(PRWEB) March 21, 2012
MonarchButterflyGarden.net believes the immediate future for monarchs can be can be brighter if more people choose to pursue an emerging outdoor hobby...create a butterfly garden to attract monarch butterflies.
You might be surprised to find out how easy it is to attract them, and how much fun you can have doing it. Then, one day, you may find yourself amazed at dozens of frolicking orange and black beauties fluttering around your garden...all at once! And the best part is, while enjoying this truly magical experience, you will also be helping these beautiful winged creatures survive, despite the mounting odds against them. (pesticides, habitat destruction, and extreme weather...oh my!)
Here's what you can do to help insure that the 2012 population heading back to Mexico this fall far exceeds the population that's limping back to North America right now:
- Plant Milkweed- this is the only plant that the monarch butterfly female will lay her eggs on. It’s also the only plant that the monarch caterpillars will eat.
- The Right Stuff- there are over one hundred species of milkweed so make sure you are planting species that will thrive in your USDA hardiness zone. If you have questions be sure to post them on our Facebook page: Facebook.com/MonarchButterflyGarden
- Sweet Eats- plant nectar flowers as a food source for adult monarch butterflies. Make sure you have flowers with different bloom times so you can have monarchs in your garden all season.
- Raise Monarchs- this can be a fun activity for kids of all ages. In the wild, about 5% of monarchs will survive to adulthood. If you raise them indoors, the survival rate is well over 90%!
Not sure where to begin? MonarchButterflyGarden.net is a rapidly growing Facebook page that hosts lots of discussion about how to build your best monarch butterfly garden.
From that page you can get our eBook: "7 Magnetic Monarch Butterfly Plants." This is a free download to help get your monarch garden started off on the right foot.
Then, head over to our wall and ask a burning butterfly garden question...or help out another gardener by sharing your experience.
The best thing about MonarchButterflyGarden.net is that we all have a common goal: to attract more monarch butterflies to our butterfly gardens.
Join our community and learn how to attract more monarchs to your garden...while helping increase the tiny monarch population of 2012.