What the Monarchs Need Now

Posted on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 · Leave a Comment 

Monarch feeding on New York ironweed

Monarchs are on the move! It is time for their long trip to Mexico to spend the winter. And like marathon runners, they need to bulk up on calories before the event. You may have let a patch of milkweed grow on the edges of your property to support them. That is great, and many of us have done that. But the milkweed plants are for the caterpillars to munch on. Right now, they offer nothing to monarchs. Our monarchs need blooming flowers for nectar and pollen.

 

Of the monarchs I see floating around my gardens, three plants seem most attractive to them for feeding right now: Joe Pye weed, goldenrods and asters. Let’s look at these and their garden worthiness.

 

Joe Pye weed ‘Gateway’ blooms longer and better than the wild forms

Joe Pye weed (Eupatoreum maculatum) is a native wildflower that likes stream edges and places with good moisture, though it will grow almost anywhere it is planted. It is a big plant, often 5 or 6 feet tall in the wild. It is a clumping plant, with the clumps getting bigger every year.

 

It is readily found in plant nurseries, although most sold are a named cultivar, one called ‘Gateway’. I have found that Gateway blooms longer and does better in a vase than the truly wild ones that have popped up along my stream. There is now a smaller Joe Pye that is called ‘Little Joe’ that only gets to be three to four feet tall. It is a patented variety that does not breed true, and is actually a different species in the same genus, Eupatorium dubium. Then there is one called ‘Baby Joe’ but I have not yet tried either one.

 

The flowers of Joe Pye weed are a light purple and appear in large panicles at the top of the plant. The stems of Gateway are a deep purple, though the wild ones tend to be greener. Plant Joe Pye weed where you want it as the fibrous roots go deep into the soil, and when firmly established they are nearly impossible to dig out.

 

Goldenrods are a wonderful, though frequently maligned genus of plants. For many years they were prohibited in arrangements in the flower room at our county fair, as it was believed they caused hay fever. They do not. They have a heavy, sticky pollen that does not fly in the air but is transported by insects. There are at least 20 species of native goldenrods including some that prefer shade, while others demand full sun.  

 

‘Fireworks’ goldenrod is commonly sold in nurseries now

Goldenrods are important not only for monarch butterflies, but also for many butterflies, moths, bees and other pollinators. And yes, some of the big, sun-loving species will expand their territory and send tenacious roots deep into the soil, even muscling out some dainty perennials.

 

Years ago I purchased some blue-stemmed goldenrod ( Solidago caesia)  at The Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts. I grow it in both dry shade and in rich soil in moist shade. It has never been a pest, or traveled around my garden beds, staying just where I planted it, blooming in September and into October. It is quite dainty.

 

My favorite goldenrod is a variety called ‘Fireworks’ of the species Solidago rugosa. It prefers full sun and moist soil, but I have also grown it in part sun and fairly dry soil. Its flowers are tiny, blooming first at the tips and working their way  down the 3- to 4-foot stems. The stems arch gracefully like a fireworks display. They can be divided every 3 to 4 years to keep the clumps to a manageable size, and to increase (or share) them.

All the asters and aster-family flowers are great for monarchs and other butterflies. Scientists don’t call the genus aster any more, but Symphyotrichum, which is a shame as it is much less user-friendly.

There are at least 30 species of asters that grow wild in America, including many nice shade-loving ones that are certainly uprooted as weeds by tidy gardeners long before they bloom now, in the fall.

 

This woodland aster grows in shade as a wildflower

Asters have flowers with many rays and a bright yellow eye. They range from deep purple to white, along with pink and a light blue. All are quite tough, surviving any winter thrown at them.

 

Similar to asters, and a plant I just saw visited by a hungry monarch, is New York ironweed (Vernonia noveborancensis). It has smaller, deep purple blossoms in big clusters at the top of stems that can reach 9-feet tall.

 

According to Tracy DiSabato Aust, in her fabulous book, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, shorter, later-blooming plants can be created by cutting back all the stems to the ground when they reach 2-feet tall. I shall certainly try that next spring. I moved mine from moist soil to dry soil in part shade partly because it got too tall in the full sun.

 

If you care about your monarchs, plant native plants. Native plants are much more useful to pollinators and wild animals than plants imported from other continents. Many of the native plants are just as beautiful and pleasing to me in the garden, and hopefully they are to you, too. 

