Monarchs in Apollo Park volunteers Paul Vandenberg (left), Pete Sebborn and Fiona Donald.
Monarchs in Apollo Park volunteers Paul Vandenberg (left), Pete Sebborn and Fiona Donald.
It's 10 years, give or take a few butterfly wing spans, since Paul Vandenberg's vision started taking shape.
The first Monarchs in Apollo Park working bee took place in June 2011 and the Milson park's cafe for butterflies has been expanding since.
Vandenberg used to live in the neighbourhood andhis daughter Hannah told him about the butterflies she had noticed in the park. The Forest and Bird member was inspired to try and do something for the colourful insects and pitched the idea of a park within a park to his conservation buddies.
Vandenberg thinks the park - which was then really just a paddock - was popular with butterflies as it was so quiet and the big willow trees provided a place for the monarchs to winter over.
The first job was clearing the two alleyways between houses to the park that were a zigzag maze of weeds.
The main garden is laid out in the shape of a butterfly filled with predominately hebes that flower at different times. Hebes with small flowers were chosen as they are easier for the butterflies to get into to feed.
Volunteers have planted high-value nectar plants predominately for butterflies but also other insects such as the New Zealand praying mantis. Its population has been affected by the introduced South African praying mantis as they compete for the same resources.
"If you actually sit down and start studying the plants, it's amazing what you find," Vandenberg says.
Volunteers have also put in two other gardens - one is around one of the original willows, and the other on a fenceline. The volunteers also built lime pathways.
A bee and a yellow admiral butterfly feasting on a white hebe. Photo / Judith Lacy
The yellow admiral, spotted the day the Manawatū Guardian visited, is native to New Zealand and Australia - its caterpillars eat stinging nettles. The red admiral is native to NZ only and its caterpillars eat ongaonga, or the New Zealand tree nettle. There are no nettles in the park but are in gardens nearby.
Vandenberg says the weather has been a big challenge - flooding and drought. One year volunteers were bringing in a water tank every other day to water the plants.
Muehlenbeckia was planted for New Zealand copper butterflies but attempts to introduce them have not been successful as they flew away again.
Volunteers keep an eye out for the introduced paper wasp, which stings and kills monarch caterpillars. Vandenberg says the wasps are the ferrets of the insect world - they kill for fun.
The joy has been watching the gardens grow and the number of people enjoying them, particularly the smiley faces. "Just seeing the park grow and develop, it's been amazing."
He can go to the park and count 100 butterflies. The park is also home to damselflies, the small cousins of dragonflies.
Apollo Butterfly Park in Palmerston North. Barbara Dawson donated the mosaic. Photo / Judith Lacy
Initial funding for the butterfly park came from the Palmerston North City Environmental Trust. Vandenberg, who drives a logging truck, has put in a lot of his own money. He's keen for funding for signposts stating the names of the plants and what they are for.
Vandenberg says the group would love a toilet block at Apollo Park with an outside water source. Currently, a neighbour lets children at the park's playground use her facilities. They also want to lime paths around the main garden to make them usable in winter and for wheelchair users.
The volunteers are celebrating their first decade with a potluck meal this month. Vandenberg, Pete Sebborn, Rodger Purchas, Henk Janssen, Midge Janssen and Manawatū Native Plant Nursery owner Terry Endres have all been involved from day one.
