love monarchs, plant milkweed

There was one sumer, years and years ago, when my parents’ walnut trees were completely covered with flapping orange wings. It was only for a day or so, and I kept running outside to check on them, what I saw seemed impossible. I was so disheartened the day I woke up to find them gone!

As a kid, it was easy to bike to the nearby field, gather monarch caterpillars from the milkweed plants, and watch them change into butterflies – it was an inherent part of my summers. Birdie wants to do the same thing, and it’s taken me a couple of years to realize that there are practically no monarchs to be found in our neighborhood. Maybe one or two? Wanna know why? Migration numbers are down over 50%.

It turns out there’s something we can do to help – and I would have done it anyway, just to have access to our own private butterfly feeding grounds. You can order Milkweed seeds from Live Monarch! If you’re willing to send a self-addressed stamped envelope, they’ll even provide the seeds for free. Or, donate a small dollar amount (we paid $3) and they’ll send seeds to you right away.

There are a couple of different websites providing seeds. I chose Live Monarch because they have a variety of seeds and will do their best to match the seeds to your climate. Sixty days later, you’ll have the perfect monarch habitat in your very own yard. FIngers crossed the monarchs find us this summer – but if they don’t, you can order butterfly eggs too.

Images above: 3D Butterfly Wall Art from Heidi’s Hubbub.

The post love monarchs, plant milkweed appeared first on Small for Big.