If you want to keep seeing this:
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| Monarch butterfly |
you are going to need this:
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| Monarch laying eggs |
Help our Monarchs make babies...
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| a baby Monarch |
plant Milkweed!
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| one type of milkweed - Asclepias tuberosa |
As the population of Monarchs dwindles severely, the great migration of the Monarchs is in serious danger of becoming extinct.
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| area of land occupied by Monarchs at their overwintering sites in Mexico source - Monarch Joint Venture |
The Monarchs have taken a battering on all sides. Harsh weather and habitat loss have led to record low numbers of these beautiful butterflies in North America.
While we have no control over the weather, we can plant Milkweed in order to help the monarchs as much as possible!
Milkweed is especially critical in the Great Plains regions. With the rise of corn prices (due in part to the government mandate of adding ethanol to gasoline), millions of acres of grasslands have now been converted to Corn and Soybean farms.
Furthermore, these large farms are switching to the new varieties that are genetically engineered to tolerate herbicides (such as Roundup Ready Corn). The spraying of herbicides has eliminated the milkweed that used to sprout up in and around the crops - and thus eliminated much of the breeding ground for Monarchs.
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| Monarch laying eggs on Milkweed |
So calling all North American gardeners - especially you all in the Great Plains region!
Let's do what we can to save the migration...
and hopefully not witness the end of an era.
Milkweed comes in a variety of colors, and there are Milkweeds for just about every type of garden, from dry to swampy.
Here are just a few online sources for Milkweed seeds and plants:
Here are just a few online sources for Milkweed seeds and plants:
