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The Deep Middle


Gardening & writing in the prairie echo

No, We Don't Just Need to Plant More Milkweed

7/23/2022

 
The call to plant milkweed -- while easily sharable and actionable -- is greatly reductionist and oversimplified. Maybe even harmful in some ways. I don't see it as a baby step or gateway, I see it as a sleight of hand.

Telling folks to go get some milkweed for their small foundation bed is like telling folks to get some wheat bread crust for dinner. Monarchs need an entire native plant community -- host plants AND nectar plants. And they need other interactions that occur in a dense, layered native plant community; interactions involving other species, interactions in the soil, interactions among the plants. Health and life is more than one genus of plants. And besides, there are many insect species at greater risk than monarchs, but we aren't planting for them.

My concern is folks will rush to plant milkweed and, like so many other of their garden plants, maroon them in a sea of wood mulch with plants spaced far apart. Milkweed, like most plants, did not evolve to grow by itself. Monarchs and milkweed need a plant community to thrive -- especially over vast stretches of a landscape, well more than a city can provide.

Monarchs also, most importantly above all else, need an end to burning fossil fuels as well as big agriculture as it's implemented now. Monarchs need MASSIVE systemic change to our society and culture at breakneck speed, not a "plant more milkweed" panacea that makes us feel better for a moment, but doesn't really practically address issues that will make a lasting difference for monarchs and so much more. Climate change is increasing occurrences of drought along the Mississippi flyway that stretches from Mexico to Canada, and it’s decimating fir trees in the overwintering grounds of the oyamel forest of central Mexico while also creating a risk of exposure to freak storms that bring cold rains and snows. And then there's the illegal logging.

I recently drove from the arrowhead of Minnesota to Des Moines, along the so-called I-35 Monarch Highway. There was a lot of mowing going on. In mid summer. About peak larvae action time. If we can't manage those small strips for wildlife rearing, what hope do we have in the monoculture fields beyond them?

Speaking of Iowa, it's at the center of monarch reproduction in summer (estimates are that around 38% of eastern U.S. monarchs come from the northern Midwest, the so-called corn belt and the largest slice of the pie). For those who don't know, over 99% of the tallgrass prairie is gone in Iowa and it's nearly as dire in neighboring states. Without those plant communities -- and the milkweed found within them -- what hope should we have?

This post is not to douse the flames of people rushing to spread the good news about milkweed -- most of us here already know the benefits of milkweed and native plants. But it is the idolatry over one charismatic butterfly species, and the subsequent narrow perspective on what the "solution" to "helping" them is, that becomes highly problematic if we're not willing or able to address the underlying or fundamental issues at play here. (And don't get me started on folks killing tussock moth larvae or milkweed beetles so there's more milkweed for monarchs to eat.)

No, you by yourself can't go convert 25% of Iowa from corn to prairie or get the U.S. to transition away from oil and coal. Yes, putting in more milkweed and a native plant garden in your suburban landscape is much more actionable and will get people talking / thinking (even though that can already feel like a mountain to climb for many -- what's native, what will work, what about the HOA, etc, all stuff we try to cover here and at the website as best we can).

What monarchs need is a revolution of compassion that draws a line against human privilege and supremacy, that says no more to this culture of waste and greed and violent colonization that's as suicidal as it is genocidal. And make no mistake, monarchs won’t vanish even if the two great migrations in North and Central America do (migration distances that many other butterfly species make around the world).

Don't just plant more milkweed. Call us all out on why we need more milkweed, more goldenrod, more aster, more bluestem, more coneflower, more prairie clover, more sedge. Call out our lawns. Call out our parking lots. Call out our farm fields. Call out our coal trains. Call out special interests that have taken over our system of government. Do what you can where you can -- a pot on an apartment deck, a front yard lawn, a YouTube channel, a farmer's market, a city council meeting, your close personal friend Bill Gates.

And don't just talk milkweed -- folks can handle the complexities, we're a highly-evolved species with immense hearts and immense brains. None of this is easy. It takes as much physical action as it does some complex personal, emotional reflection (and book reading) as we work for a healthier future. What are you going to risk in your life today to rewild your community?

[This post will surely evolve over time -- it's full of raw thoughts and emotions that will probably become a larger essay some day. Please keep comments civil and constructive without hyperbole.]

