HOPE for Amazing Monarch Butterflies
February 20, 2014
Leaders from U.S., Mexico & Canada have just agreed to help protect this threatened species through the NAFTA trade agreement.
PRESS RELEASE May 24, 2019
WASHINGTON— In an agreement approved today, the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety accepted an extended deadline for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide on protection for monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act.
In light of the extreme effects climate had on the butterfly’s population last year, two more overwintering counts will be available before a listing decision is issued in December 2020.
How can you help?
- Plant native milkweed
- Provide nectar plants
- Avoid pesticides
- Report your monarch sighting observations to JourneyNorth.org
- CLICK on Bette’s poster, save image and print out your FREE POSTER to display and share!
- Visit journeynorth.org and find out more about how you can support our amazing monarch butterflies.
- Please share this post. Thanks!
Award-winning picture book AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale by Maine Author/Illustrator Bette A. Stevens, helps too. MATILDA teaches children crucial life lessons as only a Monarch butterfly can do!
Bette A. Stevens, Maine Author 
Comments on: "Help Protect Monarch Butterflies FREE POSTER" (28)
[…] PROTECT MONARCH BUTTERFLIES free-poster […]
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[…] PROTECT MONARCH BUTTERFLIES free-poster […]
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I see more butterflies where I live than dragonflies, which I also love. The environment is so toxic for all living creatures. A great post and webpage, Bette. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks so much for stopping by, MG. Hopefully, we will soon have lots of dragonflies and butterflies. Posies are blooming and weather is finally warming up here in central Maine. Thanks for your support of our amazing pollinators, my friend. ❤ xo
P.S. If you haven’t already downloaded my FREE PDF “Fun and Learning with Monarch’s” here’s the link: https://4writersandreaders.com/fun-learning-with-monarchs-2/ Happy reading, writing and butterfly watching! :0
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I have never seen Monarch Butterflies as I think our Irish weather is too cold for them but we are very aware of the decrease in common butterflies to our Island, and there are a few butterfly farms here in Ireland fighting to educate us, the public, and to ensure the rarer ones survive.
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Hi, Maria. Thanks so much for stopping by to join in on a conversation about butterflies–one of our amazing pollinator species. Glad to hear that there are those on your island who are advocating for them too. I’m delighted to report that Spring & Summer 2017 has seen an increase in several butterfly species here at the farmstead in Central Maine, USA. I do hope that the upward trend continues. I’ve joined a group of citizen scientists here and have reported 22 sightings on monarchs since July 11. Have a lovely weekend, my friend! ¸¸.•¨¯`•. Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Blessings! ❤ xo
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Thank you so much for this informative article! I’ve been very concerned about butterflies and their general well-being this season, which was quite wet here in Lancashire, North-West UK. AND I’ve spotted fewer than a handful in my garden despite having Budlia and a few flowering shrubs. They just seemed to have disappeared. I’m looking forward to getting Amazing Matilda for my grandson. Meanwhile I’m trying my best to encourage them to become thoughtful gardeners!
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Hi, Maretha. So glad you stopped by to share your love of and concern for our amazing butterfly pollinators. I’ve only spotted four Monarchs this summer. Milkweed is thriving here at the Farmstead in Central Maine, but butterflies are few this year. We’ll just keep planting and sharing. I hope that you and your grandson enjoy Amazing Matilda and that our amazing monarch butterflies will return in all their glory next season. Blessings to you and yours! ~ Bette
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Thanks Bette for stopping by. I’ve particularly been looking out for butterflies, but the weather has been dismal and I’ve only spotted fewer than a handful in my garden till the other day – granted not much of a cottage garden yet. We only moved in three months ago and the weather was anything but welcoming as far as gardening goes. However, on the bright side, we had a few warm days and I spotted two butterflies today! Keep well🌻🌻🌻🌺🌺🌺🌻
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Thank you for being a part of Booknificent Thursday this week.
Tina
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Thanks to you too, Tina! 🙂
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I’ve been keeping water under them and it disappears, so it must be sucking it up, but otherwise, the water flows right through it like sand. I think I’ll go give it a drink while I’m thinking of it. I’ll be at the mall tomorrow. Maybe I can find something I can use as mulch.
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That sounds like a plan! The soil is probably a sand or sandy loam. I’m pretty sure any mulch or covering will help nurse the little guys ’til you can get them out. Keep me posted and enjoy a day away… ❤
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They are my 3 little christmas trees from LL Bean, but they aren’t doing well. They won’t even suck up the water. They are dry as dust no matter how often I water them. I think they’ve already had it. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid. Yes, the weeds will have to be enough. My back won’t do it again and no one else is going to take up the cause.
