Monarch Butterflies Need Your Help, Here's What You Can Do

Why is it important to create habitat for Monarchs?

• Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed, as Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed
• Milkweed is the only plant on which monarch butterflies will lay their eggs
• Shifting priorities in land management has resulted in the loss of much milkweed from the landscape
• Planting milkweed supports monarch populations, and their incredible migration journey (Did you know--Monarch butterflies travel up to 3,000 miles each fall to their wintering site in central Mexico?)
• In 2004, 550 million Monarchs completed the winter migration, while in 2013 only 33 million arrived
• Much of this can be attributed to illegal foresting, but an even worse culprit is the large-scale use of herbicides that destroy milkweed

Here's how you can help:

• Scientists, conservationists, and butterfly enthusiasts around the world are encouraging people to grow milkweed in their own yards and gardens
• Contact your town representatives and discuss adding milkweed to your local community garden, or in unoccupied land space
• Share blogs & articles about Monarch butterflies and milkweed online
• Sign a petition to protect Monarch butterflies from deadly herbicides

Getting started with your milkweed garden:

• Contact the Monarch Watch Seed Bank where you can donate or request seeds.
• When buying seeds, always make sure they are Monarch friendly. Believe it or not, unsuspecting people have killed off butterflies trying to plant Milkweed covered in herbicides
• Gather seeds from nearby Milkweed gardens
• Directions for planting milkweed seed can be found at LiveMonarch.com.
• Together and with a little help from Mother Nature we can bring back the Monarchs!
• Remember to use the hashtag #MonarchsVT to share your progress with us!