Timely. I was just thinking planting a butterfly garden.Now I will for sure.

Oh, porkchop! I love your attitude. I agree about native plants as insect hosts for diversity is great, tho I do need to plant more in that regard. But your comment about lawns really reverberates with me. Some decades ago, DH wanted a good-looking lawn, and used the ubiquitous chemicals for a couple of years. The touted "fabulous" lawns never did materialize, and I convinced him that as long as something (other than poison ivy) grew where the lawn had been, it was all good.

So now our lawns are filled with much more than just grasses: violets (yes!!), one of which is the most minute violet I have ever seen whole plant is only one inch tall with white bloom just 1/4 inch in size , forget-me-nots which self sow, various mosses, the odd rudbeckia triloba - which I leave for the season, a few Queen Anne's Lace, ditto, some low-growing veronica, and common field daisies. Actually, there is very little real grass left, and with the scattering of these other plants, my grandson has to dodge around them when he mows! Looks like an incipient meadow in the making, lol, and I love it. Thinking for turning some of the areas into actual meadows...

Last fall, I planted some crocus and snowdrops in the front lawn, where I hope to see the effect in a few weeks, if the chipmunks haven't dug them all up, as they did a couple of years ago (grrrr). And a handful of johnny-jump-ups may make a reappearance -- I hope!

As for your thread title, it breaks my heart, but I can testify with my personal experience of it that I have had far fewer butterflies for certain in the past decade, compared to when we moved here 26 years ago. Even the sweet little blue one that arrives early is a rarity these days. And all my favorite swallowtails are fewer as well. Used to have the hummingbird moth, but not often nowadays. It's so very sad.

Thanks for this thread - hope more folks here chime in with their experiences. And apologies for the length of my post, lol!

edited to add: I do wish we had the ability to "like" an original post as we can for subsequent postings...

I really noticed the lack of butterflies in my gardens last year. I didn't see one Monarch or Swallowtail all year long.

My lawn is green (although sporting some moss I'm struggling with) and while grounds aren't manicured they are better than some mostly thanks to DH who would rather be outside than in. I use no chemicals and only organic products, making a small exception for an occasional single squirt of roundup on an individual weed proving to be a tough one. Never anything on the lawn that might harm my one red douglas squirrel, ground foraging flickers, or the fawns whose Moms bed them down here.

I could have sworn I saw a monarch just a couple of days ago but I had to have been wrong and DH wasn't here to look too. I didn't want to get too close and have it fly away but it was on an olearia not in bloom, only resting. I have no milkweed planted and its too early for those too. This has to be way too early in March for them to be migrating right up oceanside to Canada, right? I don't think that common this coastal even later in Spring but it certainly looked like one....

We have seen a decline for sure in both the number and varieties of butterflies we see, even out in our rural area. When we first moved here, I was so delighted to be able to identify many butterfly species that found their way here, and I’ve always tried to provide pollinator plants, even more so now that I’ve retired. Sadly I still don’t see many species, especially monarchs as much as previously.

I do think pesticides are a huge part of it. Pest control companies are always pushing mosquito control spraying and people are always striving for that ’perfect’ landscape, spraying for one bug or another.

I have been following the decline of butterflies and it's heart breaking. We never spray for mosquitos, yet we rarely see them, I think because many of our neighbors do. We also don't put chemicals on our lawn, but like with mosquito spraying, most of our neighbors apply stuff to their grass. We have milkweed cropping up in less than ideal places, but leave it for the butterflies, and every fall, plant more milkweed seeds. Every year I try to add more flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds, but I don't really see more monarchs.

Sometime in the next few years we plan to build on some old farmland we bought last year. This spring we are planting wildflower seeds all over it in the hopes of having an amazing meadow.

There are times when you have no choice but to use chemicals in your yard. Like when it's infested with grubs. The alternative is to have a completely dead lawn. Milky Spore only works against Japanese beetle grubs and even then it doesn't work all that well compared to chemicals. Lawns are not natural regardless of what's growing in them. As a matter of fact all gardening in not natural. The whole reason people garden and landscape is to have something growing that otherwise would not grow there. This delusion people have that they're working with nature is hypocritical and absurd. The best thing to do for nature is to do nothing and then end up with a yard full of kudzu, poison ivy, and assorted thorny branches. The butterflies would be happy, but your resale value would crash. And you would probably be fined.

