Butterfly Migration Info For Gardeners
It may seem like a crazy idea, but keeping weeds in gardens for butterflies is a helpful practice. Humans have destroyed so much native habitat that migratory butterflies can starve as they move to their destination. Cultivating plants for butterfly migration entices these pollinators and gives them strength for their long migration. Without fuel for their migration, butterfly populations will decline and along with them a part of our earthly diversity and health. Not all butterflies migrate, but many, like the Monarch, undergo arduous travels to reach warmer climates for winter. They must travel to either Mexico or California where they stay during the cold season. Butterflies only live four to six weeks. Which means the returning generation may be three or four removed from the original butterfly that started the migration. It can take months for the butterflies to reach their destination, which is why a path of readily available food is necessary. Plants for migrating butterflies can be more than the milkweed preferred by Monarchs. There are many types of flowering plants that butterflies will use as they are on their journey.
What to Plant for Migrating Butterflies
Keeping weeds in gardens for butterflies may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there are several lovely varieties of Asclepias, or milkweed, that attract these insects. The butterfly weed has flame-colored flowers and green milkweed has ivory green florets tinged with purple. There are more than 30 native milkweed species to plant for butterflies, which are not only a source of nectar but larval hosts. Other sources of milkweed might be:
Swamp milkweed Oval-leaf milkweed Showy milkweed Common milkweed Butterfly milkweed Green comet milkweed
If you prefer a more cultivated display than a field of milkweed and its attendant, fluffy seed heads that get everywhere, some other plants for butterfly migration might be:
Golden alexander Rattlesnake master Stiff coreopsis Purple prairie clover Culver’s root Purple coneflower Meadow blazingstar Prairie blazingstar Little bluestem Prairie dropseed
