It’s Monarch Butterfly season in Central Texas and this means that we’re going to see more of the beautiful butterflies migrating through Austin as they make their way north to lay eggs.

If you enjoy gardening as we do, this article will provide you with some helpful tips you can use to attract more of these awesome butterflies to your garden.

How to Attract Monarch Butterflies

The one plant that you should consider planting in your garden if you would like to attract Monarch Butterflies is Milkweed. This plant is actually essential for Monarch Butterflies because they will lay their eggs on the leaves of this plant so that when caterpillars hatch, they will have something to eat.

Create A Monarch Butterfly Waystation

Attracting Monarch Butterflies is actually easy to do if you create a “waystation” somewhere in your garden. Your waystation can be anything from one small area of your garden or property to just one pot.

When you plant your waystation, you will want to plant one or more varieties of milkweed because this will attract monarch butterflies every year.

Thankfully, with the internet, you can easily purchase a seed kit online that you can plant to get your waystation started. Once you’ve planted your waystation you should also consider certifying it online because there are more than 7,500 waystations nationwide that are certified.

Monarch Butterfly Facts

Monarchs can produce four generations during one summer. The first three generations will have life spans from 2 – 6 weeks and will continue moving north. During this time, they will mate and have the next generation that will continue the northward migration. The fourth generation is different and can live up to nine months. These are the butterflies that will migrate south for winter to either Mexico or southern California.

It is predicted that one of the many effects of climate change will be wetter and colder winters. If they are dry, monarchs can survive below freezing temperatures, but if they get wet and the temperature drops, they will freeze to death. Because hundreds of millions of monarchs are located in such a small area in the Sierra Nevada of Mexico during the winter, a cold snap there could be devastating.

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Are you planning on buying a home in Austin with space for a garden? We can help! Contact us today at (512) 944-7378 or click here to connect with us online.