Farmers' new, extremely effective methods of killing milkweed are having an unintended effect — a decline in the population of monarch butterflies, which lay their eggs on the weed. Also at risk are rainbows, ponies, shooting stars, and the entire oeuvre of Lisa Frank.
DISCUSSION
This is my personal "thing," y'all.
I'm begging any Jezzies out there with a little bit of a yard and sunlight to plant a tropical milkweed (Asclepias Curassavica—it has to be the tropical kind for the monarchs).
If you plant it they will come! I've raised five generations of monarchs in the past five years. (Just make sure you don't touch the white sap to your eyes, and make sure kids and pets stay away from eating it.)
[www.monarch-butterfly.com]
http://www.nababutterfly.com/milkweed_tropical.html
Sorry—I am a butterfly geek.