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Mulch them in the pots each time you water them with anything you can find (moss from the craft store or maybe tent them loosely with clear plastic wrap) and keep bowls filled with water and a few pebbles (craft store) under them. Sure hope this helps the little fellas weather the indoors ’til you can set them out. As for the back, same with mine since I ruptured that disc last year while snow shoeing. Hurt it again last week trying to haul in a too-heavy bag of kindling… That’s why I’ve got to start making everything around here easier to manage. That will be a real challenge, but I must do it. Life used to be so simple… Just get up and do whatever the day demanded. Oh, the memories; but, it’s time to make new ones. Hope my suggestions for your little trees help preserve the treasures. ❤
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I’ve got three little trees dying in their pots because they need to be in the ground. I don’t think they will make it. I’m glad the seeds will wait. My garden is an awful mess — a real disaster zone. I don’t know if I can plant anything in it until it’s cleaned out … and I know I can’t clean it out. Maybe I’ll plant them along the edge of the woods where I’ve planted the solomon’s seal. It has thrived there, so maybe this will thrive too.
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Your garden sounds like mine, Marilyn. Remember our WEED GARDEN posts? Know I won’t be able to take care of things like I used to these days, so will try low maintenance planting. Our Weed Gardens didn’t look too shabby, did they? Just keep those little trees watered and set them out as soon as the frost is out of the ground. They’ll probably be so happy to get outdoors, they’ll make up for lost time. After all, that’s probably what we’ll do! ❤
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I actually found seeds easily on Amazon. Unfortunately, although I ordered some, I won’t be able to plant them until the snow melts and the mud dries. Which will make planting late. But seed places ships at specified times, even though spring looks likely to be very late. I hope the seeds will wait for me.
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Seeds have no early expiration dates; they’ll be ready to go when you are! I picked up some flower seeds at Reny’s a couple of weeks ago, but haven’t started them (yet). Dan’s already planted flats of veggies and our window sills are full of empty plastic produce containers with seedlings that should be ready to sprout within the week. We can’t put a thing in the ground before Memorial Day up here, and even then it’s if-y. So looking forward to visions of apple blossoms and lilac sprigs instead of measuring snowfall totals. YAY, SPRING! ❤
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I don’t think New England has ever been on their primary route. Long Island was, at least along the ocean, but not a few miles inland. Still, it can’t hurt to plant seeds. I’m sure they sell them somewhere on the internet. They sell everything else. We have terrible soil and almost no sun, so frankly, I don’t know if even weeds will grow well here, but I’m willing to try!
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That’s the gal I know… A real trooper and an awesome friend! ❤
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I don’t know if milkweed grows around here. I’ve never seen a monarch in this area. I used to see them by the thousands on Long Island in New York, so I don’t know if we are on their “route.”
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Here’s a link to a great site, Marilyn. I wish I had some seeds to send you, but I only collected a few last fall and sent them to friends. i do believe we’re on their route, but have never had the delight of seeing monarch’s by the thousands here at the farmstead. Occasionally dozens, but lately a mere handful over the summer. We had the delight of watching millions of these amazing butterflies winter along the California coast when we lived there in the 1990s. I have some great pix and will share one of these days. The WEED among the flowers in my header is milkweed. I encourage it to grow in my gardens and have to battle Dan’s desire to pull up the weeds. Naturally, I win when it comes to milkweed. There are hundreds of varieties, but ours is the native weed that farmers love to plow asunder. You can find out more and even follow the migration here http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/SpringWatch.html Let’s hope we all have an amazing spring and summer with Monarch butterflies abounding! Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
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The butterflies! Oh, how we need them and the honeybees! What a pleasure it is to stop by your uplifting place here. I too adore nature and also want to say thank you for visiting my blog.
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Thanks right back to you, Jennifer. Wonderful to be connected to another lover and supporter of our amazing butterflies and honeybees. It’s a symbiotic love affair: We need all one another if we’re to survive and thrive on Planet Earth! Have a Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ MOST AMAZING WEEK MY FRIEND Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ!
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The flyer you include is right on! I will print a few and kinda drop them where I know are public billboards.
The disappearing of artificial and accepted everyday poisons is almost the only thing at this point that can turn the tide, but it sure looks like things are going the other way. I strive to keep the faith that one by one, folks understand this sacred balance! Nice to meet you.
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Hi, Jennifer. Many thanks for sharing. Have a Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ MOST AMAZING WEEKEND Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ!
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