Providing adult food sources is a good start - they tend to LOVE Gregg's Mistflower. Other good plants seem to be Shrubby Boneset (also called White Mistflower), a whole host of daisy-like plants (disc shaped that are wide and flat), and even Lantana and Turk's Cap (though it tends to be frequented more by the Fritillaries).
BUT! If you REALLY want to help the monarchs, you'll also plant host plants. Or, in other terms, the plant that the caterpillars will eat (it never ceases to amaze me how many people will plant host plants only to get upset when they're munched down to nubbins by the insect they are hosting). The Monarchs only lay eggs on milkweed plants. And yes, your milkweed plants will be chewed down to twigs. BUT! you'll be helping the monarchs, which is really more important anyway. Gardening for nature is why you garden, isn't it?
Grouping your plants together to create large masses of the same color will help attract butterflies since they are near sighted (that's probably why they like the mistflowers - the plants create a large grouping all by themselves). Plant some milkweeds close by, add some dishes of water with some rocks in them (for the butterfly to perch on)and Voila! Instant Butterfly garden. If you want to get really ambitious, you can add throw out some fruit trimmings, leave one spot of dirt that isn't covered by mulch (for puddling), and a large clumping grass (for protection at night), and you'll have a garden that the Monarchs will flock to.
* okay, right now probably isn't really the time to plant things like milkweed, but it IS time to plant most perennial plants like the shrubby boneset and lantana. Plus some future planning is always a good thing.
7 comments:
I'm fascinated by the native milkweeds, particularly the antelope horn which grows wild along the road sides out my way. I've been wanting to get it to grow in my garden, so I bought the milkweed kit called the Sustain the Migration kit from Native American Seed. I'm going to try it out in my meadow area. I'm pretty excited about it. I hope it grows well.
I've always been fascinated with the native milkweeds, and maybe it isn't time to plant them as transplants, but it's a real good time to gather the seeds from wild ones and get them in the ground... locally, the wild ones have rather impressive displays of green/white flowers and fat round leaves. The ones I remember from growing up in the Midwest were taller and had maroon flowers...
You mean your not supposed to mash all those caterpillers. Seriously, have you ever hit the brakes to keep from hitting a monarch? I have, I just can't help myself. My boneset really loads up with the monarchs some times. I'll keep my eyes open for one to dig up for you.
@bob - I've got a shrubby boneset in my front yard that I really like. And yes, when we went backpacking in Big Bend a few years ago, it was during the Monarch migration and I kept apologizing to all the Monarchs that I couldn't avoid hitting.
Anyone ever grown milkweed successfully in pots? I'd like to try, but I only ever grew it ion the ground before and it seems like a plant that wouldn't be too happy in a pot.
I won't make my normal butterfly comments here since they are 60% down on the population AND I recognize that they are important to the eco-system. I'll just say good for you for researching and sharing this information. And If I ever stay with you I will be excited to see them from distance and watching them from inside of the house. So now what are you going to do about the decline in the bee population?
Dani
@bond - maybe swamp milkweed in a bucket? I used to have a swamp milkweed in a bucket, and it did fine for 2 years, but then we had that really cold weather and it died...
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