11/22/2023 0 Comments Asclepias seedlings![]() What monarchs need is a revolution of compassion that draws a line against human privilege and supremacy, that says no more to this culture of waste and greed and violent colonization that's as suicidal as it is genocidal. Yes, putting in more milkweed and a native plant garden in your suburban landscape is much more actionable and will get people talking / thinking (even though that can already feel like a mountain to climb for many - what's native, what will work, what about the HOA, etc, all stuff we try to cover here and at the website as best we can). No, you by yourself can't go convert 25% of Iowa from corn to prairie or get the U.S. (And don't get me started on folks killing tussock moth larvae or milkweed beetles so there's more milkweed for monarchs to eat.) But it is the idolatry over one charismatic butterfly species, and the subsequent narrow perspective on what the "solution" to "helping" them is, that becomes highly problematic if we're not willing or able to address the underlying or fundamental issues at play here. This post is not to douse the flames of people rushing to spread the good news about milkweed - most of us here already know the benefits of milkweed and native plants. Without those plant communities - and the milkweed found within them - what hope should we have? For those who don't know, over 99% of the tallgrass prairie is gone in Iowa and it's nearly as dire in neighboring states. monarchs come from the northern Midwest, the so-called corn belt and the largest slice of the pie). Speaking of Iowa, it's at the center of monarch reproduction in summer (estimates are that around 38% of eastern U.S. If we can't manage those small strips for wildlife rearing, what hope do we have in the monoculture fields beyond them? I recently drove from the arrowhead of Minnesota to Des Moines, along the so-called I-35 Monarch Highway. Climate change is increasing occurrences of drought along the Mississippi flyway that stretches from Mexico to Canada, and it’s decimating fir trees in the overwintering grounds of the oyamel forest of central Mexico while also creating a risk of exposure to freak storms that bring cold rains and snows. Monarchs need MASSIVE systemic change to our society and culture at breakneck speed, not a "plant more milkweed" panacea that makes us feel better for a moment, but doesn't really practically address issues that will make a lasting difference for monarchs and so much more. Monarchs also, most importantly above all else, need an end to burning fossil fuels as well as big agriculture as it's implemented now. Monarchs and milkweed need a plant community to thrive - especially over vast stretches of a landscape, well more than a city can provide. Milkweed, like most plants, did not evolve to grow by itself. ![]() My concern is folks will rush to plant milkweed and, like so many other of their garden plants, maroon them in a sea of wood mulch with plants spaced far apart. And besides, there are many insect species at greater risk than monarchs, but we aren't planting for them. Health and life is more than one genus of plants. And they need other interactions that occur in a dense, layered native plant community interactions involving other species, interactions in the soil, interactions among the plants. Monarchs need an entire native plant community - host plants AND nectar plants. Telling folks to go get some milkweed for their small foundation bed is like telling folks to get some wheat bread crust for dinner. I don't see it as a baby step or gateway, I see it as a sleight of hand. It does not store any personal data.The call to plant milkweed - while easily sharable and actionable - is greatly reductionist and oversimplified. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. ![]() The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
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