Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Plant It and They Will Come 4 Monarch Pollinator Life Cycles, 1 by coleup

coleup wrote:
We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1367451/

We have had a few reports of Monarch sightings and some garden lingerings amongst our Milkweed and nectar plants. More Swallowtails have begun to show up, and plenty of Skippers, Cabbage Whites, Moths bees and Bumble Bees. Still the numbers are way down and way off timing wise from what many of us across the country and around here had assumed was typical.

As Greenthumb wrote "On another note, I was at a meeting at Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy today. While no data has been collected yet about the numbers of Monarch cats raised, the folks there who have raised many cats in the past all said that they have been unable to find any to bring inside this year. The monarch situation is looking especially grim currently. Also, low butterfly populations in general this year have been noted by all. This past winter is thought to be a major factor."

I believe the next 6 - 10 weeks are critical for building up numbers of the over wintering populations of our pollinators. I also believe that there are things we can do now that will help there be more next year!
If there are mated mammas and eggs and larva out therethere, they will need safe places to pupate in addition to host and nectar plants.

Your thoughts?