Pictured: A group of Pflugerville, Texas, community members sit in lawn chairs in front of a stage where Sonia K. with the Monarch Sanctuary Project is presenting. The stage has a multicolor background that says “UNITY, as well as a sign with different types of flowers, a bowl with various squash and a bunch of seedlings. Photo Credit: Monarch Sanctuary Project.

In September of 2023, the City of Pflugerville, Texas, and Monarch Sanctuary Project hosted a well-attended educational workshop called “Impacting Change: Gardening for our Native Pollinators.” Participants from across the mid-size Austin suburb showed up to learn what they could do in their backyards to help save their native pollinators.

This workshop was part of a broader push for pollinator education surrounding the City of Pflugerville’s first Parks for Pollinator BioBlitz. Participants received “Garden to Go” kits that included native wildflower seeds and information on how to participate in the Parks for Pollinators BioBlitz.

A partnership between the Monarch Sanctuary Project and the Pflugerville Parks and Recreation Department began four years ago. Thanks to support from the Pflugerville Parks and Recreation department, Sonia with the Monarch Sanctuary Project moved from growing 300 milkweed seedlings out of her closet to growing 4,000 Texas milkweed seedlings out of a greenhouse the City of Pflugerville provided.

When the Pflugerville Parks and Recreation Department approached Sonia last year, asking her to provide educational workshops to promote the BioBlitz, she immediately said yes. She was more than happy to pour back into a parks department that has been “a wealth of support for [her] dream.”

Pflugerville Parks and Recreation and the Monarch Sanctuary Project plan to continue their partnership this year as they participate in their second year of the BioBlitz. Collaboration between park agencies and non-profit organizations for the BioBlitz is essential to helping people of all ages and walks of life develop a deep sense of curiosity and wonder about our outdoor spaces. It also educates the public about the other creatures that rely on them, like pollinators. The Monarch Sanctuary Project believes "when conservation, education and interpretation initiatives meet up with park agencies, we create a trail of opportunity that guides folks to fall in love with nature - and what we love, we protect!"

Timmy Ward, recreation program supervisor at the City of Pflugerville, said the city chose to host the BioBlitz program in 2023 because it aligned with their excitement for pollinators. It was easy for him to adapt the city’s plans for Pollinator Week to the needs of this program. They used NRPA's toolkit to set up the BioBlitz, primarily utilizing the provided graphics to help promote the campaign, as well as using detailed instructions on how to set up a project in iNaturalist. This was especially helpful since it was their first time participating in the BioBlitz and they had not previously created a project in iNaturalist.

All park and recreation departments who participate in the BioBlitz are entered into a raffle for a chance to win six prizes, either one of three $1,000 cash prizes or one of three gardening prize pack from Scotts Miracle-Gro that include items like hoses, watering tools, hand trowels, seed spreaders, gloves and other gardening supplies. In their first year participating, the City of Pflugerville won a prize pack!

They used their prize to turn some empty raised beds into a community garden they call a “Texas Tea” garden. Full of yaupon holly, mint, rosemary, sage and other pollinator-friendly herbs, the garden is available for anyone to pick herbs to steep in their own homemade teas.

The Miracle-Gro prize pack provided the perfect resources to help jumpstart the Texas Tea Garden project. Park and recreation staff were able to use the hydroponics growing system to get herbs sprouted over the winter so they’d be ready to plant during the growing season. They also used the garden tools, fertilizer, and soil to help keep the garden healthy and maintained while the plants were getting established in the new garden.