As far as butterflies go. I have lots of butterflies. I see them every day during the summer. I don't do anything special. I just have flowers they seem to like.

Yes, it is heartbreaking, but also a warning. The world and humans cannot survive without insects.

You always have a choice. I have gone completely chemical free. I only plant natives now. People always talk about planting polinators, but butterflies and other insects require host plants to feed their larvae. and non-native plants are like junk food for the pollinators. Without food, larvae cannot survive to become butterflies and moths. Grubs provide food for birds, especially the young. Doing nothing does not mean you are not eliminating invasive plants which is more work than most people seem willing to do, but well worth doing. It can be quite zen. Lawns are sterile environments and have very short roots which does nothing to hold soil or feed insects. Please check out Dr. Doug Tallamy. He urges homeowners to eliminate lawns and plant natives instead (80% native is the goal). There are plenty of low-growing plants that can replace a lawn and benefit the eco-system.

Fines for natural gardens are being challenged these days and the HOAs are losing in court. I am planting my front yard to be full of native trees, shrubs, and perennials-back yard already is. It is beautiful and when I am out there sitting on my butt weeding, neighbors always stop to tell me that my yard is their favorite in our neighborhood. You can save on water and fertilizers, too.

It is just a change of attitude and I don't understand why people get so annoyed by those of us who want our grandchildren to be able to see lightning bugs in the summer night sky again (yes, those chemicals kill them since they spend their first two years underground and then rest on the ground during the day only to be sprayed by those who want 'perfect' green lawns)

And before you jump on me to argue, I admit that I am a 73 year-old eco-warrior who has worked for the plantet and its non-human as well as human inhabitants since I was a teenager and read Silent Spring (still worth reading if you haven't).

Cyn, yes you are correct in pointing out we need more host plants and trees for the many species. I should have mentioned that in my comment. I have added many natives to my garden, but am not at 100%, mostly because I have to be deer proof as well. We also lost a fairly large tulip poplar (tiger swallowtail host) a couple of years ago. I’m pretty sure there are others in the woods around the house, but not as large.

Rachel Carson is my idol (Silent Spring). I have been an eco warrior for decades, too. My father had a yard better than a golf course and two rectangular rose gardens that he sprayed the life out of. Of course, he did die of lung cancer too early. He never wanted my kids to run and play, especially on the upslope of his perfect yard. Fast forward to his only child who hasn't had a blade of grass in 40 years. No chemicals are ever used. We were beekeepers for 25 years and have two ponds that attract wildlife. We have ground covers like ivy, pacasandra, myrtle, and natives along the flagstone pathways throughout the 1/2 acre. Tan bark is used between stones.

I suspect that it's declined more than that. I wonder it they're counting in areas where there are the most butterflies like prairies but not considering areas where there used to be a lot more like in rural subdivisions. I'm a few miles outside the city limits on 10 acres and I think I have less than half the butterflies than I used to even though I have planted lots of host plants and flowers that they like over the years.

The tachinid flies that have been introduced have made a big difference I'm sure because often when I bring caterpillars in to raise I get a tachinid fly instead. : (

This article was in the Washington Post recently. I am linking to the NYT article. You should not hit a paywall because I am sending it as a gift. Hope it works. You can type in your zip code/city to see what is happening locally.

Unlocked NYT article

Yup. Same here. I have a huge garden & a huge mix of plants & flowers. I keep increasing those that butterflies prefer, yet get less and less butterflies of any kind every year. It boggles me how glaringly obvious the signs are.

Hi everyone,

That NYT article was fascinating. I recall many years ago visiting a "butterfly house" in the St. Louis area. Some people "grow" butterflies as a hobby. I used to grow (and breed) zinnias as a hobby when we were renting a farmhouse (and grounds.) Butterflies and hummingbirds were natural pollinators in my zinnia patch. I myself did a fair amount of hand pollinating of my zinnias, but I appreciated any help from butterflies, skippers, and day flying moths. (As with photos here in Houzz Land, you can open larger versions of photos by clicking on them, and you can close the larger version by clicking on the "X" in its upper righthand corner.)