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Mary Gannon
7/23/2022 01:04:22 pm

This is a great commentary and I’d love to present it to the folks at the Native Seed Library at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes. (Shaker Heights, Ohio.) Plus I need to buy your book!

Benjamin
7/23/2022 03:41:00 pm

You can grab a signed copy of A New Garden Ethic here. Prairie Up is coming out later this fall (I'll have a discount code in my next newsletter).

Denise Haas link
7/31/2022 07:21:47 am

I would be interested in your book "A New Garden Ethic" and also Prairie up.

Peter Warshaw
7/23/2022 01:08:10 pm

Thank you for the wonderful article. Powerful stuff, and oh so scary!

David Hawke
7/23/2022 06:17:11 pm

Great article, Ben. As the 'local naturalist and nature columnist' in my area, I've been hit with many calls since the monarch made the Red List a week ago. Like you state, so many other insects are in greater peril, but none as sexy as the monarch. Similar to the peregrine falcon being the poster species for DDT in the food chain. Your column has given me seed for thought.

Benjamin
7/23/2022 07:22:37 pm

I don't necessarily mind if we have a sexy poster species, but if it's not addressing larger systems or building habitat -- it just ends up being a cute feel good story like "monarchs are in trouble but you can help by planting milkweed" fluff -- then I do get a little flustered. ;)

David
7/23/2022 07:19:12 pm

Excellent post.

I have been interested in native plants seduce my teen years. After many years, I finally have some land, and I have been restoring habitat for 15 years there.

I agree, it iscabout habitat, not individual plants.

Fe hancock
7/23/2022 07:55:37 pm

Food for thought

Sara
7/23/2022 09:49:08 pm

Iowan here. Living in a residential area that was farmland years ago, I'm doing what I can to build back native habitat in my yard. It won't be what it was, but I plant, and hope.

Benjamin
7/24/2022 08:56:48 am

Same here. When we moved in 15 years ago there was still barbed wire on the trees at the property line.

Daniel
7/24/2022 07:52:36 am

This is a hard truth being uttered. What takes it next is making the next step a bit clearer for people: it’s not just to “call out” the vague faceless system of greed that’s killing us (people then think sharing posts is the thing they should be doing). It’s to get together a group of people to find one aspect of the system they can tear down — protecting an urban forest, taking over unused land for an ecological niche, stripping credibility from the culture of building-at-all-costs by leading a campaign to freeze more “development.” That would take this article from a prophetic screed to a prophetic pitch.

Benjamin
7/24/2022 08:56:08 am

Yes, agreed, it would. And that's your job. That's everyone's job. It takes a community.

Peggy Hughes link
7/29/2023 10:11:27 am

My husband and I plus 2 neighbors each bought undeveloped lots next to our own to protect from rampant careless building all around us in Citrus Springs FL. Best we can manage. I also spread info I get from my garden club about native plants.

James Gwiazda
7/24/2022 12:24:32 pm

Mowing milkweed the second week in July in the zone 4 area is actually important. The new shoots come up and help egg laying, and rid bacteria and predators. Timing is vital to each area.

Benjamin
7/24/2022 12:25:43 pm

If that's true, what about the rest of the plant community? And folks still use hardiness zones? ;)

Jiin
7/26/2022 11:33:02 am

Wait, why don’t people use hardiness zones?

Benjamin
7/26/2022 11:41:05 am

https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/stop-gardening-by-hardiness-zone

Alex
9/20/2023 11:14:29 am

Just came across this article. You're asking for more nuanced discussions around monarch habitat to adress broader concerns over native habitat but when presented with the idea of establishment mowing, you immediately shut it down.

Daniel McClure
7/24/2022 12:41:12 pm

Excellent points! Personally I agree with all, though for persons who do not, you’ve given a diverse enough list to provide something for everyone. Thank you!

MB Whitcomb link
7/24/2022 04:27:39 pm

I want to scream and shake people, and say "it is YOUR quality of life too that is going!" As my brook no longer flows from a poor choice of location for a wind turbine we welcomed without realizing the watershed and wild trout run would be compromised...and then the road access allowed the land owner the chance to clear cut. As more and more lights pollute the night...a cycle EVERY animal evolved on, and we seem determined, at the detriment of our own health to turn that upside down. I want to feel optimistic as I desperately try to save my native gramminoids (it is not going well) from golf course grass sold in hardware stores...that does not insulate the ground for wintering lepidopterans. Meanwhile, everyone has raced back to life before covid...loud motorcycles, pleasure aircraft, and strings of satellites in the skies. I am glad I am old and don't have kids. I don't want to count birds as their numbers decline. I don't want to admit that the invasive plants are winning over my one acre...I can only keep trying. I want to believe we can change our aesthetic to be more tolerant of overly controlled spaces. I want to believe our governments will act. But I have been writing, and talking, for 30 years now....and everything we were promised has come to be.

