Butterfly on Narrow Leafed Milkweed, Photo courtesy of Las Pilitas Nursery, CA
I am a female Monarch butterfly, flying high above Pismo Beach, flying from the tall Eucalyptus trees, where I have been sleeping this winter. How I love the California Coast! It has everything I need here: moderate winter temps, clean air, and I am making friends to help me keep warm. The sun comes out. I feel its warmth on my wings… I open them, flashing orange at any passersby. There are none. Presently, I fly off across the Meadow. What do I spy down there? Could it be Milkweed? I zoom in for a closer look. There to my unbelieving eyes, yes, they even have milkweed here! I can lay my eggs on the Milkweed plants right here and then go back to my California lifestyle. No need to go anywhere else. I have what I need right here at the Hotel California.
And so it was that one less Monarch butterfly returned to the Sierras that Spring. She decided instead to stay at Monarch Grove on the Central Coast of California, where she had all she needed. They were even growing Milkweed for her.
Such was a story I heard from one of the docents at the Monarch Butterfly Grove. You see, a couple of years ago, the docents had tried to do a good thing for the Monarch butterflies. They planted Milkweed for them to eat. They also sold Milkweed plants (California variety, Asclepias fascicularis) in pots to local gardeners. The problem was, many of the plants had Monarch eggs on them. And the females, having laid their eggs, had no interest in returning home! Like runaway teenagers, they stayed and learned to surf the waves of the sky in California’s golden springtime. (windsurfing)
Experts told the CA Park Docents that this was not a good result. If the Monarchs did not fly back North, it would disrupt their natural cycle. Talk about unexpected consequences! Here docents thought they were doing a good thing by planting Milkweed! But they had to tear up their plants and also they stopped selling it! I was surprised by this. What about all those Monarchs visiting, overwintering? Surely they would be hungry. Shouldn’t the docents at least plant more nectar flowering plants?
Monarchs Overwintering in Monarch Grove, Pismo Beach, CA, Photo by Kathy Vilim
The Monarchs, I learned, do not need to eat much in the winter. They live off the “fat” they stored during late Summer, when they seemed to have nothing they wanted to do so much as simply gorge themselves on nectar. No, in the winter what they want is rain.. big rain puddles to sit in and drink up minerals.
Still, I would have liked to see more winter flowers for the Monarch butterflies anyway. Their journey seems so perilous as it is, with development taking away so much habitat and food sources along their way. Many of them must arrive skinny and tattered and have a hard time making it through the winter.
So, as you wait this Spring for the return of the Monarch butterflies to your Northern wildlife gardens, knowing that you have planted the larval and nectar plants that they need, and you think you see a few less Monarchs, consider .. it may be the result of some unintended consequences.. as it was down at the Hotel California.
“You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave.. “ The Eagles.. Hotel California”
© 2013, Kathy Vilim. All rights reserved. This article is the property of BeautifulWildlifeGarden.com If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
About Kathy Vilim
Kathy I love your posts. I have often wondered what they did all winter and now I know although mine overwinter in Mexico. One of my greatest joys in spring is the return of the monarchs. They are not with us long as it takes them months to get here and many time s the nectar and larval plants are not ready until late May in my area. Then before I know it they are gone in Sept or October. How very lucky you are to see them in winter too!!
Donna@Gardens Eye View recently posted..Gardens Eye Journal-January 2013
Thank you so much, Donna. I am sure you take good care of all the Monarchs that pass your way. They are lucky to have a good steward like you when they return from Mexico in the Spring. Maybe sometime you will get to take a trip down to their overwintering spot in Mexico! It would be fabulous to see thousands of them taking off to start their return trip North (East of the Rockies).
Kathy Vilim recently posted..West Coast Monarchs are Over Wintering Happily
Fascinating. Love the “runaway teens surfing”….gave me a good laugh of the day!
Loret recently posted..Four, I tell you FOUR!
Hah! Thanks, Loret. Knew that would catch your eye
Kathy Vilim recently posted..Living with the Monarchs in Winter~
I cannot wait for the return of the Monarch this summer. I have lots of milkweed and nectar plants them (I cannot resist pointing out that I noticed the top picture was not of Monarch:)) It’s always the same thing with me too, I try to help the wildlife and occasionally my efforts create an unexpected bad result. But mostly it’s for the good….I love reading these and learning more every time.
Thanks for stopping to comment. We all occasionally do things that have unexpected consequences. But it’s all a learning process, and it is so great to learn knew things about the wildlife in our areas. (Thanks for the save on the pic, other butterflies besides Monarchs like Milkweed, too!)
