Illinois is Welcoming Back the Monarchs

They’ve been traveling for weeks now. Coming from Mexico, fluttering each day northward for the summer, the Monarch butterflies have begun to arrive in Illinois.

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Their numbers were down last year. Record low numbers. There has been a bump this spring, and that’s a good sign. Monarchs are dependent on milkweed. It’s the only thing the caterpillars eat and what the butterflies lay their eggs on.

Monarchs need Milkweed

So, while the milkweed awakens for the season across the mid-west the Monarch butterflies will follow.

Their path has led them through Texas and Oklahoma and now they are being spotted in southern Missouri and Illinois and as the season warms you should see more and more of them.

The path of Monarch butterflies

In our backyard we have milkweed planted for this very reason. We have other butterfly friendly plants also that also are attractive to bees and other pollinators. Beebalm, Purple coneflowers, Zinnias, Phlox and Black-eyed Susans are inviting to butterflies and bees.

Monarch friendly flowers

Bee on the lookout over the next few weeks for Monarch butterflies moving through the area, and if you have the right plants maybe your yard could be a welcoming rest stop.