April is wonderful in San Diego gardens. It’s a great time to plant, feed, prune and enjoy the flowers and spring growth. But rather than talk about those things this month, I’m going to write about a crisis we can stop, the loss of the monarch butterfly.
Save Western Monarch Butterflies
At one time there were millions of monarch butterflies living and migrating up and down the Pacific Coast, 4.5 million in the 1980s. That number dropped to 30,000 in the last few years, and only 2,000 were counted this year. This is less than 1 percent of what it was in the 1980s!
Not only are we losing a beautiful and beloved animal, but also a food source for songbirds and an important pollinator. What can you and I do to help? Actually, more than you would think. Here are some easy actions and small changes you can make to help monarchs.
Tell Congress
Ask your congressional representative to support the MONARCH Act. The MONARCH Act will help restore monarch butterfly habitat. The Center for Biological Diversity has made this easy. Just click on this link, and you can fill out a quick form asking them to support the act.
Stop By Pine Avenue Park on Saturday
Stop by Pine Avenue Park at 3333 Harding Street in Carlsbad (at Harding and Pine Avenue) this Saturday, March 27th between 12 and 3 pm. Preserve Calavera will have a table at the park with information about saving the monarchs. They’ll also have seeds and seedlings of native milkweed. Here’s their March Newsletter with more information.
Grow Native Milkweed
If you don’t make it to Pine Avenue Park on Saturday, you can still find native milkweed seeds and plants at nurseries, especially native plant nurseries. Check out the informative Union-Tribune article which has a list of milkweed resources and other things you can do to help save monarchs. The Xerces Society’s website has a Milkweed Seed Finder, and a list of milkweed plants with their native habitats.
Don’t plant tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. Because tropical milkweed doesn’t die back during the winter, it can support a parasite that the caterpillars ingest when eating the leaves. This parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, or OE, deforms, impairs and kills monarchs.
In addition to helping spread OE, tropical milkweed disrupts the monarchs’ migration patterns. In warmer temperatures, tropical milkweed may also become toxic to monarch caterpillars. If you do have tropical milkweed in your yard and aren’t willing to remove it, cut it back in October or November and again throughout the winter. This will help keep OE from building up and make the plant act more like native milkweed which dies back over the winter.
Stay Pesticide Free
Don’t buy plants treated with neonicotinoids. They kill butterflies and bees. If you don’t know if the plants you are buying have been treated, ask the store before you purchase them. If you’re still not sure, buy organic plants.
Don’t use insecticides or herbicides in your garden. If you can’t control infestations with water spray or manual removal of pests, use insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils. (These may also kill beneficial insects present when used.)
Grow Monarch Nectar Plants
Add flowering plants to your yard that monarchs and other butterflies can feed on. Native species are a good choice. Early and late blooming species are especially good, and near the beach winter bloomers are good for monarchs that are overwintering. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has a California nectar plant list for monarchs. You can also find one at Butterfly Farms in Encinitas.
Monarch Butterfly Information Sources
A lot of information for this month’s San Diego Gardening Tips comes from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Preserve Calavera, The San Diego Union-Tribune and Butterfly Farms.
This post is about a beautiful and amazing creature everyone can recognize. It’s easy to want to save it. But monarchs are just one of many insect species that are endangered. 40 percent of insect species are declining, and that number grows every year. Insects are an essential part of the success of an ecosystem. Without insects, those ecosystems will collapse and nature will cease to exist as we know it. We all need to do what we can to help.
San Diego Gardening Tips Source
If you want to get April San Diego Gardening Tips, go to the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. They are a great resource for all of your gardening needs including planting, pests, vegetables, and water use. They even have a free hotline where you can get your home gardening and pest control problems answered.