Monarch butterflies are on nearly everyone’s minds. Their declining numbers have many people wondering “What can I do to help?”
Luckily, you can help these beloved butterflies in your very own garden or community by planting milkweed and taking action!
Monarch caterpillars are picky eaters. They can only eat one thing: milkweed. Milkweed is what we call their “host plant”, meaning that the caterpillar depends on it as a food source and cannot survive without it.
Unfortunately, housing development and agriculture have chased out the milkweed plants that used to be abundant across America, leading to a huge decline in the monarch butterfly population. In fact, monarch population numbers have been down by over 90% in recent years!
Get started in your journey to support monarchs with these resources!
The best choice for monarchs is milkweed that is native to your region! There are over 100 species of milkweed that naturally occur throughout North and Central America, but not all of these will be native to where you live in the country.
Four milkweed species are native to much of the United States making them a good choice for many regions. They are also readily available at many plant nurseries.
Common milkweed
(Asclepias syriaca)
Swamp milkweed
(Asclepias incarnata)
Butterflyweed
(Asclepias tuberosa)
Showy milkweed
(Asclepias speciosa)
Read our blog to discover which milkweed species are native to your state!
If you live in the United States, we recommend you do not plant this species of milkweed. Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), which is sold at many retail nurseries, is not native to the United States. Plus, research is showing that its long bloom time may have some negative effects on monarch migration and can even be a source of disease spread within monarch populations. For these reasons, we recommend avoiding tropical milkweed and instead opting for milkweed species that are native to your region. Read more here and learn to identify this species.
While there isn’t currently a simple answer to this question, the more milkweed you plant, the better!
In general, the number of milkweed plants is less important than the fact that you are planting milkweed in the first place!
CREDIT: LISA SOWA-DOWNS
If you’re looking for some other tangible goals to help monarchs, you can:
Many local plant stores that specialize in native plants will carry a few milkweed species for purchase. Please ensure that these species are native to your region and avoid tropical milkweed which is commonly sold at retail nurseries. Xerces Society’s Milkweed Seed Finder tool can be a good resource for finding milkweed vendors nearby.
You can also purchase milkweed plants or seeds online from many retailers.
There are many different organizations like nonprofits or even international organizations that have provided their own status to the monarch butterfly so the answer to this question can actually vary. Importantly, not all of these listings carry legal weight.
Often what people mean when they ask this question is whether the monarch butterfly is listed as endangered or threatened by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Endangered Species Act.
As of December 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a listing of the North American migratory monarch butterfly as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Protecting the monarch as a threatened species could be great news for the monarchs! It will provide increased funding, coordination, and focus on the work to save this iconic butterfly species. Read more about this listing and what it means here.
If you live in the United States, the answer is most likely “yes”! You can see a map of monarch butterfly’s breeding range and their migration paths here.
Yes! While monarch butterflies are a very well-known species, many other animals will benefit from milkweed in your garden. Insects like the milkweed tussock moth and milkweed beetles depend on milkweed as a food source much like the monarch caterpillar does. Meanwhile, the blooms on milkweed will benefit a wide range of pollinators!
You can read up on some of these milkweed-dependent species in this National Wildlife magazine article.
CREDIT: TRACY BRUNNER
Planting milkweed is a great first step to help monarch butterflies, but you can take more action too! You can:
Check out all of our monarch resources from the past decade here.
Monarch butterflies are one of many species that are losing their habitat and need our help. The plants you choose for your garden and how you care for your outdoor space can make a huge difference in supporting wildlife and the environment.
By planting a monarch butterfly garden, you are already providing many of the habitat essentials needed to get recognized as a Certified Wildlife Habitat®! See if you qualify for certification and get certified today!
By taking a few simple actions, you can make a difference!
Take Action Today!