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Monarchs in the Garden By Dawn Standke

Photos by Lisa K Miller and Dawn Standke
It's no accident that the average landscape plant attracts no wild- plant that the caterpillars will eat - which is milkweed. This is a nice
life. In fact most of the plants that we traditionally grow around benefit for the homeowner - none of the other plants in the land-
our homes were chosen specifically because they function as a scape will be eaten. Milkweed contains chemicals called cardeno-
wasteland for wildlife - what homeowner wants their landscape lides which makes both the monarch caterpillars and monarch adult
marred by unsightly damaged plants? A few small birds in the trees butterflies poisonous to most vertebrate predators.
might be OK - so long as they don't make a mess - but caterpillars Second, the butterfly gardener will also need to provide food, or
on the flowers? No way. rather beverages, for the adult butterflies. Butterflies like a nice
For people stuck thinking like this there will be no butterflies in the full buffet - a good number of nectar producing flowers are neces-
garden. But for those who have made the decision to purpose- sary to attract and keep monarchs in the garden. Two of the best
fully grow plants to feed caterpillars the rewards are considerable. choices are butterfly bush - Buddleia, and tall verbena - Verbena
Sitting at my computer I'm looking out at my backyard. I can't see bonariensis. Both produce flowers rich in nectar over a long sea-
the milkweed plants that have been nearly eaten up by caterpillars son.
- they will leaf out again, and besides, I have plenty more milkweed The third thing is as essential as the first two - and that is to not use
pesticides. Butterflies are insects
and will be injured or killed by a wide
range of common pesticides.
Monarch butterflies need our help.
Millions of acres of monarch habitat
have been lost due to development,
agricultural practices, and pesticide
use. Planting a butterfly garden at
your home, school, church or busi-
ness will help restore some of the lost
habitat and help preserve butterflies.
Still having trouble thinking about
planting flowers to be eaten by cater-
pillars? You wouldn't grow a fruit tree
to just look at the fruit would you?
Remember that the point of growing
milkweed is to produce food as well
- not for you, but for your beautiful San Diego Woman
monarch butterflies.

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plants growing out there - but I can see six monarch but-
terflies chasing each other around the backyard. Watching
them adds another dimension of enjoyment to the garden.
They pair up, or sometimes spin around each other briefly
in groups of three or four. Once each chooses a mate,
eggs will be laid and more caterpillars will hatch. The tiny
yellow and black striped caterpillars will feed on milkweed
until they grow to about two inches long, then will crawl off
in search of a good place to start the process of meta-
morphosis. Each caterpillar creates a shimmering green
chrysalis flecked with gold where it will transform into a
beautiful butterfly. The process inside the chrysalis is truly
a biological miracle. The caterpillar’s body is liquefied by
digestive enzymes and is remade using specialized cells
which are similar to stem cells in other animals. This cycle
from egg to adult butterfly repeats in my San Diego garden
all summer long.

There are three essential things that you will need to do to
have monarchs in your own garden [backyard]. Dawn Standke is a garden designer and University of California Coop-
First, there has to be food for the caterpillars. There is just one erative Extension Master Gardener volunteer. She has been gardening
kind of plant where monarch butterflies will lay their eggs - the only in San Diego for the past 18 years. Contact her at StandkeDesign.com