What is the best plant for monarch butterflies?

What is the best plant for monarch butterflies? milkweed These striking orange-and-black butterflies are looking for one thing: milkweed (asclepias). And when you plant milkweed in your garden, it’s like rolling out a welcome mat

What is the best plant for monarch butterflies?

milkweed
These striking orange-and-black butterflies are looking for one thing: milkweed (asclepias). And when you plant milkweed in your garden, it’s like rolling out a welcome mat for monarchs. Spring is the beginning of the monarch’s breeding season, and milkweed is crucial to survival of the species.

How do I start a butterfly garden?

And it’s that simple. There is no minimum size or space recommended for a butterfly garden. By planting a good mix of food and nectar plants, providing water and moist soil, and avoiding butterfly-battering chemicals, your garden should be a haven of fluttery activity in no time.

What can I plant in a monarch butterfly garden?

Monarchs exclusively rely on Milkweed as their host plant. There are several different varieties of milkweed, including Common Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, Swamp Milkweed, Whorled Milkweed, and Tropical Milkweed.

How do you arrange a butterfly garden?

  1. Step 1: Select Site for Butterfly Garden. A variety of broad-leafed trees and shrubs will provide cover from wind, rain and predators.
  2. Step 2: Remember the Rocks. Invite butterflies to sunbathe.
  3. Step 3: Provide Water.
  4. Step 4: Add the Plants.
  5. Step 5: Avoid Using Pesticides.

What do I need for a butterfly garden?

How to Create a Butterfly Garden

  1. SUN. There should be a part of the garden that gets at least 5-6 hours of full sunlight each day.
  2. SHELTER. Although you don’t want a shady garden, carefully placed trees and shrubs will provide necessary shelter from wind.
  3. WATER.
  4. PESTICIDE-FREE.
  5. MONARCHS.

What milkweed is bad for butterflies?

This is the reason Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), an introduced species native to Mexico, is developing a bad reputation among monarch biologists and conservation organizations. It can delay the butterflies’ instinctual fall migration through North Texas to the point of destruction.