,” Julie Hollar said. She considers gardening a way to relieve stress, plus it is an activity she can do with her grandchildren. She also enjoys seeing what kind of animals and insects show up to live among her plants.

“We have the most beautiful caterpillars,” she said.

The contest was open to San Marcos residents and had several criteria for gardens, including the presence of at least two types of native milkweed plants, the use of primarily perennial native or adapted nectar source plants, and the presence of at least one sunny area and one source of water.

Victor Ma with the Discovery Center said the city began the MiGreat Challenge contest this year.

“It’s part of several programs to introduce monarch conservation citywide,” he said.

Mayor John Thomaides has signed a pledge to turn San Marcos into a Monarch Champion city — a designation bestowed by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and currently only held by San Antonio and McAllen, Eric Weeks of the Discovery Center explained.

There are 24 criteria that cities must meet to earn the Monarch Champion title, Weeks said, and San Marcos already met 10 of them.

Ma said the city will be hosting a Monarch Festival in October as part of the push to become a Monarch Champion city.

Monarch butterflies migrate across North America every year. In recent years, their population has been challenged. Gardeners who live along migration routes often plant gardens to provide the butterflies with habitat and nutrition.

For more on the Mayors Monarch Pledge and other NWF programs, visit https://bit.