This seems relevant to our interests, as some commentors were discussing last week. Free/low cost asclepias seeds:
Monarchs need your help NOW! This year AGAIN marks the lowest number of over wintering Monarchs in the Mexican mountains in the last 20 years…and we have only known about their over wintering sites for a little more than 20 years!. There are 97% fewer than at their recorded height and 50% less than there were last year. This is a back to back 50% decline in their overwintering numbers. Researchers are worried we may lose a large part of their migration this year if immediate action is not taken and severly threaten all Monarchs if the pattern continues.
This is a crisis situation! In 1991, over 75% of the wintering Monarchs from North America froze to death in Mexico as a result of three days of rain and sub-freezing conditions. Their numbers showed some recovery but now there is a nationwide shortage of milkweed. Freak weather patterns destroy habitat and kill millions of helpless Monarchs. But these natural events are not the only challenges that face the Monarch. Pesticide application and genetically modified crops cover important parts of the Monarch’s migratory path and serve as killing fields for any Monarch that pass through these millions of acres of toxins and biological agents that kill them and their young. They are unintended casualties in a war to protect crops. Are our Monarchs worth our efforts to protect? Do we even know the total effects on our environment from the use of these agents? The Monarch habitat must be protected now to ensure their survival, before we see the day when this miracle of nature is only a memory. The Monarchs need your help NOW. Please plant seeds and ensure their survival. A Milkweed in every yard!…
More seed & plant sources here.
Got no faith in my own capacity to grow anything from seed, but since the ‘butterfly weed’ is supposed to be adaptable to partial shade, I may try a plant or two in my tiny garden this summer.
I did get my tomato orders in — “only” 34 plants this year (down from 42 last year). Also ordered a couple fancy basils, plus a container mini-bell-pepper and a ‘Mexican sour gherkin‘, just to see if they’ll produce for me (and what they’ll taste like)…
What’s going on in your garden (planning) this week?
Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Milkweeds for MonarchsPost + Comments (54)