Lakeland is hoping to become the home of lots more Monarch butterflies.
The city's parks department will plant thousands of milkweed plants around the city to make that possible.
City horticulturalist Bill Koen said dwindling milkweed habitat makes it harder for Monarchs to thrive because milkweed is all they really eat. "It's a problem all over the United States. And that's why we have gone to the extra length to plant the extra plants."
The city grows the milkweed plants at its nursery off Highway 98 in south Lakeland and is planting them mostly at parks. The milkweed plants are a magnet for the butterflies.
"My experience with this is if you plant milkweed plants the adult monarch butterflies will find the plants, feed on the nectar and then lay their eggs," Koen said.
Those eggs quickly turn into caterpillars that start eating the milkweed leaves. They are such voracious eaters that the plants are often stripped bare of the leaves before the caterpillars turn into a beautiful chrysalis.
"It's a beautiful part of nature," said nursery worker Larry Alspaugh. He enjoys growing the milkweed plants knowing that a Monarch will emerge from the chrysalis. "You see the beautiful winged creature they turn into. It's awesome."
Some of the milkweed plants will be given to local public schools that have their own butterfly gardens.