Transform Your Yard: Plant Native Plants for Monarch Butterflies

By Donna Schuld

Planting native plants such as common milkweed will greatly improve your chances of having monarch butterflies and other beautiful pollinators visit your yard. With a staggering 80 percent decline in population in the past 20 years, monarch butterflies are being watched very carefully by scientists and gardening enthusiasts alike. Anyone with a yard or garden is being encouraged to put native plants in the ground in the hope of turning the decline around.

You Can Make a Difference

Here a monarch butterfly shares a blossoming native plant with a bumble bee. Photo: D. Schuld

By creating even a small area of butterfly habitat in your yard, you can support butterflies from June through October and help prepare them for their migration to Central Mexico. According to the Wisconsin Monarch Collaborative, “Individuals and organizations have created hundreds of thousands more acres of monarch habitat in the years between 2018 and 2021.” Pollinator gardens are popping up on school grounds, city parks, and even ditches. It’s suddenly cool to care for butterflies.

What Do They Eat?

While monarchs seek nectar from a variety of plants, monarch caterpillars are completely dependent on milkweed as their sole food source.  

Common milkweed. Photo: Pixabay

Why Do Native Plants Matter?

In a word: availability. 

According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, “Providing milkweeds and other nectar-rich flowers that bloom where and when monarchs need them is one of the most significant actions you can take to support monarch butterfly populations.”

Native Plants:

• Are adapted to Wisconsin’s cold winters
• Need less watering than plants introduced from other regions
• Naturally help fight invasive species
• Provide the right chemistry for monarch butterflies

Native Plants That Attract Monarchs

• Common milkweed
• Swamp milkweed
• Asters
• Goldenrod
• Coneflowers
• Prairie blazing star

Sourcing Native Plants

Most greenhouses do not focus on native plants, but they may carry some.  Businesses aimed specifically at native plants can be found around Northeast Wisconsin.  For example, Stone Silo Prairie Gardens in De Pere, Wisconsin only sells native plants.

What’s The Best Approach to Planting?

Consistency is key.  Monarch butterflies will be fluttering around from June until October in the Great Lakes area, so aim to have a variety of plants that will overlap in their blooming patterns. Think of it as a way to program your colorful display of blooms.

Suggested Bloom Cycle:

June

Butterfly Milkweed

Wild Lupine

Lanceleaf Coreopsis

July

Purple coneflower

Black-eyed Susan

Swamp milkweed

August

Goldenrod

Prairie Blazing Star

New England Aster

September

Cup plant

Showy goldenrod

Ironweed

Beyond Native Plants

Avoid using insecticides and herbicides as they can be harmful or deadly to monarch butterflies. This includes any chemical used in your yard to control mosquitos.  And watch out for nursery or garden center plants that may have been pre-treated with systemic insecticides, as these may harm monarch butterflies.

Local Efforts to Improve Habitat

In 2024, the Northeast Wisconsin Pollinator Corridor Project was set up in Green Bay to support essential birds, bees, and butterflies. Founded by the Green Bay Conservation Corps, this project works to educate the public on the need for native pollinator planting. They also placed native plants in Green Bay city parks and public lands as a way to create a connected chain of habitat.

Are You Growing Green?

The City of Green Bay has started a program this year called, “Growing Green,” in which resources, native plant guides, and optional yard signage will be given to residents to encourage the planting of pollinator-friendly plants.

And if you are willing to volunteer, the Green Bay Conservation Corps has planting days scheduled for 2026. To learn more about both programs, go to greenbaywi.gov.

Green Bay Conservation Corps is a program from the City of Green Bay. Photo: D. Schuld

Become a Butterfly Expert

Wimonarchs.org is a website brimming with information on creating a monarch-friendly environment in Wisconsin.

Have fun with your native plants and the butterflies they attract. You will also have a variety of bees feeding from these plants, especially late in the season. It’s all part of improving the environment for these precious pollinators.