Fall is upon us, presenting the perfect opportunity to support the well-being of the beautiful but threatened monarch butterfly (featured in my previous column) by planting milkweed. 

The diet of the monarch caterpillar is quite limited—milkweed is the only plant it will eat—and thus is crucial to this species’ survival. If you can manage only one fall planting project this year, make it milkweed and get those seeds into the soil soon.

Besides the beauty they bring to our lives, monarchs are important pollinators and play significant roles in maintaining healthy ecosystems. But as they migrate several thousand miles across North America, monarchs must navigate growing challenges such as exposure to pesticides, loss of habitat and climate change. 

Milkweed is a native plant in the Upper Delaware River region and can be encountered growing in open sunny forest spaces, areas where soil has been disturbed as well as along roadways. 

Planting milkweed in fall is easy and timely, given that successful seed germination requires the seed be subjected to the freeze-thaw cycles of winter. Planting in spring is still possible, using a process called artificial stratification that involves placing the seeds in moist paper towels for several weeks in a refrigerator before planting.

For future plantings of other pollinator-supportive plants, select nectar-rich flowers to provide nourishment for newly emerged monarch butterflies as they begin their long winter migration. Choose native species for both milkweed and flowering plants. See www.panativeplantsociety.org for guidance.

Learn all you need to know about growing milkweed at the following link to the Environment America Research and Policy Center’s website.

Visit www.monarchwatch.org for additional information on conservation efforts and research related to monarchs.