Kentucky’s newest Monarch Butterfly Waystation will be dedicated Wednesday afternoon (October 16) in Ashland. Members of the Southern Hills Garden Club helped develop the site in Central Park near an elementary school playground.
It’s an effort by the club and many other organizations to provide a migratory habitat for the insect, which is believed to be disappearing because of increased pesticide use and urbanization.
Amanda Gilmore is with the Southern Hills group and says it’s important to provide a natural habitat for the butterflies to flourish.
“They’ve noticed that the Monarch Butterfly population is dwindling because a lot of their native, a lot of the places they’ve found milkweed like by the side of the road and naturally, those places are gone so they need individuals and groups such as this to plant places for them to stop.” –Amanda Gilmore
The waystation includes milkweed, purple Coneflower and dwarf butterfly bushes. Wednesday’s dedication is set to begin at 2 p.m.