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. He lives in Cornish Flat, NH. Reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net

Filed under Article · Tagged with asters, goldenrod, monarch butterflies

Plants for Butterflies, Bees and Native Pollinators

Butterflies are the poster children of the environmental movement. Everybody loves them, and wants to see them thrive. But do you know what you can do to help? It’s quite simple, really. For starters, make sure that your environment includes a wide variety of plants that supply nectar and pollen. And even city dwellers can help.

Monarch on asters

Let’s say you don’t have a garden, or that you have limited time and/or space. Or you just have a lawn. You can start by planting some annual flowers in a pot, or buying a hanging planter at the garden center. Most planters sold are full of gorgeous flowers that will bloom all summer. All you have to do is water them.

If watering is too much trouble, transfer your purchased plants into a “self-watering” container. These are pots that have a water reservoir in the base that will allow water to wick up to the plants in the container. Get one about the same size as your purchased planter, along with some potting soil. The potting soil should fill in extra space if your self-watering container is larger than the hanging pot. Once you have it set up, you will just need to fill the reservoir once a week.

Another thing that anyone can do is buy a bird bath. Yes, a bird bath can be useful for butterflies, too. They need a regular source of water. Butterflies love the minerals found in water in mud puddles, so you could dig a little hole and keep it full for them. Maybe your dog, if she’s like mine, will wallow in it, too. Hmmm…

I have a bird bath that is never used by birds, even after I put stones in the middle for them to perch on. Why? Someone finally pointed out to me that I have a stream just 50 feet from the bath, which is more inviting for the birds. But I like the looks of the blue ceramic bird bath, which I now call my ”butterfly bath”.

What else can you do? Start by swearing off pesticides. I know it’s easy to spray Japanese beetles or potato beetles, but chemicals that kill one kind of bug will kill others, including butterflies and the caterpillars that become butterflies. So hand pick your pests, or agree to let them live. Many insect pests have a short life span and aren’t really as bad as you might think.

Hiking through France I have often been struck by the number and variety of birds, butterflies and pollinators along the trail. I attribute that to the fact that farmers in France allow hedgerows to separate farm fields. Flowering plants like hawthorns, blackberries and wild cherries are not mowed down, but allowed to grow – and provide space for birds and insects to nest in and thrive.

Here in America President Nixon’s Secretary of Agriculture, Earl Butz, told farmers to “get big or get out”, encouraging them to plant commodity crops every square inch, “fencerow to fencerow”. That policy has affected our birds and butterflies over the years. But on a small scale, we can allow native plants to grow and blossom along our property lines. Leave wild spaces wherever you can.

If you want more butterflies, think first about the caterpillars that will become butterflies. What do they like? Dill and fennel are among the best plants for many species. Hollyhocks, lupine, milkweed and butterfly weed, thistles and willows are all good for caterpillars of various sorts.

Pansies are used by butterlies

Then, for nectar and pollen, think about creating a garden that blooms from early spring to late fall. Annual flowers are great because most will do just that. Alyssum, calendula, cosmos, marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies, verbenas and zinnias are some that are especially good.

Of the perennial flowers, here are some good ones: asters, bee balm, daylilies, delphinium, dianthus, globe thistle, hollyhocks, Joe Pye weed, lavender, liatris (gayfeather), oregano, phlox, purple coneflower, sage, scabiosa, sedums, Shasta daisy and yarrow.

Weeds are good for butterflies, too. You know milkweed is beloved by monarchs. Queen Anne’s lace is loved by many. Towards fall I often see goldenrod just full of bees and butterflies. And not all goldenrod is 5 feet tall and aggressive. You can actually purchase tidy ones like‘Fireworks’ (a variety of Solidago rugosa), or a small shade-loving one, Solidago caesia. Talk to your local nursery – they can get them from North Creek Nursery in Landenberg, Pennsylvania (wholesale only).

The very best plant for butterflies is probably butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). This is a shrub that is generally hardy only to Zone 5, meaning that temperatures colder than minus 20 will kill it. In warmer zones it can spread aggressively and even be considered an invasive pest. But is great for butterflies, and often will survive in Zone 4, just dying back to the ground each year, but blooming late in the summer. It can be a large shrub, but there are smaller varieties, too.

Butterfly bush

Remember: butterflies and bees need nectar or pollen – from spring dandelions to late fall-blooming witchhazel. You can do your part – and enjoy seeing both your flowers and the butterflies, too.

To learn about bumblebees – all of them you see right now are queens – go to Henry’s blog: https://dailyuv.com/news/843726. While there you can sign up for an e-mail alert every time Henry posts.

Copyright © 2014 Henry Homeyer

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