Benjamin
7/25/2022 10:40:07 am

We won't change until we have to. Until there's no alternative. And then it will cost way more, and far, far more people (of all species) will have to suffer. We've known the problems and the solutions for 70-170 years -- those in power have worked hard to divide and conquer, to stonewall and undermine, while the rest of us have yet to coalesce and think long term while keeping up the pressure. It's hard work.

Susie Plunkitt
7/30/2022 03:52:21 pm

I think that the book that shook my world, Bringing Nature Home, was made much more hopeful by Nature's Best Hope. I cannot control anyone else's choices, but I can work with my own space and I will and that is my job right now, to teach by example. I keep talking it up and keep my nose to the grindstone in my own tiny yard. That's what I should and am doing. : ) Just join! : )

Benjamin
7/31/2022 09:00:15 am

Have you read my A New Garden Ethic? It's often called a deeper dive, or phase two, after Tallamy.

Susie Plunkitt
8/1/2022 07:30:59 am

Yes, I have read it. : )

Peggy Hughes link
7/29/2023 10:15:32 am

I feel the same. I am an old hippy from the 60s and I am appalled by human stupidity concerning our earth. Like you I am glad I won't be alive when the dust hits the fan.

Mervin Wallace link
7/25/2022 07:31:54 am

Every spring we start out with more habitat (monarch, pollinator, and more) than there will be for the rest of the year. People spend the rest of the growing season mowing habitat down. If they mow when it is dormant, the native species are favored and become stronger, producing more flowers. If they mow once during the growing season the area has little or no value as habitat for the rest of the year, but the natives survive. Mowing two or more times during the growing season weakens the natives and allows cool season grasses to dominate, and over time the natives disappear.

I agree with what you are saying, but I don't write off areas, both roadsides and fields, as monarch and pollinator habitat, if there are milkweeds and a few other natives in a sea of cool season grasses. Those areas can get better with the right management.

Benjamin
7/30/2022 08:29:00 pm

The right management indeed. Do we have the expertise, time, and financial resources?

Christina Gravelding
7/25/2022 08:30:47 am

I agree with this article. I understand it is very easy to be emotional about this topic, when, as an expert, you see the urgency of the situation. I do also believe that this blog is reaching out to the audience that already understands the concerns and it isolates the audience that could be most helpful to you, the uniformed yet interested. This article can be viewed as aggressive and alarmist to those who may not know much about these real issues. This piece feels a bit polarized like our politics at the moment and as the article evolves, I think it would be more productive to have some more introductory and educational information included so that the article can be more productive by reaching more groups of people that may in turn hop on board with more productive practices.

Benjamin
7/25/2022 10:38:18 am

I'm well aware that in about everything I do -- keynotes, blogs, social media, even books -- I'm speaking to the choir. And that the choir is a relatively small number. But every great social change that has occurred in the U.S. has come about because a very small number rose up to the challenge and started a cascade. So I'm ok charging up the choir while challenging others. Nature of the beast.

Christina Gravelding
7/25/2022 11:06:29 am

Ok. I am on the same side as you, and it is great to get the "choir all riled up" but as constructive criticism, there is a fine line between challenging people and isolating them and losing their interest. The few that challenge have to find a way to relate and get the 'cascade' rolling.

Benjamin
7/25/2022 11:19:18 am

One can't please everyone all of the time, or know where they are on a continuum. The only thing we can do is be authentic to ourselves and speak our truths, letting the chips fall where they may. It can be healthy to feel troubled, it's part of the process (which I employed in 15 years of college teaching). See chapter 3 of A New Garden Ethic.

JENNIFER SCARLOTT link
7/30/2022 08:30:32 am

Fantastic, holistic, hard-hitting piece, what a breath of fresh air. The only tweak I would suggest is to strongly encourage folks to not just think about individual actions (in terms of the climate and biodiversity crises), but to act COLLECTIVELY. Please encourage folks to do a little research to find their local climate justice organizations, and join up with them. If there is no local climate justice organization, create one. Many thanks, again, for a superb piece.