ZM

Porkchop, you are absolutely right that it is fine to have a mix of native and non-native. You and others might enjoy this. I often skip Margaret's comments and read those ofthe people she is interviewing. If you have never been to Chanticleer in Wayne PA, it is one of my favorite gardens. Acres and acres. I was lucky to grow up close by. My 55th high school reunion is this May, so I may get there again soon. Color me happy.

Chanticleer garden interview

^^ I enjoyed reading that interview -- thanks for linking to it. I found the comments about leaving the wood on the ground interesting, it makes sense that lots of insects would utilize the fallen wood. Of course, we do have to pick up fallen branches by the house, but I do leave some small "logs" (pieces of larger-diameter branches or bark that has peeled off) here and there on top of the mulch in the beds, I kinda figured I was doing something good but now I know I am!

Porkchop, we leave fallen wood, too.We even have a tree that fell several years ago that is rotting away in the far-back of the backyard.

Here are my rambling thoughts summing up this year's gardening:

I garden in NW Illinois next to a huge corn field. This year, I planted two long beds of zinnias. We got a few monarchs and swallowtails visiting them, but that's it. Oh, yes and bees too. Japanese beetles made their usual patriotic appearance - why do they show up right around the 4th of July here - and they along with the aphids chewed up the zinnia heads. I don't like to spray - not good for the environment, for my family, my dogs and of course, the pollinators. I did spray one time with Neem oil, which is supposed to be ok. No beetles, but then we had 3 days of heavy rains - and the bugs came back. Oh, well, such is the life of a gardener. I did plant more hyssop, which the bees and butterflies loved and phlox. I do have a few native plants too, but I don't see much pollinator action on them. Sadly, I think their numbers are decreasing. I'll keep planting natives and other pollinator plants, and hopefully, they will come around. On the plus side, we had 3-4 hummingbirds. That's a record for us! They loved the lantana and salvias I planted on our deck. Jewels of the garden..

@cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA) - Did you go to Chanticleer and was it all you remembered it to be? It is my favorite garen in the US, followed by Wave Hill in NYC.

Less and less butterflies are what I'm seeing, and I have been a big fan of butterflies for a long time. It is heart-breaking! I don't use pesticides or herbicides. Back in the late'90's was when things changed quite a bit. Not just butterflies, but most insects. We are killing them, that is obvious. Of course, it's also not just insects. Very sad. At least, this year, there are Monarchs on my actual property. Otherwise, none came here for about 5 years. I'd drive around in other areas and see them elsewhere during migration times, but not right here. This year, at least they've been here for a couple of weeks, on and off. No eggs or cats on milkweed this year, except a couple of Queen cats that just hatched from eggs this week. The Queens have visited every year, just rarely reproduce here in recent years.

I saw a decent number this summer -- not an abundance, unfortunately, but a decent showing considering things are on the decline.

" Less and less butterflies "

I think "fewer" may be better here.

The message is clear but it seems there's much more to investigate. The Science article is behind a paywall but I was able to get to the study itself on the Xerces site. It seems to be statistical analyses of a substantial number of observations but then with unsupported speculation about causes.

Hopefully others are engaged in trying to investigate and document the science of the root causes. Whatever meaningful action that can be taken needs to be directed by knowledge of the triggers rather than simply doing analyses of consequences. .

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monarch-butterfly-super-generation-migration-60-minutes-transcript/

I have not yet read much of anything above but what is also happening is the destruction of a lot of natural habitat for butterflies and other insects and wildlife. Butterflies seem to be very affected since their natural host plant life (trees, wildflowers, even leaf litter over winter) is disappearing and becoming concrete and lawns. Very rarely does anything get replaced to mitigate this loss. Sure a few of us try to plant natives, a few host plants or trees as our garden plots allow, but we are running behind. And there are the other negative effects we could talk endlessly about such as pesticides, light pollution and their effects, major storm effects, etc.

I don’t have a solution other than to continue public education (all ages) about what needs to be done on an individual basis to help. Kids do pay attention to these things when taught the right way in an interesting manner. Maybe it will pay off. Our city ’Green Team’ has tried to initiate programs with home builders to emphasize the importance of the landscaping choices they make and install. I don’t know if they really have paid attention but that surely would help. My view is the builders usually use the cheapest shrubs they can find.