And they smell great, too! I make a point of spreading milkweed seeds all along our "cow lane" every fall, and we have a healthy crop this year! Our Monarchs need all the help they can get, and our bees love them too!
hi, There is no shortage of milkweed in most of Ontario or the rest of North America (all you have to do is look along rural roadside ditches), and contrary to popular belief, the prevalence of milkweed is highly unlikely to contribute to the decline of the monarch. Although the challenges facing the monarchs are complex and not fully understood, science points us towards the fact that nearly all the monarchs who come to eastern Northe America overwinter in a single, very small part (a few thousand acres) in Mexico where even a tiny change in the ecosystem can have drastic effects on the entire species. Meanwhile, milkweed is a noxious plant to most mammals, including cattle, deer, and especially sheep. Organic farmers have few weapons against this toxic pest apart from practising careful land management (mowing, tilling, grazing)and encouraging non-farmers to help out by not spreading milkweed seeds. Thanks and best.
And they smell great, too! I make a point of spreading milkweed seeds all along our "cow lane" every fall, and we have a healthy crop this year! Our Monarchs need all the help they can get, and our bees love them too!
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeleteThere is no shortage of milkweed in most of Ontario or the rest of North America (all you have to do is look along rural roadside ditches), and contrary to popular belief, the prevalence of milkweed is highly unlikely to contribute to the decline of the monarch. Although the challenges facing the monarchs are complex and not fully understood, science points us towards the fact that nearly all the monarchs who come to eastern Northe America overwinter in a single, very small part (a few thousand acres) in Mexico where even a tiny change in the ecosystem can have drastic effects on the entire species.
Meanwhile, milkweed is a noxious plant to most mammals, including cattle, deer, and especially sheep. Organic farmers have few weapons against this toxic pest apart from practising careful land management (mowing, tilling, grazing)and encouraging non-farmers to help out by not spreading milkweed seeds.
Thanks and best.