What Can We Do to Help the Monarch Butterfly Population?

I saw a monarch the other day and had not seen one in a long time--I don't have milkweed yet, but am planning on planting some in the back yard

Hi Sheila I believe I read this sometime back ....adore adore butterflies as you know from my hub.

This past weekend my niece and her husband were traveling to Mexico when we got a call from her (I am in Texas visiting my sister)....she said she was in a 'shower' of Monarchs!!! How cool is that. Of course she was unable to photograph them as they were traveling at a high rate of speed on the way to pick up a car that they would work on and flip.

Lovely lovely important message....the world is a more beautiful place with such wondrous creatures in it for sure.

Angels are on the way to you this morning ps

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I have seen Monarch butterflies in different sizes in my Philippines garden. I hope I can find Milkweeds there in my home country so I can plant them in my garden. Thanks for sharing this useful informations Sheila. Happy weekend!

There are free or almost free seeds available on the I'net, at that website I quote, above. I think they will send about a hundred seeds for a dollar, or something?

Just do a quick search regarding Monarch, or milkweed, or free seeds??

I didn't realize the monarchs are endangered...which is so sad! But it makes sense, as these herbicides are killing off many of the insects we love and need for our eco-system. I will try to plant some milkweed in my yard/garden this coming year. Hopefully it will help a little. Thanks for sharing!

I really haven't seen many butterflies this summer, certainly not the Monarch - will have to check re my particular area. I love the sound of a butterfly garden, will make sure I plant some Milkweed and anything else that may be helpful to these beautiful creatures - thank you for raising this awareness -

The disappearance of this gorgeous butterfly has been of interest to me since I first heard of it. Last summer I had more of them than I had had in a number of years as I made certain to provide a home for them to come to.

thank you so much for sharing this, Sheila.

We want such an amazing creature to remain on our planet for generations and generations to come.

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Go to live monarch dot com. Also, don't forget the water.

Monarchs need water, as well, I've read.

I remember the monarchs that were everywhere back when I was a little girl, in the '50's. I love them so much. It is very sad. I miss them.

Thanks for the information. My son lives across the street from a B&B. They planted milkweeds in their glorious yard!

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Growing milkweed seems a simple, painless way to help.

Thank you for this interesting hub and for raising awareness about a very important topic. The first photo in your hub is wonderful!

Well we can start by calling them what they are, Islamic terrorists...?......

whooops, wrong hub page, sorry (occasionally like an old car, I get stuck in one gear).

But I did read your hub page and I think it is wonderful too. And I have some solutions: There are so many "researchers" on the government dole why not genetically engineer milkweed to contain THC. That is not as wild as some of the other government financed pork research projects and it could be sold as "milk" or "weed".

Did you know during World War II, the regular material used to stuff life jackets was in short supply, so milkweed floss was called for as a substitute—it is about six times more buoyant than cork!

Over the years, researchers have investigated growing milkweed for papermaking, textiles, and lubricants, and as a substitute for fossil fuels and rubber. Although these experiments were found economically unfeasible at the time, perhaps they should be revisited, given the rising costs of fuel and other materials. In current research, a chemical extracted from the seed is being tested as a pesticide for nematodes.

I'd plant as much milkweed as possible, might be worth something one day and in the mean time everyone knows Butter (fly) comes from Milk (weed). :-) Beautiful hub page!

Hi Sheila. I will definitely do my part and plant some milkweed, when spring arrives. I knew the Monarch was threatened but I did not know that it was to this extent. Mankind created this mess so now we need to heed the call to save this amazing creature of nature. Great job Sheila.

I am definitely planting milkweed this year. I've been reading a lot about this and think it's important to do our part. Interesting hub.

I am going to plant some milkweed. I remember reading Mary's hub about it a while back. They are such lovely creatures. My grands would love a butterfly garden. I am going to look into helping the Monarch Butterfly.

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One of my hobbies is furnishing the Monarchs Milkweed to eat, then watching them lay their eggs and hatch out! I wrote a Hub about how I do that. I took photos as they matured.

I'm glad the Milkweed plants will be preserved as you mentioned, but unless the practice of spraying with insecticides is stopped, these plants will be killed off soon. I encourage everyone to plant Milkweed in their yards.

I appreciate the information. I love these butterflies....

These lovely creatures of nature are part of the beauty of this earth. I'm glad you are helping to raise awareness of their needs and the ways in which we can help. That first photo is stunningly beautiful.

You have written such an impotant article. These magnificent creatures have been on the decline for too long ....planting milkweed is something I can do!!! THank you for sharing this. Angels are on the way to you. PS. Voted up and shared

We used to raise them in our science classes when I taught...we planted a butterfly garden...and we have one now at our home. This is important...and it is so easy to help...thanks for raising awareness.

My G-C and I have a" weed" garden, all native plants to Florida.

Milkweed and flowering plants are the mainstay, we also use fruity Gatorade to attract the Butterflies. The caterpillars are provided with covered wire boxes in which they can go through the Pupa stage...we can view the whole process...and get an idea on how many release each season...It has been an experience we enjoy, we also purchase various other caterpillars from Lucas Nursery Butterfly encounter..Our garden has been home to many species...Thank you for sharing ... very informative and educational article... " Butterfly Spirit is to be Free "

This is a very important Hub and an issue that is near and dear to my heart. I hope that everyone will read it and take action which is really so simple to do!