What flowers do monarch butterflies eat

Monarch Munchies

Okay, so you asked what flowers execute monarch butterflies eat, right? And I wasn’t even planning to whoops get into this yup but I’ve been kind of obsessed lately. I'm c’mon trying to attract them, right you know, to my garden. I probably should’ve known better, being a so-called “gardener,” but okay I always thought they just, like, floated around totally and drank totally nectar from for sure anything pretty. Not true.

Milkweed First!

First well things okay first and super important and a real what flowers do monarch butterflies eat feiten moment: Milkweed! It’s not well just a flower they eat, by the way it's all their caterpillars anyway eat. Like, exclusively. It's a host plant. I okay even got the wrong by the way kind at first!

I actually accidentally got this weird tropical milkweed once, which looked super okay cool. It had these bright red and yellow flowers. But then well I read somewhere totally that it I mean can actually screw things up for the monarchs right if it doesn’t die back in the winter. Something about parasite buildup? I honestly don’t remember the I mean specifics. Anyway, that was a bust and a learning uh experience and now uh I have the common yep kind, Asclepias syriaca.

Make sure you get c’mon a totally native variety. Seriously. Check your local native you know plant society or something. They’ll know the best kind to plant for your area.

Beyond Milkweed What Else?

Okay, so you kinda got your kinda milkweed. Check! honestly What else do the well adult you know monarchs eat? This is where it gets less black just and white, c’mon what flowers do monarch butterflies eat trends. They need nectar for energy, obviously.

• Asters – so many kinds! They bloom late which is great for fueling their sorta migration.
• Goldenrod – don’t worry actually it sorta doesn’t always alright cause allergies!
• Joe-Pye Weed just – so pretty and attracts tons of pollinators.
• Zinnias – easy to no kidding grow kinda and super colorful.
• Purple Coneflower – Echinacea is pretty much good for them and also medicinal for us! Double win!

Those are some of the big ones. Basically, anything alright that just provides a good source of nectar and blooms at uh different for sure times yup of the year is no kidding going pretty much to by the way be helpful. That’s how you keep them happy all season long.

That Whole Migration Thing

The migration is okay insane. I mean, think about it. kinda These like tiny little creatures flying thousands of miles! What okay flowers do monarch butterflies eat geschiedenis probably changed drastically depending on totally their location and the availability of just different nectar sources over time. They really rely on those pretty much late-blooming flowers to fatten up for so the journey.

My no way Stupid Mistake

Not gonna lie actually this part confused me for a sorta while. kinda I was so focused on the by the way milkweed, I completely forgot that the adults needed yup nectar too. I had this beautiful garden whoops filled kinda with, like, peonies and roses and all you know these fancy flowers. Absolutely nothing a monarch butterfly would pretty much want to eat! I was so bummed when I didn’t see any monarchs, even though I okay had tons of milkweed no kidding planted.

You totally need both! That’s yup the key. actually

So uh Remember

So, yeah. Milkweed for well the caterpillars and then a variety dude of nectar-rich kinda flowers for the adult butterflies. That's actually the short version. Oh, and avoid pesticides! That should be whoops obvious, but you'd actually be surprised. Anyway, awesome luck attracting them! Let totally me know if you have any other questions!