Showy milkweed with a swallowtail butterfly.
JoAnne Skelly
I recently heard on KUNR that monarch butterflies may soon be listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Western monarchs are even more at risk than the eastern ones, with a decline over 95 percent since the 1980s. The long-term population decrease is due to habitat loss and degradation, climate change and, of course, pesticides (https://www.xerces.org/monarchs).
Gardeners can help reverse population decline by establishing monarch waystations to help the butterflies reproduce successfully and sustain migration (https://monarchwatch.org/waystations/).
We can plant flowers that will feed monarchs and their caterpillars. Milkweeds are essential for caterpillars and nectar sources that bloom sequentially are critical for adults. Monarch Watch says to plant at least 10 milkweed plants made up of two or more species, although all one species is better than no milkweeds at all.
With more species, there is a longer bloom period, which sustains the butterflies over a longer period of time. More milkweed plants mean more butterflies.
Nectar plants such as asters, beebalms, butterfly bushes, coneflowers, echinacea, goldenrod, Joe Pye weed, lavender, penstemon, salvia, sulfur-flowered buckwheat, and sunflower will provide multiple seasons of blooms to sustain the adult butterflies.
Native milkweed species in northwestern Nevada include pallid or Davis’ milkweed, Asclepias cryptoceras; narrowleaf milkweed, A. fascicularis; showy milkweed, A. speciosa (one common throughout the state).
Desert milkweed, A. erosa, is native to the central part of the state. Avoid tropical milkweed, A. curassavica, which is a non-native species which can disrupt the monarchs’ normal migratory cycle and spread a debilitating parasite.
For more information on milkweeds of Nevada: https://www.xerces.org/publications/identification-monitoring-guides/guide-to-common-milkweeds-of-nevada.
For local information on monarch conservation and to buy seed and/or transplants contact the Nevada Monarch Society at https://nvmonarchs.org or email them at nvmonarchs@gmail.com.
Their plants are available in the spring and fall at their annual sale in April and May or by special order. Their plants are also available at the annual Greenhouse Project Plant sale, on May 10 at 1111 N. Saliman Road, located to the east of Carson High School (https://www.carsoncitygreenhouse.org/).
The Nevada Division of Forestry State Tree Nursery usually sells showy and narrowleaf milkweed plants each year. Contact them at 775-849-0213, https://forestry.nv.gov/washoe-state-tree-nursery or email washoenursery@forestry.nv.gov.
JoAnne Skelly is Associate Professor & Extension Educator, Emerita University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.