Plant milkweed to help monarch butterfly population

As the autumn season approaches, you can see the changes among nature on campus.

Leaves are falling, the days are geting colder, and if you look close enough at the flower gardens and plots, you may notice these cute green plants growing spiky- looking pods. These happen to be one of my favorite plants ever: the milkweed plant.

Milkweed is not actually a weed, as the name implies; according to the Xerxes Society, it is a diverse native wildflower that produces a sticky white substance that can be compared to milk. (Do not be deceived —milkweed plants are toxic and will make you extremely sick if ingested).

The pods mentioned before are their seed pods. As the arrival of fall continues, these pods will spring open on their own and allow the wind to pick up the seeds, dispersing them across campus.

Now that you know what to look for, you may be wondering: why? What is the point of learning about milkweed or why it grows around campus?

That has to do with our little orange-winged friends, monarch butterflies.

Monarchs are incredibly tough insects that complete an immense migration south for the winter every year and return in late spring.

They are one of few animals on our planet that make such a long trip, especially for their size and fragility.

The most recent generation of monarchs across the U.S. are slowly flying to the northern mountain ranges in Mexico or the mountain ranges in the Pacific Northwest, where they will hibernate until late spring.

However, the number of monarchs decreases each year. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, monarchs are candidates for the Ecological Society of America’s threatened and endangered species list.

There are many theories as to why monarch numbers continue to shrink: much of their habitats and overwintering areas have been lost due to poor land management, droughts, pesticide and herbicide use and illegal logging.

The primary and only food source of monarch caterpillars is the milkweed plant, but these poor conditions affect the growth of milkweed, which in turn damages monarch populations. If changes are not made, we will see the loss of a species that has fascinated generations of humans.

How can you help? For starters, start growing native plants such as milkweed.

Healthy and bountiful milkweed plants support a large population of monarch caterpillars, which in turn will help the monarch butterfly population grow.

Growing other native prairie plants such as butterfly weed, coneflowers, zinnias and more, give our orange pollinators plentiful sources of nectar to continue their journey.

There are other larger solutions that have been proposed in the past: not mowing the sections of land along highways to create a safe space for traveling monarchs, moving away from the use of herbicide and more.

These options require lots of paperwork, deliberation and struggle, but it is all worth it to make a change.

Even one small step can make a huge difference, such as growing natural prairie plants and wildflowers for our small friends.

It all begins with those cute little milkweed plants and what we can do to help them grow. At the end of the day, any work we put in will be rewarded with the hopeful resurgence of monarchs.

If you want to learn more about monarchs, milkweed or what you can do to support them all, there are plenty of local resources.

One of my personal favorites is the Monarch Joint Venture, which is a partnership between the University of Minnesota’s Monarch Lab and the nonprofit Monarch Joint Venture.

They have information, workshops and other opportunities on how to help support monarchs and milkweed growth.