Monarch Butterfly Garden Plants

In conclusion if you have the garden space plant at least two host plants of asclepias to accommodate the eggs and larva.

Monarch butterfly garden plants. This is a butterfly plant no garden should be without. Illinois needs to plant milkweed and a lot of it over the next 18 years to ensure the state s official insects monarch butterflies survive. This monarch favorite is also constantly visited by a large variety of butterflies bees and birds. If you want to focus on attracting monarch butterflies try planting milkweed zinnias and miss molly bush.

Fill your garden with as many nectar rich flowering species as possible planning for early middle and late bloom times to ensure that there is a constant supply of seasonal. While roses are a popular plant in a flowering garden. They don t tend to attract butterflies. The second type of plant monarch butterflies need are nectar rich plants.

Nectar rich plants for monarch butterflies. When selecting plants opt for varieties that are native to your area as they will best support local caterpillars and butterflies. Brazilian verbena probably has the largest variety of pollinators in our northern garden. A serendipitous side effect of starting a monarch butterfly garden is the parade of pollinators your garden will attract including butterflies bees and hummingbirds.

Plants in the milkweed asclepias family are essential to adding the chemical to monarch larvae that make them unpalatable to predators. Kelly allsup university of illinois extension horticulture educator says the task of planting 150 million new milkweed stems by 2038 championed by the illinois monarch project. Here are 5 spring butterfly plants to consider for your garden if you want to help returning monarch butterflies get off to a flying start. Here are 6 butterfly garden plants frequently visited by both monarchs and hummingbirds.

Larva or the caterpillar first eats its eggshell then begins to eat the surrounding plant leaves. Without milkweed plants there can be no monarch butterflies it s as simple as that. Find out more about verbena bonariensis. Adult monarch butterflies need more than just milkweed to feed on while the caterpillars devour the entire plant the adults drink the nectar from the milkweed flowers.

Spider milkweed asclepias viridis this early milkweed variety is a shorter species that would make a great garden border for either taller milkweeds plants or nectar flowers. Milkweed is the cornerstone of a successful butterfly garden and planting a mix of both native and non invasive annuals will entice more monarchs to enter your garden gates. If you need more ideas and inspiration for your butterfly garden sign up for our 100 free butterfly tips newsletter. Learn how to attract and support more monarchs through awesome adventures in butterfly gardening and raising monarch butterflies find specific info on creating a butterfly garden and how to raise monarchs by clicking on the navigation links above or hover over them for more options.