Kathy Vilim recently posted..Living with the Monarchs in Winter~
I’m a little confused by this. After years and years of educating people to plant more milkweed, I can’t imagine anyone suggesting that it needed to be removed. I searched around their website to try to find some kind of justification for what appears to be a very extreme action, but I can’t find any information there about the removal of the Milkweed. Do you have a contact there that I could use to try to find out more about this?
Carole Sevilla Brown recently posted..Speaking at Todays Horticulture Symposium at Longwood Gardens
Carole, I was surprised by this as well. I thought we needed More Milkweed everywhere. But milkweed was not naturally occurring in the Grove; the plants they took out had been planted by Docents who thought they were doing a good thing for the Monarchs. Experts told them that their addition of Milkweed was confusing the Monarchs at the Overwintering location, and that the Monarchs did not need it until Spring. I spent a lot of time talking with a couple different docents. I believe if you call over there (looking for the phone # for you) and speak to any of them, they can tell you about this. (Apparently, it is okay to grow Milkweed in the private gardens inland, where some Monarchs do live locally year round, just not there at the Grove as it is for overwintering only.)
Kathy Vilim recently posted..Living with the Monarchs in Winter~
Lovely post love the way you start with ” I am a female Monarch butterfly…”
Superb
Diligent Gardener recently posted..Going CooCoo for Cucamelon
Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed the story. Have a lovely day~
Kathy Vilim recently posted..Living with the Monarchs in Winter~
Interesting facts Kathy. You are like a butterfly this winter, migrating and gathering fascinating seeds to plant in our minds! Judith
Thank you for the lovely and well-written comment~ I should like to be a California butterfly~
Kathy Vilim recently posted..Living with the Monarchs in Winter~
Such controversy. The very nature of nature is change and cycles. The Monarchs are in decline. If a new breeding ground developed from the planting of these Milkweeds, is that not good? It just seems “backwards” to actually rip out a new habitat when we see so many other habitats disappearing so fast. I think it deserves further study.
Kathy Sturr of the Violet Fern recently posted..Wrapping Up 2012 with Final Picks for Diana
I know what you mean, Kathy, at first blush it does seem odd. But apparently there is a problem with “creating” a breeding ground right at an overwintering site, as it interrupts the Monarchs’ natural cycle of breeding. I note, the Monarchs chose this site and were overwintering there happily long before anyone tried planting Milkweed. Milkweed does not naturally grow at the Grove~ More to look into & learn about in the New Year!
Kathy Vilim recently posted..Living with the Monarchs in Winter~
Mmm-hmm, that’s approximately what I thought when I read this spectacular post, Kathy. Where I live in northeastern New York State, robins always always migrated. My Mom always said you knew spring was here when you started seeing robins again. Now some of them over-winter here, apparently because it’s warmer and easier for them to find a steady food supply. Nature is above all things resilient. If some of the “rebellious teenage Monarchs” (brilliant, Kathy!) want to make a go of it in a place that has new carrying capacity for them.. Why not? Some will still migrate. Monarch species as a whole will be solvent. Ecology cares about the well-being of a species holistically. I am intrigued to hear more about this.
So glad you enjoyed the post, Jesse. I am learning more about these “rebellious teenage Monarchs” of California, and will look forward to posting what I find out about their overwintering habits.
kathy recently posted..California Teenage Runaway
Great article. There is a problem with the milkweed photo. The butterfly is not a monarch. I believe it is an american lady.
You are probably right on the ID, Robin. I captioned it just “butterfly”. Many butterflies enjoy Milkweed~ Thanks for stopping by to read the story!
kathy recently posted..Living with the Monarchs in Winter~
Great article. I enjoyed it. Interesting that narrow-leaf milkweed was the culprit. Down here (L.A. area) I have seen hundreds of narrow-leaf plants over the years and never one monarch cat on them. Indian milkweed, many times. Garden species, eaten to a nub. But narrow-leaf, never.
Thanks, I’m glad you liked the article. As to the milkweed, it’s always important to plant the specied native to your area. Where in la area are you?
What a lovely way to tell the story of the Monarchs; from the first person! So interesting the consequences of doing a ‘good’ thing for the butterflies. I have always had sweet memories of Monarchs in my back yard in the San Fernando Valley of So.California. Over the years I looked for them and didn’t know where they had all gone off to…? It is heartening to hear of the Monarch Grove and how happy the butterflies are there. Thanks for another inspired article Kathy! Always a pleasure