Shoutout to the volunteer who planted a dozen milkweed patches along the Greenway trail in Asheville last spring

I walked by them every morning for 3 months and counted 47 monarch caterpillars on just one patch mid-August, has anyone else noticed a huge difference in butterfly traffic after those plantings?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_adams11d ago

Those milkweed patches are doing exactly what they're supposed to. Saw the same thing on the south end near the dog park - counted at least 30 caterpillars munching away on one plant in late July. The monarchs were hitting those flowers nonstop when they bloomed too. That volunteer picked a good spot because there's no pesticides being sprayed near that trail. Makes a real difference when someone actually puts the work in.

andrew85411d ago

Buddy of mine did the same thing out in his back field last spring, planted like six milkweed plants along the fence line. By August he was sending me photos of monarch caterpillars just covering the leaves front and back, said he counted over forty on one plant alone. He didn't use any sprays or treatments near them either, just let them grow wild and the butterflies went nuts. It's wild how fast nature comes back when you just give it a little room and keep the chemicals out of the picture.