A festival of monarchs (Danaus plexippus) in the campus prairie restoration garden just now. Right now a big wave of monarch butterflies is migrating through our area, part of the annual migration that takes them from Mexico to Canada and back again. Gardens that have late-blooming flowers like sunflowers, Maximilian sunflowers, cup plants, asters, and other kinds of silphium are places where the monarchs can refuel. As we have converted prairie into ag production and then mowed and sprayed “weeds” along highways we have eliminated crucial food sources for the butterflies and for hundreds of other species. Your little garden is like an oasis, an auberge, a hostel, a parador. It is a “city of refuge.” It is an ark.

If you‘re curious about monarch butterfly migration, check out the Project Monarch app, which will let you sacn for Bluetooth tags on butterflies and help create a better map dataset of their movements.

A vibrant monarch butterfly is perched on a yellow sunflower surrounded by green leaves.A monarch butterfly and a bee are perched on bright yellow sunflowers against a clear blue sky.A monarch butterfly is perched on the vibrant yellow petals of a sunflower against a blurred natural background.A vibrant monarch butterfly is perched on a partially opened sunflower against a blurred green foliage background.