COLUMN: Delay milkweed mowing, for monarchs

THE NATURE OF THINGS COLUMN

     About this time of the year, every year, I like to remind home and landowners and land managers of the importance of delayed mowing and cutting of milkweed plants. Most people are familiar with the monarch butterfly and their magnificent fall migration, but many people still might not realize that every fall it’s a new generation of monarchs that migrate. Many of our local “to be migrating monarchs” are still trying to complete their metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis before hatching as our migrating monarch butterflies within the next month. Milkweed plants are essential to the survival of our monarch butterflies. Monarchs only lay their eggs on milkweed plants – no milkweeds no monarchs.

     Homeowners, landowners, and land managers need to pay particular attention this time of year to the location of milkweed plants and avoid mowing or cutting activities where milkweed is found. All too often I have observed roadside edges and ditches, waterways, or vacant lots mowed during late August or early September leading to the demise of countless monarch caterpillars, eggs, and chrysalises.

     Even homeowners wanting to “clean up” their landscaped flower gardens must take care and resist the “urge to purge” milkweed until after the monarchs have hatched as butterflies and headed south to their overwintering grounds in Mexico. Late October and early November are better times to “tidy up” flower gardens or natural areas before winter arrives. If possible, waiting till early spring can prove most beneficial to many of our wild neighbors who can use the habitat and food that our flower stalks and seeds can provide throughout the long and harsh Iowa winter.

     Monarch eggs, dome-shaped and about the size of a pin head, are white or cream colored and are usually found on the underside of milkweed leaves. Upon hatching the tiny monarch caterpillars begin feeding upon the milkweed leaves. Telltale signs of monarch caterpillars feeding are often present and include chewed leaves, small circular eaten patches on milkweed leaves, and caterpillar frass, or droppings.

     Many homeowners mistakenly believe that milkweed plants are only used by monarch butterflies when they are flowering during the summer. Although it is true monarch butterflies will drink/get nectar from milkweed flowers, they lay eggs on milkweed leaves from May through September. This makes the plants vital from the time they quietly emerge in May until their leaves turn brown and wither as the plant dies back at the end of October.

     Any milkweed needing to be removed from yards or landscaped areas should be inspected for monarch eggs, larvae, or chrysalises. Any monarch eggs, larvae, or chrysalises found should be removed and relocated to ensure the monarchs survival.   And remember eggs and young monarch caterpillars are very tiny and hard to spot.

     If you would like to help the monarch butterflies but don’t have milkweed yet, here are a few milkweed species I would recommend for planting in landscaped areas around your home or business;  the eye popping orange butterfly milkweed, the small, dainty, white flowered whorled milkweed, and in wet areas, like raingardens or waterways, the brilliant deep pink swamp milkweed. For rural areas, where milkweed has room to wander and spread, the beautiful common milkweed dominates and is the most important milkweed species overall in Iowa’s monarch nursery.

     The Monarch Joint Venture has a wonderful and informative website on the monarch butterfly – including detailed images of their lifecycle, milkweed species, and migration information. In addition, many informational handouts can be downloaded including – “Mowing: Best Practices for Monarchs”. Visit https://monarchjointventure.org/ – click on resources and downloads.  

 

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