Create a Monarch Waystation: Plant Milkweed to Save Endangered Butterflies

Make a Home for Endangered Monarchs by Planting Milkweed

A certified monarch haven. Photo: Monarch Watch

At Gardener's Supply, we're building a pollinator waystation on a swampy slope beside a parking lot as part of our Company Farm project, which encourages companies to create space for employees to grow food for the hungry—and pollinators. Shown here is swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), appropriately sited for moist conditions.

Monarch butterflies returning to North America from their Mexican winter habitat follow a well-marked trail, seeking one thing: milkweed (Asclepias). Planting milkweed rolls out a welcome mat for monarchs.

Spring begins the monarch breeding season, and milkweed is crucial for species survival. Many flowers—especially natives—provide nectar for adult butterflies, but milkweed leaves are the only food monarch caterpillars eat. Monarchs lay eggs on milkweed so hatchlings have immediate food access.

A monarch caterpillar (left) and chrysalis. Photo: Suzanne DeJohn

Millions of acres of monarch habitat have been lost to development and agriculture. Planting your own milkweed preserve helps monarchs and other pollinators. Katie-Lyn Bunney, coordinator for the Monarchs in the Classroom program at the University of Minnesota Monarch Lab, says: "We tell everybody there are things they can do to help monarchs, and the first thing is to plant milkweed."

In just 5 square feet, you can attract dozens of pollinators. Get the plan for this garden, created for the Trough Vegtrug (18"x40").

You don't need a big garden to make a difference. "You can create a monarch waystation in a flower pot," Bunney says.

Planting a waystation is easy—even for schoolchildren. Milkweed seeds can be sown directly, but starting indoors improves germination. Monarch Watch advocates for these butterflies through a certification program for gardeners, schoolyards, community gardens, and natural areas. Over 7,400 waystations are certified, says director Chip Taylor, but more are needed. "We need America's gardeners to step up to help save monarchs." Monarch Watch offers a waystation seed kit to make it easier.

Effective waystations cover at least 100 square feet, but even small plantings help. A waystation might be part of an herb garden, raised bed, vegetable garden section, existing beds, or property line. Choose a sunny spot (6+ hours daily). Almost any soil works, but light, well-drained is best. Provide wind shelter: the sunny side of a solid fence, garage, or shed works well. Dense plantings with tall and short plants help with wind and shelter butterflies from predators.

Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) has showy flowers.

Monarch Watch seed kits contain region-appropriate milkweed species. East of the Rockies: common milkweed (A. syriaca), swamp milkweed (A. incarnata), and butterfly milkweed (A. tuberosa). West of the Rockies: butterfly milkweed, swamp milkweed, narrow-leaf milkweed (A. fascicularis), and showy milkweed (A. speciosa). Plant at least two milkweed species plus other nectar-rich plants to attract monarchs throughout the breeding season. Monarch Watch's Milkweed Market provides a species checklist by state/region and nursery sources.

When monarchs discover your waystation, females lay eggs on milkweed. You'll enjoy watching gorgeous black, yellow, and white caterpillars emerge and feed. The milkweed may look tattered as caterpillars grow, but these tough perennials recover.

Make it official: certify and register your waystation online ($16 fee supports Monarch Watch), and purchase a Monarch Waystation sign. The sign, milkweed, and fluttering monarchs may inspire neighbors to do their part.

Photo: Marty Ross

How I Created My Butterfly Waystation

Before buying our Virginia property, the 1-acre field grew soybeans. As a conservation effort, we transformed it into an ever-changing haven for butterflies, bees, birds—and a few groundhogs.

We started in 2002 with meadow plant seeds plus a "nurse crop" of oats. Quick-growing oats nurture slower perennials and suppress weeds.

Year one brought a sea of black-eyed Susans (rudbeckia). Over time, butterfly milkweed established well. Today the meadow includes native warm-season grasses (Panicum virgatum dominant), rudbeckia, butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), partridge pea, plus two more milkweeds (A. syriaca and A. purpurascens). Goldenrod (solidago) naturalized; we added more for at least two solidago species, plus bee balm and asters.

The meadow supports rabbits, songbirds, groundhogs (not favorites), and foxes (making quail survival tough). Most of all: butterflies, especially when milkweed blooms in early June.