Benjamin
7/30/2022 12:58:00 pm

Jennifer -- right on! Nothing those in power want more than for us to think / act individually. Of course, it has to start out that way as we read, garden, grow....

Therese D
7/25/2022 10:04:01 am

Great article, thanks!

Hardy Coleman
7/25/2022 10:31:44 am

Well, I read part of this to my wife. Definitely ruffled her feathers. And I guess that was your intent. So. . . Good job and look forward to more heated debate.

Benjamin
7/25/2022 10:36:19 am

It was my intent but I've also been shocked that most people simply say "right on." Like 95%. That has floored me (this was first shared at Milk the Weed on Facebook). I suppose some folks may feel upset because we've come to wrap up our identity of being good stewards, of helping nature, by focusing on one genus of plants and one species of butterfly. When that perception is challenge it can feel very unnerving and destabilizing, even though nothing fundamental has really changed -- we're still gardening for nature, it's just that gardening is taking on a new definition. I cover this stuff in depth in my book A New Garden Ethic. Thanks for reading this post!

JPohl
7/31/2022 11:34:45 am

This is hardly a new idea. The serious conservation organizations advocate for "habitat" not just milkweed. Most also hope the habitat will benefit other species beyond monarchs. Learning about milkweed and starting a garden that often includes more than milkweed is just a place many people start.
If planting milkweed is a bad idea, what do you propose instead? It's easy to criticize efforts and discourage people who want to help, but it is harder to replace them with better ideas and results.

Benjamin
7/31/2022 11:46:46 am

JPohl -- Of course it's not a new idea. Neither are native plants. But for many people onboarding to this conversation now, it IS new, and we need to say it over and over for their sake. And please don't mistake criticism for critical thinking, the latter of which we're doing here -- and in my books, all over this website, and to the 50,0000 social media followers across various channels. We're all about thinking, learning, reflecting, and taking action -- hence the design business and international speaking engagements. It's clear from this post that many folks are and will be taking action, getting empowered. Prairie up!

george h eckhardt
8/5/2022 10:29:18 am

I too was a bit confused.We,my wife and I love milkweed to attract Monarchs.Some time you must weed it out.In the fall I haphazardly throw un used seed in our garden.We live in the country so we have lots of room.Lots of assorted flowers come up.Thanks for reading.

Brad Ulmer link
7/25/2022 02:13:04 pm

Thank you very much, and Bravo! As an enthusiastic member of the choir, I gotta say I love your voice. We've been pulling back and allowing our little piece of North America to restore itself for about 20 years now, with incredible results. And it seems like more and more of the congregation are actually listening to the choir these days. Anyway, our kestrels are fledging today and I can't spend any more time writing this, but I look forward to reading more of your stuff. Thanks again.

Genevieve
7/26/2022 12:37:15 am

If we are calling things out, eating farmed animals needs to be at the top of the list. Animal ag takes up huge amount of land plus all of the crops grown to feed farmed animals instead of feed humans directly.

Benjamin
7/30/2022 08:30:25 pm

It all feels related to me, intertwined deeply, and certainly embedded in larger social and cultural issues at the root of it all. Complex to say the least -- but maybe not if our perspectives on other lives, and places, shifted just a bit.

Rachelle
7/26/2022 11:20:12 am

This makes a lot of sense. There are a lot of factors affecting the monarch and so many other species. I’d like to add animal agriculture to this collection. Eating meat, dairy and eggs is doing the MOST amount of destruction to our world. A whole food plant-based diet is the healthiest for us, the planet (and the animals) watch the films Dominion and Cowspiracy

Benjamin
7/26/2022 11:41:34 am

It's like fish in a barrel. Plus all these topics are linked.

Jen
7/26/2022 05:37:19 pm

Iowan here as well. I would like to see more wildflower/milkweed planting and less mowing of our roadways and especially our interstates in Iowa. I understand the need to mow a certain distance away from the pavement for motorist safety, but beyond that distance is prime land that could be left alone and either planted with prairie seeds or not (those plants would find themselves there in a year or two naturally), but the mowing, all the way to the farmers’ fences is an absolute waste and a heartbreaker in summer and early fall on every drive on our highways. I wish Iowa would adopt some highway prairie conservation efforts on our major roads and make these acres and acres viable for our bees and butterflies.

