Your Yard + Milkweed = Save the Monarch Butterfly! It’s really that simple. If you want to express your environmentalism and love for nature all at the same time, all you have to do is plant milkweed which will help save an entire species! Once upon a time, milkweed was all the rage for home gardens, but lately (even though sustainability has grown in popularity), milkweed has been in decline. Every project I work on, I suggest the client plant milkweed. It’s a gorgeous flowering plant that is native and can be used in rain gardens or in beds. It spreads to become a nice thick body…and it’s essential for the survival of Monarch butterflies as they migrate from their northern terrorities to their southern homes.
On the Job Training
Landscape design (and design in general) requires an ability to crisscross disiplines and subjects. This is doubly true for designing sustainable gardens and residential yards. You need to know about ecology, botany, hardscaping, plant care, stone, decks and insects such as the monarch butterfly.
A few days ago, I was at a friend/clients backyard and saw what I thought was a monarch butterfly sitting on a milkweed we planted this year. I took a picture of it and posted in on my facebook and instagram page. About an hour later, my neighbor commented that I had misidentified the butterfly.
At first, I thought it impossible! Me? Confuse a butterfly species? With a little research, I discovered that yes indeed I had mistaken the winged creature. What I had thought was a monarch was actually an Eastern tiger swallowtail (see image below). To be more exact, it was a male Eastern tiger swallowtail. Sadly, I am not a know-it-all! My entomology isn’t as strong as I'd like…and my lepidopterology needs work too. This is what I love about social networks and design. I get on the job training….even if it’s a bit embarrassing being corrected on my facebook page.
So, I thought I’d help you never confuse the two species as I had:
Landscape design (and design in general) requires an ability to crisscross disiplines and subjects. This is doubly true for designing sustainable gardens and residential yards. You need to know about ecology, botany, hardscaping, plant care, stone, decks and insects such as the monarch butterfly.
A few days ago, I was at a friend/clients backyard and saw what I thought was a monarch butterfly sitting on a milkweed we planted this year. I took a picture of it and posted in on my facebook and instagram page. About an hour later, my neighbor commented that I had misidentified the butterfly.
At first, I thought it impossible! Me? Confuse a butterfly species? With a little research, I discovered that yes indeed I had mistaken the winged creature. What I had thought was a monarch was actually an Eastern tiger swallowtail (see image below). To be more exact, it was a male Eastern tiger swallowtail. Sadly, I am not a know-it-all! My entomology isn’t as strong as I'd like…and my lepidopterology needs work too. This is what I love about social networks and design. I get on the job training….even if it’s a bit embarrassing being corrected on my facebook page.
So, I thought I’d help you never confuse the two species as I had:
Male is on left. Female on right.
The image above is of a male and female Eastern Tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). The P. glaucus are yellow with black tiger-like stripes. Females can have the same color patterns as males or can be completely black. Females tend to have colorful blue and orange spots on their hind wings. Males typically do not have the spots. They have a wingspan of 3 to 5inches.
Female is on left. Male is on right.
As you can see from the image above, the Monarch is much more orange in appearance. They have white spots long the margins of the wings and also have the tiger-like striping across the wing. The hind wing are more round too. They have a wingspan that tops out at 4 inches.
Both species eat milkweed, but the tiger swallowtail has a more diverse menu of foods. The monarch uses milkweed exclusively. If you want to help save the monarch plant milkweed! Whether your garden is visited by tiger swallowtails or monarchs, you’ll enjoy watching them flutter about.
Both species eat milkweed, but the tiger swallowtail has a more diverse menu of foods. The monarch uses milkweed exclusively. If you want to help save the monarch plant milkweed! Whether your garden is visited by tiger swallowtails or monarchs, you’ll enjoy watching them flutter about.
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