Help adult Monarch butterflies thrive

Yesterday we looked at the troubles facing the caterpillars of Monarch butterflies because of the scarcity of milkweed, their only source of food and the only plant onto which eggs are laid. Today we look at the needs of adult Monarchs.

You can expand your garden to include many nectar plants which are needed as food for adult Monarchs. These plants can attract pollinating bees as well as provide other food for a variety of butterflies.

Some top nectar plants are 

• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
• Joe-Pye Weed which grows tall with multiple flower bunches
• Liatris which has multiple pink flowers opening on a tall stem
• Coreopsis which grows to medium height usually with many flowers
• Pentas, grown in our area as an annual
• Aster, a perennial which blooms late in the summer
• Butterfly weed which is drought tolerant
• Lantana, another plant grown as an annual in our area.

Bee balm and coneflower also are beneficial. An added benefit to coneflower is that later in the season, it offers seeds for goldfinches.

Many of these flowers will also offer nectar to hummingbirds.

The goal of a butterfly garden is to offer food and shelter for the entire life cycle of these butterflies. To best attract them, group same plants together and they will be more enticing to butterflies. From the butterflies' point of view, we cannot have too many flowering plants. Besides being beneficial, we can enjoy the view, too!

Black-eyed Susans

Joe-Pye Weed

Liatris

Coreposis

Penta

Aster

Butterfly Weed

Lantana

Bee Balm

Coneflower