Written by Jackie Edwards Edited by Rebecca Chandler So, you love Monarchs? Follow these simple steps to create a garden oasis in yard to attract Monarchs and other butterflies! |
"Common milkweed is Nature's mega food market for insects. Over 450 insects are known to feed on some portion of the plant." | Each Milkweed seed packet contains 25-30 Asclepias syriaca milkweed seeds with instructions for planting. As the name implies, Common Milkweed is a widespread species known from most of the eastern United States and the eastern prairie states as well as southern Canada from New Brunswick to Saskatchewan. According to the US Forest Service, "Common milkweed is Nature's mega food market for insects. Over 450 insects are known to feed on some portion of the plant." (Taylor) If you live in one of the western states that Common Milkweed isn't found, we recommend looking up your state in this very handy site to find what milkweed you should plant! |
Pollinator Seed Packet
This is a complete Wildflower Garden mixture, featuring two varieties of Milkweed, and includes all of the Perennial and Annual seeds needed for a great looking garden.
This perennial mix includes several varieties of host and nectar sources.
In the first year, the annuals will bloom with a beautiful display of colors and nectar for our pollinators while the perennial plants will begin to establish their root systems.
In the second year, the perennials will begin to put on leaves and most will begin blooming.
By the third year, the perennials will be fully established and be in their full glory as the photo from my garden displays!
Common Milkweed (Qty. 100)
Butterfly Milkweed (Qty. 25)
Partridge Pea (Qty. 15)
Lance Leaved Coreopsis (Qty. 20)
Plains Coreopsis (Qty. 12)
Cosmos Sensation Mix (Qty. 10)
Purple Coneflower (Qty. 20)
California Poppy (Qty. 12)
Blanket Flower (Qty. 10)
Dwarf Sunspot Sunflower (Qty. 7)
Meadow Foam (Qty. 7)
Dwarf Lupine (Qty. 12)
Perennial Lupine (Qty. 5)
Arroyo Lupine (Qty. 5)
Bee Balm/Wild Bergamont (Qty. 5)
Lacy Phacella (Qty. 5)
Mexican Hat (Qty. 5)
This perennial mix includes several varieties of host and nectar sources.
In the first year, the annuals will bloom with a beautiful display of colors and nectar for our pollinators while the perennial plants will begin to establish their root systems.
In the second year, the perennials will begin to put on leaves and most will begin blooming.
By the third year, the perennials will be fully established and be in their full glory as the photo from my garden displays!
Common Milkweed (Qty. 100)
Butterfly Milkweed (Qty. 25)
Partridge Pea (Qty. 15)
Lance Leaved Coreopsis (Qty. 20)
Plains Coreopsis (Qty. 12)
Cosmos Sensation Mix (Qty. 10)
Purple Coneflower (Qty. 20)
California Poppy (Qty. 12)
Blanket Flower (Qty. 10)
Dwarf Sunspot Sunflower (Qty. 7)
Meadow Foam (Qty. 7)
Dwarf Lupine (Qty. 12)
Perennial Lupine (Qty. 5)
Arroyo Lupine (Qty. 5)
Bee Balm/Wild Bergamont (Qty. 5)
Lacy Phacella (Qty. 5)
Mexican Hat (Qty. 5)
References
Taylor, David. US Forest Service. Plant of the Week: Common Milkweed.
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asclepias_syriaca.shtml
Grow Milkweed Plants. Discover Native Milkweed by State.
https://www.growmilkweedplants.com/usa.html
Butterfly Milkweed Plant Profile, USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service.
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ASTU
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asclepias_syriaca.shtml
Grow Milkweed Plants. Discover Native Milkweed by State.
https://www.growmilkweedplants.com/usa.html
Butterfly Milkweed Plant Profile, USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service.
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ASTU
Although it may be too cold to get out into the garden, it is the perfect time to start brainstorming your beautiful butterfly garden, purchase seeds and support organizations that are protecting Monarch overwintering grounds!
Winter is a great time to hunker down and read up on topics that interest you such as Monarch conservation so let’s make the most out of it!
1. Adopt a Monarch Colony
Western monarch overwintering sites as well as those in Mexico could use your help!
Butterflies and Their People is an organization based in Macheros, Mexico (near Cerro Pelon) where thousands and thousands of Monarchs overwinter. This organization employs people to be guardians and caretakers of the Monarchs and their overwintering grounds.
Cerro Pelon is closed to the public for the second year in a row. In place of this, they offer a virtual Monarch butterfly experience included in their Adopt a Colony program in order to support the Monarchs and the guardians of the forest.
You can adopt an overwintering site in the United States and become an advocate for the site’s protection and active management. Contact your local elected official to ask that monarch overwintering sites in your area be protected.