James McGee
8/7/2022 03:11:08 pm

The one problem I can see occurring from this idea is herbicide drift from agricultural fields. Few native plants can tolerate the herbicide drift for long. Along edges of farm fields exposed to glyphosate are mugwort, burdock, white sweet clover, and other fast maturing weeds. Further from the edges the vegetation is mostly smooth brome, which can tolerate the more volatile broadleaf herbicides. These observations are not from a planting but an area that at one time was remnant prairie.

Holly Hunter
7/27/2022 01:19:06 pm

Great article, but would be vastly improved by some photos that demonstrate what you mean. "Goofus" milkweed placement vs "Gallant" milkweed placement. Thank you for this.

Jonathan Smoots
7/27/2022 02:24:53 pm

Instead of so many DON'TS how bout a few DO's?

Benjamin
7/27/2022 02:44:25 pm

That's what this ENTIRE website is about. And our social media streams. And my books. And my keynotes. Give it all a good explore.

Lana McCartney
7/27/2022 04:36:09 pm

Why aren't we talking about the Mexican cartel killing off their overwintering habitat in Mexico with the illegal avocado and logging trade? They even killed someone who dedicated the rest of his life to conservation and the family fear for their life. Surely that has merit in this conversation.

Benjamin
7/27/2022 04:51:32 pm

Sure it does. There is a LOT to discuss. And it's all linked when you dig deeper, right? It's a sad day when we have to literally risk our lives for a livable planet, but that's often the case in social justice movements.

Sarah
7/27/2022 07:24:17 pm

And then cities do this: https://london.ctvnews.ca/gardener-angry-after-she-claims-city-workers-destroy-plants-1.6001863

Rebecca Christoffel
7/28/2022 07:31:46 am

Love your post!! I would also add that what all of our native plants and animals need is fewer people! We need to put a rein on human reproduction and human consumption if we are to save ourselves. But talking about human population growth seems to be the elephant in the room that folks just aren't willing to engage.

Benjamin
7/30/2022 08:31:46 pm

Climate change should produce more pandemics in which people don't do basic acts of kindness like wear masks, so that'll cull the herd.

Carol Komassa
7/28/2022 11:25:08 am

All true statements. One of the biggest problems I see is the chems, pesticides and herbicides being used by home-owners, pest control cos and the worst, BIG AG. Why the USA is using and allowing the use of these chems when many other european countries ban them has to be corrected. We are poisoning our pollinators, humans and food as well as Mother Earth.

Alyssa
7/29/2022 07:22:36 am

Great article - We are trying to do our part for all pollinator species! Turned the left side of our Bermuda lawn into a pollinator garden, with plans to switch to buffalo grass for other parts and plant as many native species as possible. Also trying to restore 900 acres of overgrazed family land in Central Texas to its original state. It’s a battle but hoping it will be successful!

Benjamin
7/30/2022 12:55:42 pm

900 acres! Wow. And Texas is important, esp in spring and fall, as far as refueling stations.

Beth Dowdle
7/29/2022 12:58:24 pm

I do agree but I also believe that having gardeners start somewhere, even with a little milkweed, may open their eyes to the larger issues. It may be a small symbolic step but it is someplace to start the conversation..not ending it..to the larger seemingly overwhelming issues that confront us. The hope is that monarchs are our ambassadors for nature and it is one small step leading to a much larger leap!

Benjamin
7/29/2022 01:18:14 pm

This post does not preclude those steps for gardeners who are at that level. But this post is certainly geared toward folks more down the road, who need to move beyond simple / small actions. Besides, we all need to see the big picture at the heart of the matter -- and that's habitat loss and climate change, which is the core subject of this post. We need to change our culture. Now.

Amber Skiles link
7/29/2022 04:19:37 pm

This is, by far, the best summary and call to action that I have heard. For years, I've tried to figure out the right words and catch phrases that represent this need to "rewild" and you just shined. I'll certainly be quoting you. Thank you sir! Wish you could see my wild patches! Let's love our weeds and leave them for the bees (and everything else). ❤️

Benjamin
7/30/2022 12:53:14 pm

Thanks for reading, Amber! And sharing.

