Help Monarch Butterflies By Building A Migration Waystation I
Catherine Greenleaf
magine walking outside to find dozens of Monarch butterflies fluttering over the native plants in your backyard next summer. A beautiful sight, indeed! With a little planning over the winter, you can create a migration waystation in your garden and help Monarchs as they make their long journey south to Mexico in the late summer and fall. When helping Monarchs, it’s always wise to take a three-pronged approach. Step One is to make your garden attractive all season long to any meandering Monarchs by offering ready sources of nectar from plants. Some good choices include Echinacea, bee balm, mountain mint, spirea, boneset, and hyssop. Step Two: once you have attracted Monarchs to your yard, you will want to provide them with the ideal spot for egg-laying and chrysalis formation. Prepare a large, circular gardening bed and plant native perennial flowers to feed the Monarchs with nectar once they emerge from the chrysalis along with any Monarchs that are already migrating. This is your way-
station. This spot should provide plants with full sun (6-8 hours a day). Scientific studies show a large circle of colorful nectar-filled native flowers of 15-20 feet in diameter will successfully grab the attention of Monarchs flying overhead. Step Three is to surround the perimeter of this circular area with at least 2-3 dozen milkweed plants. The milkweed should not be more than 20-25 feet away from the waystation. Stay away from nonnative Tropical milkweed and instead stick with the plants native to the Northeast, like Common milkweed, Swamp or Rose milkweed and Poke milkweed, to ensure the quicker establishment and a higher survival rate. Milkweed also prefers a sunny spot with 6-8 hours of sun each day. Why is milkweed so important? The Monarch will only lay her eggs on milkweed plants. You will find these eggs on the underside of the leaves. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae start munching on the leaves and stems of the milkweed, basically chomping them down to stripped stems. The larvae grow as they eat and once they
have developed into a caterpillar then journey to find an appropriate spot to form a chrysalis. Once the Monarch emerges from its chrysalis as a full-fledged butterfly, it dries off in the sun and then immediately looks for native perennial flowers that provide the nectar they desperately need to survive. If your circular bed is nearby, they will find it. In your circle garden plant several dozen native Joe Pye Weed plants. These native perennials can reach a height of eight feet, and their bright pink flowers serve as a homing beacon for Monarchs. Monarchs have a strong preference for the nectar of Joe Pye Weed and will flock to the area where you have planted them. It’s not unusual to see 50-60 Monarchs clustered on Joe Pye Weed in a single afternoon. Alongside the Joe Pye Weed also plant large clusters of fragrant and showy longblooming pink and white Phlox. Another vital plant is native yellow Goldenrod, along with native Aster, especially New England Aster with its pretty purple and pink flowers. Goldenrod and Aster are irresistible to Monarchs and essential to their survival. All of these plants resow quite readily from seeds every year, so you will only have to buy the plants once and watch nature do the rest. It’s also important to plant native trees near your waystation that offer nighttime roosting sites and help shelter Monarchs from strong winds and torrential rains. The flat evergreen leaves of Eastern Red Cedar provide crucial protection and are highly recommended by butterfly experts. The time to order native plants and seeds is now. Most native growers take their orders for the coming spring during the winter months, so you’ll want to get on the catalog mailing list of your favorite native plant provider. Be sure the seeds or plants you buy have not been treated with insecticides like deadly neonicotinoids. Stick with organic mail-order seed companies like Wild Seed Project in Portland, Maine, or organic plant businesses like Northeast Pollinator Plants in Fairfax, Vermont, or Bagley Pond Perennials in Warner, New Hampshire. If you’re planning to start native seeds for the spring, do so in January. Fill plant pots with organic potting soil and plant seeds thickly at roughly the depth of the size of the seed. Cover the soil with a layer of coarse horticultural sand and place outdoors for the winter. Cover the pots with screens to keep away critters. Starting your seeds outside will allow the scarification process to take place which occurs due to a winter’s many freezes and thaws. Catherine Greenleaf is the director of St. Francis Wild Bird Center in Lyme, N.H. If you find an injured bird, please call (603) 795-4850.
28 4 Legs & a Tail
Winter 2021
