If You Build It, They Will Come: Help Save Monarchs.

Photo by Amanda C. Sandos

Several years ago, I made a trip to Michoacan, Mexico specifically to see the Monarch Butterflies in their wintering grounds. Got2BeGreen published my article about that adventure, if you want to read all about it. Speaking from experience, the monarch migration is one of nature's most spectacular phenomenons. There are only a hand full of specific areas within the same state of Mexico where all the world's monarchs return in order to survive the winter and complete their breeding cycle.

Photo by Amanda C. Sandos

After standing literally in A World of Butterflies, I find the reports of the monarch's decline particularly disturbing. Of course, part of the problem has to do with protection of their habitat in Mexico. Researchers like Dr. Lincoln Brower of Sweet Briar College, and many others at numerous organizations continue working to protect their habitat south of the border. But, the problem is not just in Mexico, so saving the pine forests there is not going to be enough. Not by a long shot. It's easy to look at the situation and point a finger at people elsewhere. It's easy to think there is nothing you can do. But, neither of these things are true. There is something you can do and it's not difficult, or expensive at all.

Photo by Amanda C. Sandos

Current research by Craig Wilson of Texas A&M suggests monarch numbers will decline by 30% this year. That's even more frightening when you look at the trend over the last few years. Last year, the numbers declined by 25%. And one of the biggest causes of this decline is happening right in your back yard along with the decline of an estimated 100 million acres of their food and host plant supply. Milkweed and wildflowers are what monarchs need to survive. But, with the rise of herbicide use and mowing, not to mention the conversion of dormant land to herbicide resistant soybean and corn crops, monarchs are  running out of food and host plants.

Photo by Amanda C. Sandos

So, please, this year, won't you do something easy to help save monarchs. It really doesn't take much on your part. All you have to do is plant milkweed, one of the most important plants to monarchs, on your property and make sure it is clearly marked so it doesn't get mowed or sprayed. You can even add a wildflower patch around it, if you want more color. Neither takes a large amount of your money or your time. All you need are a few packs of seed, a sunny spot in your yard, and a little bit of water now and then if it doesn't rain. Then, you can sit back and enjoy watching the monarchs and numerous beautiful butterflies and moths. I promise, if you build it, they will come.

The Monarchs Return

The fabulous orange and black beauties are back, flitting around our zinnia patch as I type. Although I can't explain why they first fascinated me, since my interest in them well predated my knowledge of their amazing migrations to Mexico, I have always felt a kind of joy at their return each year. Now that joy is mingled with relief each spring, since the year may come in my lifetime when they are gone, extinct due to habitat destruction and the use of chemical pesticides. These little pollinators are in grave danger.

I am hard at work crafting an article on a recent interview with Dr. Lincoln Brower, one of the world's top experts on monarchs and their migration. The article will make an appearance in the Got2BeGreen online journal very soon. I'll be sure to send out the link when it's done, but let me just tell you the news for the monarchs is not good if things both in Mexico and here in the states don't change. I don't want to give too much away before the article is published, so with monarchs on my mind, I thought I would share with you some of the artwork they have inspired. In the meantime, if you want to help the monarch survive, the very best thing you can do right now is to STOP the use of herbicides and pesticides in your yard this year. For more on alternative methods of pest control, those not harmful to butterflies, (and all the other creatures living in your gardens, ditches, and yards) go here. More on monarchs from Dr. Brower very soon, but in the meantime, enjoy some monarch magic.


Mariposas Return

Wafting on the breeze, each puff of wind sends
luminous lantern-thin wings fluttering. Golden-
orange kites patterned with black drift higher,
spiral back, flutter forward in a whirling dance.

Watching from wrought-iron windows over dusty
courtyards, families wait with golden-orange candle
flames flickering. They weave floral wreathes,
harvest the red soil, working to gather gifts
while they wait for the return of the dead.

Winging across summits, millions flit and fly
through aquamarine skies, sip flowers, cover
streams, swarm and swoop, fill the sky, shrouding
deep forests in communal comforters, their woven
warmth against winter’s chill.

Worshipers gather, jubilant, watching the celestial
flights of ancestors returned home. Gifts of warm
remembrance promenade through winding roads,
placed on graves to flash in firelight. Natives walk up
winding paths, showing reverence to these protectors
whose winged beauty cloaks winter and wakens
once more with the wealth of spring.

The following works were either taken during or inspired by my trip to Mexico to see the monarch wintering grounds. We were there just as they began to wake up and prepare for their return to my back yard here in Central Virginia. It was magical, literally, a world shrouded in butterflies. I highly recommend experiencing the magic at least once in your life.






All paintings and photographs provided by me, Amanda C. Sandos. For works for sale, visit The ARTiculates.