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If you don’t want milkweed spreading too quickly, Vaughn recommends plucking seed pods from the plant before they go to seed. To plant more milkweed, pluck seed pods after they dry out.
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Common milkweed flowers in a field.
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Milkweed plants come in numerous varieties. Richland County Parks Director Jason Larson said the best way to support monarch butterflies is to plant native varieties of milkweed.
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A monarch butterfly feeds from a wildflower species called “asters” on private property in Shelby in September 2021.
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A swallowtail butterfly perches on a zinnia at Califarmer, an urban homesteading company in Madison Township.
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This Monarch butterfly is pictured here at Longview center in Mansfield.
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The Monarch butterfly is undergoing a population decline.
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Local officials are collecting milkwood seed pods to encourage habitats for monarch butterflies.
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A swallowtail sips nectar in Madison Township.
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Monarch caterpillar – this stage only lasts for about a week or two.
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A monarch chrysalis has a jade-like outer shell.
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The Eastern Monarch butterfly population has declined 80 percent over the past 20 years, according to the Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative. (Submitted photo)
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Monarch butterflies use Brown’s field as a pit stop as they migrate through North America.
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The tree’s branches are adorned with many spectacles — like the monarch butterfly.
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A ceremony commemorates the planting of the Monarch Right-of-Way: A Pollinator Demonstration Plot at The Ohio State University at Mansfield Campus.
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Asclepias incarnata, Swamp Milkweed, is an important food source for the Monarch butterfly and many other flying creatures.
GALLERY: Monarch butterfly & its habitat
