Monarch butterfly populations have crashed over 90% in 30 years due to loss of milkweed, their only food source. Nicole Johnsey Burke says planting native milkweed seeds this season is critical. The plants grow fast and release scent monarchs can detect from miles away during their annual migration from Canada to Mexico.
Chapters
If you don't plant this in your garden this season, the monarch butterfly is in danger of extinction. And no, I'm not being dramatic. In the last 30 years, we've lost over 90% of our monarch butterfly population, and this is directly correlated to the fact that we've lost over 1 billion milkweed stems in that same time period. Every single year, the monarch butterfly migrates from Canada down to Mexico, and it relies on milkweed all along the way. Because this is the only plant that the monarch butterfly uses as a host to lay eggs, grow monarch caterpillars, and more butterflies. You can order native milkweed seeds online. These things literally grow like a weed. And if you're thinking that this one plant that you plant isn't going to make that big of a difference, you've got to know that monarch butterflies can smell milkweed from miles away. Just imagine the difference we can make if we all planted a little bit of native milkweed this season.