View the Xerces Society's Management Guidelines for Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Habitat
Make a donation to your favorite Monarch or other pollinator conservation program. Many programs like these are donation-based and are fighting to save our Monarchs everyday!
Butterflies and Their People is an organization based in Macheros, Mexico (near Cerro Pelon) where thousands and thousands of Monarchs overwinter. This organization employs people to be guardians and caretakers of the Monarchs and their overwintering grounds.
Cerro Pelon is closed to the public for the second year in a row. In place of this, they offer a virtual Monarch butterfly experience included in their Adopt a Colony program in order to support the Monarchs and the guardians of the forest.
You can adopt an overwintering site in the United States and become an advocate for the site’s protection and active management. Contact your local elected official to ask that monarch overwintering sites in your area be protected.
View the Xerces Society's Management Guidelines for Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Habitat
Make a donation to your favorite Monarch or other pollinator conservation program. Many programs like these are donation-based and are fighting to save our Monarchs everyday!
2. Do your research.

There are many resources out there if you want to learn about ways you can help protect Monarchs and other pollinators.
A must-read is Douglas Tallamy’s new book Nature's Hope and Bringing Nature Home . As a professor of Entomology at the University of Delaware for over 30 years, Douglas has a strong grasp on the importance of planting native plants in order to sustain wildlife. Douglas’s style of writing makes scientific writing accessible to everyone. He explains the role of evolutionary relationships between native plants and pollinators while providing tips on how you can start your own native garden.
Another great book that discusses the relationship between native plants and pollinators is Pollinators of Native Plants a book by Heather Holm. This book focuses on plant profiles and insects of the Midwest, Great Lakes, Northeast and southern Canada regions.
Other recommended books for the pollinator conservationist are:
Attracting Native Pollinators -The Xerces Society
Native Plants of the Northeast: A Guide for Gardening and Conservation by Donald J Leopold
Your local library is a great place to start your research!
A must-read is Douglas Tallamy’s new book Nature's Hope and Bringing Nature Home . As a professor of Entomology at the University of Delaware for over 30 years, Douglas has a strong grasp on the importance of planting native plants in order to sustain wildlife. Douglas’s style of writing makes scientific writing accessible to everyone. He explains the role of evolutionary relationships between native plants and pollinators while providing tips on how you can start your own native garden.
Another great book that discusses the relationship between native plants and pollinators is Pollinators of Native Plants a book by Heather Holm. This book focuses on plant profiles and insects of the Midwest, Great Lakes, Northeast and southern Canada regions.
Other recommended books for the pollinator conservationist are:
Attracting Native Pollinators -The Xerces Society
Native Plants of the Northeast: A Guide for Gardening and Conservation by Donald J Leopold
Your local library is a great place to start your research!
3. Start your milkweed seeds indoors.

Milkweed seeds need a 30-60 day cold stratification period so it's never too early to start! Starting seeds at home is a cost-efficient and fun way to get a head-start on the gardening season. Starting your seeds in a controlled environment allows you to make adjustments to soil, temperature, and moisture for best germination results.
The ideal time to start seeds indoors in generally 6-8 weeks before your last frost date so check The Old Farmer’s Almanac to look for your area's average last frost date.
You can also refer to our last blog post on How to start Milkweed seeds indoors to get started!
The ideal time to start seeds indoors in generally 6-8 weeks before your last frost date so check The Old Farmer’s Almanac to look for your area's average last frost date.
You can also refer to our last blog post on How to start Milkweed seeds indoors to get started!
4. Start planning your pollinator garden!

By starting a butterfly garden, you are providing necessary sustenance for Monarchs along their long migration route and providing them with breeding grounds so that successive generations of Monarchs are able to complete their migration route to Mexico. The need for host plants and nectar plants applies to all Monarchs as well as other butterfly populations.
Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself when planning your butterfly garden.
1. Am I in the migration route of the Monarchs?
This handy graph by Monarch Watch tells you when the Monarch migration will peak in your area
2. What time of year are the Monarchs in my region?
Journey North provides Monarchs sightings and also archives past years.
3. What plant zone am I in?
The USDA’s plant hardiness zone map tells you what plants will grow in your region.
4. What are my soil conditions?
Is your soil sandy, clay-like, silty, loamy? You can find out with an at-home soil test. Research soil requirements for the plants you’d like to grow. If some of plants require an uncommon soil type, you might consider potting them.
5. Is the area I want to plant in full-sun, part-sun or shade?
Take a walk around the area that you plan on starting your butterfly garden. Observe that area throughout the day and notice how much sunlight it gets. Full sun plants require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight while part shade/part sun plants require 3-6 hours of direct sunlight.
