Where Have All The Monarchs Gone?

 

   Summer has defiantly left us and fall, while still giving us mild day, will soon give way to winter.  Gone are most of the leaves and aside from a few stragglers, gone are the butterflies.  Looking back on this summer, I saw just a few Monarch butterflies drift through the garden center, alighting on tall verbena, asters and butterfly bushes.  While I saw quite a few Swallowtails and Skippers and loads of Fritillaries, which loved my Sedum Autumn Joy, I kept my eye out for my favorite, the Monarch with its distinctive orange and black, stained glass wings.  What is the reason behind this?  Global warming? Global cooling?  Pesticides? Pollution? A high-rise in the middle of their migratory path?  Or maybe something as simple as milkweed.

     Growing up, the arrival of the Monarchs was always exciting.  My sister use to swear that the same Monarch came to visit her every year and the fact that the butterfly only lives about six weeks did not sway her from her belief.   Monarch butterflies seemed to be in abundance when I was a kid, and come to think of it, so was milkweed.  The milkweed grew along our roadsides, developing those funny looking seed pods which would turn brown, break open, and release those downy fluffs with a seed attached.  We use to use the fluffs for Santa’s beard on homemade ornaments.  Unfortunately, development has wiped out a lot of the milkweed that grew wild.

     So, in short, Monarchs lay their eggs in the milkweed and the caterpillars only eat the milkweed.  Decline of milkweed leads to decline in Monarch butterflies, simple as that.  At the garden center, we sold quite a few Milkweed (Asclepias incarnate) and Butterfly Weed (Asclpia tuberosa), both of which are vital to the survival of the Monarch butterfly. The sad fact is, the Monarch Butterfly population has declined by 86% over the last 20 year, so next spring, find a spot in your garden for these two native perennials, because every little bit helps,  And to my sister, if you are reading this, because if you’re not…shame on you, if I see your Monarch, I’ll be sure to tell him you said “Hello”.