DULUTH, Minn. — Want to beautify your yard? Maybe planting native plants in your garden will help.
That's exactly what the crowd at First United Methodist Church wanted on Saturday. In the parking lot outside, members of Duluth Monarch Buddies were providing information to the public about the types of plants they can plant to attract more pollinators to their flower beds and gardens. The best part about pollinators is that they help maintain your garden for you. Plus, the more you plant, the less space you'll need to mow. This increases the biodiversity of your lawn.
“Flowering plants are really important, but especially ones that attract pollinators,” says longtime volunteer Amy Westbrooks, “Bees, moths, monarch butterflies, all the butterflies, all the moths. Without the pollinators, that's their habitat, that's their existence. For the monarch butterflies, milkweed in particular is where they can lay their eggs. Milkweed is the only plant they can lay their eggs on.”
This is the time of year when monarch butterflies return and begin laying their eggs on milkweed. Migration season runs from August to September. Also in August, Duluth Monarch Buddies offers self-guided Monarch Way Station tours where you can see local community gardens and maybe even see the butterflies before they fly off for winter.
