Monarch butterflies are some of the most beautiful creatures of Summer but more importantly, they are an important part of our ecological system. And, those of us living on farms or acreages in or around Omaha especially need to understand the often unobservable delicacy of our land. To read about some of the benefits of butterflies, you can go to the Butterfly Conservation Website by clicking here.
On of the ways we can help protect and sustain the butterfly population is to provide the plants they need to feed and reproduce. We live in a climate that gives us a shorter growing season than some of our southern neighbors but we can start to think about Spring now. Winter sowing seeds is one of my favorite propagation techniques, because you can set them and forget them.
I'd like to encourage you to join me in welcoming our beautiful winged friends. There's very little cost involved as you can just use materials you have on hand for your containers. think of all the containers you throw into the recyclables on a weekly basis. Your recycle bin should be a good place to start your search... According to my friend, Tony, owner of The Monarch Butterfly Garden website, just about any container will do. He provides a great check list to get you started on his site. To access it, click here.
There's only so much land and once we deplete it's resources, we're doomed. The loss of our butterflies, moths, bees and other pollinating creatures should cause us grave concern. Again, I encourage you to use your land and acreages as a refuge for our winged friends.
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