Branding Materials
DESIGN BY RYAN WHITE
Our small seed company is devoted to making Bernal Heights a monarch haven.
Where We're Planting
Bernal Heights is our home and a unique natural area, whose height and inland location from the San Francisco Bay makes it a prime stopping ground for the Western Monarch on its annual migration with many butterflies hoping to overwinter...if there were the right plants available and in plentiful quantities.
Why We’re Doing It
The native plants included in our Monarch Seed Pack previously thrived in Bernal Heights and have almost died out due to lack of planting areas and competition with introduced invasive plants.
We have the knowledge to provide the best seed varieties specifically suited for the Western Monarch. We’ve chosen drought tolerant, native, species-oriented seeds for your gardens and home pots.
Background
Back before our beloved Bernal ignominiously entered the collective consciousness of SF in the 1860s and 70s as the site of the failed first location of St. Mary’s College and a fraudulent gold rush, the hill pretty much toiled in obscurity while serving one key purpose: feeding migratory Western Monarch butterflies.
Uninhabited save for some small scale ranchland, Bernal naturally had everything a hungry, traveling Monarch could need from Milkweeds that nourish caterpillars, to wildflowers that provide nectar to adults -- not to mention a high, inland location. They loved it!
However, with the development of the neighborhood that we now know and love in the 20th century, sparked by the influx of earthquake shacks in 1906, most of the native ecosystem that supported Monarchs has disappeared. At the same time, our old neighbors have fallen on hard times: since the 1980’s, Western Monarch populations have shrunk by almost 90% as a result of human development across the entirety of their migratory path.
That’s where we come in. We started our little seed company, Joe Pye Seeds, to give people a chance to learn how to nurse their native ecosystems back to health from the ground up, while also providing a critical habitat and food for native species, like the Monarch!
We put together a pack designed specifically for Bernal and its unique environment (inland and up high). The mix is aimed at both bringing back back native plant species to Bernal while also contributing to a larger system that will hopefully turn our hill into a Monarch haven -- it’s got everything Monarch’s need for every stage of their life.
Planting and caring for these plants is simple and straightforward. Every seed you plant is a step towards beautifying your home and neighborhood while also restoring the natural environment and doing your part to bring back the Western Monarch Butterfly.
However, with the development of the neighborhood that we now know and love in the 20th century, sparked by the influx of earthquake shacks in 1906, most of the native ecosystem that supported Monarchs has disappeared. At the same time, our old neighbors have fallen on hard times: since the 1980’s, Western Monarch populations have shrunk by almost 90% as a result of human development across the entirety of their migratory path.
That’s where we come in. We started our little seed company, Joe Pye Seeds, to give people a chance to learn how to nurse their native ecosystems back to health from the ground up, while also providing a critical habitat and food for native species, like the Monarch!
We put together a pack designed specifically for Bernal and its unique environment (inland and up high). The mix is aimed at both bringing back back native plant species to Bernal while also contributing to a larger system that will hopefully turn our hill into a Monarch haven -- it’s got everything Monarch’s need for every stage of their life.
Planting and caring for these plants is simple and straightforward. Every seed you plant is a step towards beautifying your home and neighborhood while also restoring the natural environment and doing your part to bring back the Western Monarch Butterfly.