6. Is the area windy?
Monarchs and other butterflies don't love wind so try to find a peaceful, non-windy area for them to rest.
7. What types of plants do I want to grow?
A common recipe for butterfly gardens is 3 kinds of Milkweed (common, butterfly and swamp), 5 native plants that flower in the Spring, 5 that flower in the Summer and 5 that flower in the Fall. This will ensure you have a year-round garden! Also, make sure that your plants are native to your area so native bugs can flourish!
4. Become a citizen scientist
Becoming a citizen scientist is quite easy and allows you to connect with other nature enthusiasts, naturalists and conservationists. Citizen scientists from around the country log data and observations which is vital to understanding the monarch migration, biological cycles and why they are disappearing. Simply by writing down a Monarch observation and logging it into one of these sites will contribute to science and help the Monarchs.
Below are some great places to start if you would like to participate in Monarch research and much more.
Journey North Southeastern Monarch Monitoring Project
inaturalist
Journey North
Monarch Monitoring Project
Monarch Watch
All you need is a pencil and paper to get started! Some of these websites also offer tagging materials and free educational materials so you could hold a Bioblitz or tagging event in your community!
Below are some great places to start if you would like to participate in Monarch research and much more.
Journey North Southeastern Monarch Monitoring Project
inaturalist
Journey North
Monarch Monitoring Project
Monarch Watch
All you need is a pencil and paper to get started! Some of these websites also offer tagging materials and free educational materials so you could hold a Bioblitz or tagging event in your community!
Autumn is here and your fall garden clean-up project may be looming. If you think it is daunting to clean up all of those leaves and standing dead plant material then I have some great news for you! You don't have to clean up all of those leaves! In fact, the butterflies, bees, songbirds and plants would prefer it if you didn't.
According to the Xerces society, "One of the most valuable things you can do to support pollinators and other invertebrates is to provide them with the winter cover they need." In additional to not using pesticides and installing host and nectar plant sources, providing winter cover is one of the best things you can do to support pollinators!
It can be very tempting to tidy up the garden by raking, shredding and bagging the leaves but at what cost to our pollinator populations? Did you know that there are many butterflies that overwinter as a chrysalis on standing dead plants? These include but are not limited to Swallowtails, Checkered White, Mustard White, Orange Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Elfins, and some Skippers.
Follow these simple tips and your yard will be providing a winter-long sanctuary for our beloved butterflies, bees, moths and other beneficial insects!
Leave the Leaves
There are SEVERAL reasons to leave the leaves. They add nutrients to your soil, acting as a natural fertilizer as they decompose over the winter and resulting in healthier plants in the spring. Leaf litter is a vital food source for decomposers, like millipedes, snails, and worms. In turn, these beneficial decomposes are creating beautiful soil AND providing food for our songbirds. 15 percent of bee species nest in cavities, such as hollow plant stems or holes in wood so you are also supporting bees! Still not convinced? The layer of leaves act as a natural mulch and will provide an extra layer of insulation for your perennial plants
Replace Some of Your Lawn with Native Plants
Growing plants like coneflowers, milkweed, bee balm and other native pollinator-friendly plants in your yard is a great start! Remember, you can always start small. Pick a corner, border, or patch of your yard that you would like to designate as a native plant patch. These patches are vital for our pollinator's survival and more land is developed or converted to agriculture.
There are somewhere around 40 million acres of lawn in the lower 48, according to a 2005 NASA estimate derived from satellite imaging making it the largest irrigated crop in the United States!
There are somewhere around 40 million acres of lawn in the lower 48, according to a 2005 NASA estimate derived from satellite imaging making it the largest irrigated crop in the United States!
Leave Perennials and Annuals
I know it can be very tempting to pull up the dead annuals and cut back your perennials (this includes milkweed). However, these plants are providing essential cover for over-wintering butterflies and bees. Standing dead plants will catch leaves as they blow over them which creates even more habitat for bugs!
Spread Awareness
Put a sign up in your yard that designates your yard as a native plant sanctuary for pollinators and other invertebrates! Signs like this one by the Missouri Prairie Foundation will help to educate and encourage others to do the same!
You can also share graphics and articles like this one that will help educate others on the importance of winter habitat!
You can also share graphics and articles like this one that will help educate others on the importance of winter habitat!
Wait Until Late Season
It is best to leave the leaves indefinitely but you may decide that you want to clean them up at some point. If you an can hold off until late Spring, you have done the pollinators and other invertebrates a great service and gotten them through the most vital part of their lifecycle! The first warm weather of spring may bring you out into the garden but before you start cleaning up leaves, consider looking for chrysalides that may still be clinging to standing plants.
Author
Rebecca Chandler
Garden Educator, Naturalist and Ethnobotanist
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