A San Leandro Monarch Butterfly Story

During April and May 2026, we focused on our local Western Monarch butterflies plus the native Milkweed plants that support them. This was part of a special project with the San Leandro Public Library to promote their exhibit "Monarchs & Milkweed: A Story Of Survival", which ends on May 30, 2026. All the resources and links we collected about this important topic will remain on this page of our website.

We are grateful to our many collaborators for this community project including: Our friends at Homegrown Habitats San Leandro, especially Stefanie Pruegel; The San Leandro Butterfly Garden's chief steward, Lary Huls; The City of San Leandro, especially Kimberly Anderson; ALL of the San Leandro Public Library staff, especially Kelly Keefer; the Xerces Society's conservation biologist Isis Howard; and our local Alameda County Master Gardener, Irene Beebe.

We hope you enjoy this short story that shows a local example of how to support these beautiful and iconic creatures in your own outdoor space.

From Our Nursery to Her Patio: One Milkweed Plant Makes a Difference

Meet Brenda Pineda. She works here at Evergreen as our store supervisor and is one of our cashiers. If somebody picks up your phone call, it's often Brenda. You'll also see her shooting pictures around the nursery as our main photographer.

Brenda purchased one of our 4-inch California Native Narrow Leaf Milkweed plants back in the early spring. She took it to her San Leandro home and transplanted it into a large pot on her patio. Soon after, she noticed a few small white eggs on the leaves.

Within days a baby Monarch Caterpillar appeared, followed by a few more. Based on the timing, we think the eggs were probably deposited by a female Monarch while the plant was still at our nursery.

Very soon there were multiple caterpillars on Brenda's milkweed plant--and they were Very Hungry. They began to devour all the leaves with only the stems remaining (this is okay; it does not harm the plant).

Brenda brought the caterpillars two more Milkweed plants to munch on so they could grow to their full size and enter their next stage of metamorphosis.

The Magic of Metamorphosis

Soon the mature caterpillars formed their chrysalises on the ceiling of a small mesh enclosure that Brenda purchased from an online butterfly supplies site. This gave the Monarchs a safe space where they were protected from other critters, including Brenda's adorable and curious dog.

After two weeks the first Monarch Butterfly emerged! Brenda made plans to safely transport it to the nursery so she could release it into our new Pollinator Garden.

The young butterfly was placed in the garden on Saturday, May 9th. Many pictures were taken before it took flight. What we've learned during the past few months from all the Monarch experts is that this generation of butterflies will live for several weeks as they make their way east towards California's Central Valley. Then they will reproduce and their mission will be done.

There will be a few more successive generations as the Monarchs continue traveling towards the Rockies. The final Super Generation will not reproduce right away; they'll use all their energy to return here in the late fall to enter winter dormancy together in sheltered spots like the eucalyptus grove at the San Leandro Golf Course. After a few months when dormancy ends, they'll leave the grove in search of Milkweed to lay their eggs and the migratory cycle will begin all over again.

Plant Milkweed Now and Keep the Cycle Going

You can still plant Narrow Leaf Milkweed (Asclepius fascicularis), or the much taller and thicker Showy Milkweed (Asclepius speciosa), to help any remaining caterpillars who may be emerging in your garden. These hardy plants are perennials that die back in winter and re-emerge in early spring. Plant them now and you will help provide critical reproductive habitat for future generations of our local Monarch population.

Happy Pollinator Gardening from all of us at Evergreen Nursery in San Leandro!