Mary Mackenzie thought of doing something after knowing about the decline of the Monarch butterfly population. She wanted to contribute in saving the Monarch butterfly population. Mackenzie is an avid gardener and she plants flowers and vegetables in some of the space at her condominium.

She also volunteers with a local gardening club. According to her, she was hearing a lot about decline in population of the Monarch butterflies and the species is very much distressed and is heading in the direction of becoming endangered.

The gardener decided to do more in gardening and preservation and started planting milkweed and other flowers in order to attract butterflies. So far, Mackenzie has planted 300 milkweed bushes mainly in Clearwater and Pinellas Park.

Mackenzie said as a result of recession the city was made to cut back the money spent on landscaping many years ago. She said that the landscaping was really falling. She then started volunteering to sustain Clock Tower Park at the intersection of Park Boulevard and 49th Street.

She even gives seeds and cuttings to people so that they can plant on their own. According to her, "I offer seeds to anyone who wants them. My goal is to educate people. I talk one-on-one with my neighbors to tell them that caterpillars are good and we can do little things to encourage them. Small things can make a ripple effect".

She has changed the park into a butterfly garden by planting 100 milkweed bushes over the past year. She said after getting a few bushes, it is easy to get more seeds or take cuttings.