Saving Monarch Butterflies with Butterfly Gardens

Monarch butterflies, like honey bees, are in danger. According to the National Wildlife Federation, over the last two decades, the North American monarch population has declined by more than 90 percent. There are many reasons why monarchs are disappearing, including deforestation in Mexico where butterflies migrate to survive through the winter, climate change and pesticides and urban development wiping out milkweed. Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed and these are the only plants their caterpillars can eat. Milkweed plants are vital to monarch’s survival.

It’s easy to make a difference at a local level by planting native plants at home or throughout a community. Through the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, mayors and other local and tribal government executives are pledging to create friendly habitats for monarchs and other pollinators. When taking the pledge, community heads are asked to identify at least three action items to be implemented within their area, such as avoiding pesticides, education outreach, adding monarch-friendly plants to community planting and creating butterfly gardens.

Eco Promotional Products offers a number of products to help spread the word about the plight of the monarch and encourage people to plant butterfly-friendly plants at home. This HGTV picture gallery shows 25 photos of flowers and plants that provide nectar for butterflies. Many of the flowers pictured, along with other butterfly-friendly plants such as sunflowers, coleus, marigolds and forget-me-nots, are available with plantable promotional products. Unfortunately, Eco Promotional Products does not offer any milkweed seeded products but seeds can be found at many local garden stores. Additionally, milkweed can be easily transplanted. If a friend or a neighbor has milkweed in their yard, ask if they are willing to share.

Even without milkweed, you can still create a friendly habitat for butterflies. One of the easiest ways to encourage people to plant butterfly friendly plants is with custom flower seed packets. Choose from more than a dozen different flower seeds including a customized butterfly mix seed packet. Seed packets have three imprint areas to promote your organization’s mission along with pre-printed outdoor planting instructions.

Planting kits with butterfly-friendly seeds have everything needed to start planting indoors and then can be transplanted outdoors with warmer weather. Planter kits also provide beautiful summer décor on decks and patios. Even without a yard, one can create a butterfly-friendly container garden.

A custom bookmark with a seeded butterfly shape is two gifts in one. Recipients can keep the full-color imprinted bookmark and plant the seeded shape to grow beautiful butterfly-friendly wildflowers. The bookmark itself is USA made from 100% recycled paper and is fully customizable to your branding and messaging.

Creating a butterfly garden in a public space has become a popular service project for schools, garden clubs and Boy and Girl Scouts. For people who don’t have a yard, working on a community project is a great way to make a difference.

Let Eco Promotional Products help your organization promote butterfly-friendly initiatives with a wide variety of seeded products in our Growables section.