Butterfly farm to spread its wings
Encinitas vivarium will close June 23 and relocate to a new, bigger location this summer
Written by Pam Kragen JUNE 18, 2013
Excerpt from utsandiego.com
The Monarch Program and Hatchery currently located in Encinitas will be relocating to a more accessible location that will allow for more sun for the butterflies and allow for more research and education programs to enhance community awareness for the butterfly. A fundraiser to help support the move will be held on June 22 – 23, 11-3pm at the Encinitas location. — Amy McDonald Photo Credit
ENCINITAS — In butterfly terminology, The Monarch Program is just about ready for its chrysalis stage.
For founder and director David Marriott, the transformation is long overdue.
“I just can’t wait to get over to the new location. It’s really exciting what we’ll be doing there and the potential for growth is enormous,” said Marriott, 61, a self-trained lepidopterist with a doctorate in musicology. He founded the nonprofit Monarch Program in 1990, and a year later, opened the small butterfly farm and classroom on the grounds of a nursery on Ocean View Avenue.
Although the price for the space was right — Marriott’s benevolent landlord John Renaker, 98, has never charged rent — the location is less than ideal for the educational programs Marriott offers (grade school classes visit virtually every weekday from April through mid-November). The nursery is on a residential street with no parking and the only signage is a piece of cardboard with the word “butterflies” and an arrow scrawled on it.
It has also become less inviting for the monarchs and the eight to 10 other butterfly species Marriott raises on the property. The roof of the greenhouse where he grows “host” plants that the butterflies use for feeding and egg-laying has collapsed, and he can’t spray the invading pests (aphids, thrips and leaf miners) because pesticides would kill the butterflies. Also, the tall trees that have grown up around the property now block much of the sunlight that the butterflies need to thrive and reproduce.