Eco-friendly Ways To Attract Monarch Butterflies To Your Garden

Written by Jackie Edwards

Witnessing the unique spectacle of hundreds of thousands monarch butterflies migrating 3,000 miles is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. Not only are they beautiful to watch, but monarchs are great pollinators as they’ll help you maintain a healthy and fruitful garden.

Unfortunately, these beloved visitors to summer gardens are under threat and have been declared as an endangered species under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The western monarch butterfly population is at a higher risk of extinction, having declined by about 99.9% from 10 million to 1,914 between 1980 and 2021. The larger eastern monarch population has also declined by 84% from 1996 to 2014, according to the IUCN.  

There are a combination of factors causing the plight of monarchs, like habitat destruction, use of pesticides, and climate change. The good news is that anyone can raise monarch butterflies at home. Combined efforts by eco-conscious individuals to attract and raise these butterflies can reduce their risk of extinction significantly.

​Below are eco-friendly ways to attract monarch butterflies in your garden.

Plant Native Milkweed​

​Whether you like growing herbs, vegetables, flowers, or other plants, monarchs will help you enjoy a successful growing season, and the best way to attract these butterflies is by planting milkweed. Monarch butterflies like this hardy perennial, as it provides a haven for laying eggs. Not to mention, monarch caterpillars feed on milkweed only. 
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To ensure your garden remains eco-friendly and a perfect habitat for monarchs, grow native milkweeds. Native species of milkweed, like the common milkweed, antelope-horns, showy milkweed, purple, and California milkweed replicate the environment monarchs naturally seek as they migrate. You can grow milkweed from seed or buy your plants from reputable growers who don’t use chemical-based fertilizers or pesticides. Always be sure to ask your local nursery if they use pesticides on their plants. 

Grow Nectar-rich Plant

​Besides planting milkweed, you need to grow nectar-rich plants to ensure adult monarch butterflies have enough food to eat. Examples of nectar-rich flowers that attract monarchs include goldenrods, lilacs, cosmos, cone flowers, lantanas, and zinnias. It’s worth noting monarch butterflies prefer feeding on native plants. So, when searching for milkweed species native to your region, search for native nectar-rich plants.
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Cultivating native flowers rich in nectar is a sure way of supporting the monarch butterfly population responsibly. Once you’ve identified native nectar-rich plants, pick those with bright and bold hues. Butterflies are attracted to plants with colorful flowers of red and yellow, but they also like purple, pinks, and orange. Also, be sure the plants have flowers with a flat surface, so they can have a place to rest as they sip nectar. 

Avoid Chemical-based Pesticides

Many people spray pesticides and herbicides on plants and flowers to prevent pest invasions and diseases. What they don’t know is that pesticides contain toxic chemicals that kill monarch larvae, caterpillars, and adult butterflies. These chemicals can also make their way into ditches or natural water sources, affecting monarchs that sip water there. It is, therefore, important to avoid spraying chemical-based pesticides and herbicides in your garden. 
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Using organic manure and chemical-free herbicides is one of the best ways to protect monarchs from toxic chemicals and create an eco-friendly garden where they can lay eggs and grow. On top of switching to chemical-free gardening products, create an easy-to-maintain garden. Doing so helps reduce the need for using chemicals. Water usage also reduces, lowering the costs associated with the maintenance of beautiful and functional outdoor spaces. Ideally, incorporating hardscaping into your garden design can help reduce water usage and dependence of chemicals used for lawn treatment. For example, you can integrate hardscape features like decks, walkways, outdoor kitchen, water fountain, and fire pit  into your floral or vegetable garden. 

Create Butterfly-friendly Shelter

​When transforming your garden into a butterfly habitat where you can raise monarchs, pick a perfect spot for their shelter. Your goal is to ensure monarchs have everything they need to grow healthy, including shelter. So, look for a spot in your yard that has trees and shrubs where monarch butterflies can hide from harsh weather when needed.

Since monarch butterflies are fragile insects, they are prone to extreme weather and will die if they don’t have shelter. Monarchs also seek shelter from a storm underneath large leaves and tall grass, or in between rocks. Therefore, grow plant species with large leaves, build a rock pile, grow a bush, or buy a butterfly house to protect these pollinators from harsh weather. 
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Monarch butterflies are beautiful and excellent pollinators, ideal for creating a healthy garden. However, the number of monarchs is declining, creating a need to protect this species. Creating an eco-friendly garden is the first step to attract and raise monarch butterflies. To achieve positive results, grow native milkweed species, plant nectar-rich flowers, build shelter to protect monarchs, and avoid using herbicides, fertilizers, and pesticides that contain toxic chemicals.