Kristin S.
7/29/2022 11:00:18 pm

I live in total suburbia, has been suburbia for 70+ years. There isn't really an option to rewild anything, but there is definitely an option to plant more native plants, and as you emphasize, native plant communities. I limit myself a little to make the habitats look more "acceptable," but I use it to evangelize the benefits of native plants too.

In terms of monarchs, I also think it's important to focus on the science. Female monarchs have clear preferences on where they lay eggs, and I wish more people paid attention to it! If we want monarchs to lay eggs, they prefer mixed native planting areas with multiple flowering species that are preferred nectar plants, and four or more varieties of milkweed. They prefer to lay eggs on Asclepias incarnata (swamp/rose milkweed) within its native range, but they will lay on others. They prefer southern sun exposure plants where the ladies can see the whole plant, so plant your milkweed on the edges of beds, not hidden deep in the center. All of that info can be confirmed by a quick Google Scholar "milkweed monarchs oviposition" search.

Sigh. It is frustrating. I am converting my front yard to native species plantings appropriate to my region while most of my neighbors weed-and-feed their lawns and have isolated trees and foundation shrubs. Even amongst my garden club friends, I see people planting tropical milkweed, and I have to have an awkward conversation about why that is not a good idea in Michigan.

Thank you for the good work you do. I also plant rant. LOL

Benjamin
7/30/2022 12:54:58 pm

solid rant. My take home is stop planting for one species, start plating for the ecosystem with density and diversity which leads to resilience. Yes, there are studies that sorta show what monarchs prefer, but personally, I'm done gardening for one species. I can garden for one species by gardening for all, and that more holistic view allows me to target so much more without getting caught up in tangents. I don't know if that makes sense. Bog conversation are not easy.

Susie Plunkitt
7/30/2022 09:22:34 am

I love this article and it is true! shttps://www.facebook.com/HomegrownNationalPark/
We all need to do our part to grow a corridor for nature of all kinds, not just butterflies and not just Monarchs! Do it! Join the movement and befriend and educate everyone you can! : )

Susie Plunkitt
7/30/2022 09:37:39 am

Oh and I forgot to get reply notifications, so I am doing that now! : )

Laurie Dorroh
7/30/2022 02:05:25 pm

I love in upstate South Carolina, but have found your general approach to planting ecosystems really helpful. Will your Prairie Up book have information I can apply to our Piedmont/foothills landscape? Or plant suggestions for our area, by chance? Thanks for the inspiration!

Benjamin Vogt
7/30/2022 02:22:07 pm

Thanks Laurie. Prairie Up will be applicable to you, and in the book I'll teach you a new way to research plans and plan the garden -- not the typical garden book with a reliance on universal plant lists (which we know is not regional).

Kimberly link
7/30/2022 02:46:13 pm

Scolding gardeners and then bloviating about how much "they" need to do is nihilistic and counterproductive. I know you are trying to save butterflies with this article, but you're going about it all wrong. How about encouraging people to build upon what they are already doing instead of tearing them down for what they're not doing? Like "Hey, you've planted milkweed, so go ahead and put in that butterfly bush and monarda?" Instead, you've gone the Greta Von Doomsburg approach and screamed HOW DARE YOU. Newsflash: Nobody cares. Are you a vegan? Did you know that the pollution you help to create by eating animals and their secretions causes more damage to the Earth's ecosystems than all transportation combined according to the United Nations? Yeah, thought so. And even if you are a Land of Perfect fruit and seed only eating vegan, if you had a biological child, you've just screwed the pooch and you have a mammoth carbon footprint, so might as well forget about trying to do anything good at all. Black pills... so tedious. So unoriginal. For heaven's sake, look in the mirror once in a while and then sit down and think about the message you are putting out there. The real concern here is there may be some impressionable souls who don't automatically tune out when confronted with your "do as I say, not as I do" hysteria.

Harry M.
7/31/2022 01:21:48 pm

Wow. I don't even know how to respond to a diatribe like that.

annie
8/1/2022 11:32:59 am

oof. but also, butterfly bush?? you must be new here. hope you read more and educate yourself further on what this site is about—you'll find so, so much helpful information that might make you feel less upset. the state of things is rough right now, but i think the point here is there IS more we can do, that our ability to change things goes beyond planting milkweed. i'm so glad ben is working to further the conversation, and i'm glad people like you are reading his work!

