Help Bring Back Monarch Butterflies to Dedham

On May 18, from 10-2 the Endicott Community Greenhouse with support from the Dedham Junior Women’s Club and Dedham Civic Pride will have people available to provide information on the life cycle of Monarch Butterflies, and how to attract them to your garden. Butterflies need food and host plants to lay their eggs. The Monarch caterpillar only eats milkweed once it hatches, so to survive the larvae must be deposited on milkweed plants to survive. Milkweed plants that attract the Monarch Butterfly will be available for $2.00 a piece for planting in your garden.

Butterflies can be a welcome addition to your garden not only because of their beauty but because of the role they play in the pollination of plants and the cultivation of crops. They are an important part of a healthy ecosystem. Our food source depends on butterflies, bees and wasps. Loss of open land, climate change, storms and the use insecticides has resulted in habitat loss and a dramatic decrease in the Monarch Butterfly population.

Why are we so concerned with the Monarch Butterfly? Monarch Butterflies are considered an iconic butterfly because they are found throughout the United States and they possess an amazing ability to migrate south even as far as Mexico for the winter. They always return in the spring to the place where they hatched. A nationwide interest in Monarch Butterflies has come about because the population has dropped precipitously to 90% of what it used to be.

Picture Caption: The Monarch butterfly population has plummeted. The Dedham Junior Women's Club, Endicott Community Greenhouse and Dedham Civic Pride have joined forces to help provide milkweed plants necessary for their survival.