article by Jenn Phillips-Vanderberg
Fall is a great time to add Safe for Monarchs plants to your yard. Fall plants benefit from warmer soil temperatures, typically more rain, and less heat stress. For gardeners, it means less watering and plants that are already in the ground during the busy spring season.
As you’re shopping for native plants, keep an eye out for the Safe for Monarchs logo. The program connects Wisconsin gardeners with participating nurseries that offer some of the best Wisconsin-native plants for monarchs and grow them without chemicals that harm monarchs. The following Safe for Monarchs nurseries are having sales in September:
As an added bonus, some of these nurseries are having end of season sales. Check out nurseries’ webpages or call for more information and to confirm sales and availability.
Fall is also an important time for monarchs. As monarchs prepare for their migration south, they need abundant nectar from late-summer and fall-blooming plants to fuel their journey. Native asters, goldenrods, and other late-season flowers provide valuable nectar when monarchs start their migration south.
So if you’ve been thinking about adding a few more native plants to your yard, now is a great time to do it!
Our first year of the Safe for Monarchs pilot program has brought together a great and growing group of Wisconsin nurseries committed to providing monarch-supporting plants. Check out wimonarchs.org/safe to find a current list of Safe for Monarchs nurseries. But we’re not done yet.
Over the coming months, we’ll be evaluating the pilot and gathering feedback from both participating nurseries and people who have taken part in the program. We want to learn what worked well, what could be improved, and what would make Safe for Monarchs even more useful to both growers and gardeners. Watch for a survey link in future emails and on social media to help us by sharing your thoughts about the program.
As we head into winter, we plan to expand the Safe for Monarchs network to additional nurseries across Wisconsin and increase our outreach to native plant sales and other places where gardeners are looking for plants.
We also want to make more Wisconsin gardeners aware of what the Safe for Monarchs designation means and why it matters. The more gardeners who recognize the logo, ask for Safe for Monarchs plants, and seek out nurseries participating in the program, the more opportunities we have to connect people with plants that can help create better monarch habitat.
And that is ultimately what Safe for Monarchs is about: making it easier for people, like you, to take action for monarchs by putting the right plants in the right places.
One of the best ways we can grow this program is through word of mouth. You can help!
Do you know a native plant sale or nursery we should reach out to? We want to hear from you! Please contact jenn@wimonarchs.org with information about native plant sales, nurseries, or other potential partners.
With your help, we can expand the Safe for Monarchs network and make it easier for gardeners throughout Wisconsin to find plants that support monarchs and other pollinators.