James McGee
8/7/2022 03:22:19 pm

I only patronize businesses and organizations that publish scathingly bad reviews. I see it as a test for honesty. After reading your review, I read this post a second time. I will now have to consider what I can purchase. Possibly the new book that is coming out.

Laura Metzger
7/30/2022 03:31:12 pm

Yes! From our yard planted with native grasses, sedges, foxglove, aster, coneflower, goldenrod, and milkweed that won’t stop reproducing. We have plants that chose us and plants we chose.
But caution — tall grasses come along with plentiful chiggers and chiggers are nasty. Intensely nasty. Words cannot convey how nasty.

Lonnie Morris link
8/10/2022 01:34:53 pm

Love the message and your courage in telling it straight. Monarchs do need a revolution of compassion, one that fuels action to make deep and necessary changes in the American life style. Monarchs should and can be the gateway for bringing people into the movement to restore the landscape. We'll all be so busy and happy connecting with the land, we won't have time to fill our minds with messages to buy more, travel more, and find new ways of feeding the craving for more. Restoring land is restoring ourselves and finding our rightful place, as part of the eco-system, not its master.

Pat
8/22/2022 05:37:44 pm

I think the monarch is the perfect gateway drug to getting people to understand our ecology. It’s true people are going to oversimplify everything but we’re much further along than we were even 5 years ago.

I explain the relationship between monarchs and milkweed along with other native plants because that’s what gets peoples’ attention. Then I emphasize that there are countless other species with specific relationships like this and that we need a diverse native habitats for all of them.

Remember what we’re up against. Zero environmental education in public school. Corporations and billionaires who thoroughly own our politicians, our government, and our culture. Even the selfish, greedy, and short sighted nature of everyday people. Being an environmentalist gets you on an FBI watch list but heading a corporation that’s destroying the planet gets your face on the cover of Forbes. Things are changing for the better but whether they can change fast enough is the million dollar if. Keep fighting the good fight no matter how thankless it can be.

Cathy Ludden link
8/25/2022 04:31:44 pm

Choir here. Keep preaching, Benjamin. It helps motivate those of us spreading the word.

Lucent GK Today link
9/3/2022 08:00:21 am

Your website is very good, this website <a href="https://www.lucentgktoday.com/">Lucent GK Today</a> is related to education. There is a lot to learn in the field of education here. And for entertainment there is <a href="https://www.wishbeautifulallimageshayari.com/">All Image Shayari</a> where you can read good Shayari Jokes, and this <a href="https:// www.checkpincode.in/">Check Pincode</a> website you will find pincodes of all places in India. And related to English <a href="https://english.lucentgktoday.com/">ENGLISH</a> can be seen here.
Thank you

Karen
9/7/2022 05:31:59 am

I understand your passion about the situation we are in. But, I’m only one little piece of the solution. The only thing over which I have significant control is my property. Fortunately, my HOA likes a more natural look with lots of plants and trees. I found you because I’m trying to figure out what I can do to make things a bit better.

Amy Helser
7/28/2023 09:03:15 am

Forty years ago, birders could go out and look at birds. Now we have to go out and find birds. Birdwatching led to butterfly watching, and was my gateway “drug” to my native habitat restoration interest and efforts. I don’t remember how I found Monarchgard, but I’m glad I did. I’ve learned a great deal from the website and the “Prairie Up” book. I’m starting small, but am in the process of putting in native plants in my 1 and 1/4 acre yard in an older neighborhood in north Alabama. I’ve made some planting mistakes, but the bees, wasps, dragonflies, and, finally, butterflies don’t seem to mind! I will say that with my new knowledge, I’m even more sad when I drive around my county and see all the land being chewed up and spit out as new apartment complexes with nary a native plant in sight. Many thanks to you, Benjamin, and your organization for all your efforts. I’m proud to be part of the choir!

Benjamin
7/28/2023 11:11:02 am

Thanks for saying so -- and for doing what you can where you can. And most especially for learning to open your heart up and be ok with grief, and its power to heal and to change our world for the better. Prairie up!

Gary
7/30/2023 06:23:53 am

Not seeing many monarchs. Been to dry. Have a planted prairie, doing the best we can.


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    Benjamin Vogt's thoughts on prairie gardening in Nebraska. With a healthy dose of landscape ethics, ecophilosophy, climate change,  and social justice.

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