What Can Butterfly Gardeners Do to Help?
Planting flowers that will attract monarchs is a superb way to help save the monarch population in North America. The photo of this monarch was taken in late September by my cousin in Nebraska. He and his wife were surprised and delighted to see so many monarchs visiting on that sunny afternoon. He stated, "There was this big swarm of monarch butterflies, more than I'd ever seen before!" So he grabbed his digital camera and caught this one beautiful monarch imbibing nectar from the flowers of their "Pearly Everlastings" in their lovely yard. I mentioned to him I suspected they were "tanking up" on nectar on their way south to their overwintering grounds. Thanks to my cousin Dan and his wife Donna for doing their part in gardening for "flying flowers" -- and a special thanks for the great photo!
In addition to growing nectar-rich flowers, gardeners can help greatly by planting some of the monarchs' much needed host plants -- milkweeds. Female caterpillars always seek out milkweeds on which to lay their eggs, knowing that when their caterpillars hatch, they will only eat the leaves of milkweed plants. Unlike humans, who are usually apt to purchase different brands of milk or cookies if the store doesn't happen to have their favorite in stock, monarch caterpillars would rather starve than to eat anything other than milkweed.
So, if you are an avid monarch butterfly enthusiast, you will want to plant BOTH nectar flowers for the monarch butterflies, AND milkweed for their caterpillars. If you want to learn more about meeting the dietary needs of hungry monarch caterpillars, read Catering to Those Monarch Caterpillars. You may not think you're doing much by simply gardening for monarchs and their caterpillars, but you really will be making a long-term contribution to their ultimate survival.
Conservation, Research, Educational, and Support Web Sites
Conservation organizations involved directly at the site include the newly formed Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund of the World Wildlife Foundation, designed specifically for the needs of the current crisis, and ongoing efforts for community support and reforestation by the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation and Michoacan Reforestation Fund.
Research and education foundations leading the effort to save Monarchs include Monarch Watch and the Monarch Butterfly Fund at Sweetbriar College. Website contacts for these, and information organizations concentrating on the Monarch crisis, are listed below.
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