The monarch butterfly is in a critical situation. Since 1992, their population and their vital host plant, milkweed, have declined by 90 percent. 

The monarch migration occurs twice every year. This fall, millions of monarch butterflies migrate to overwintering sites in Mexico and to a scattering of locations along the coast of California.

Nectar from flowers provides the fuel monarchs need to fly. If there are not any blooming plants to collect nectar from when the monarchs stops, they will not have any energy to continue. Planting monarch flowers that bloom when they will be passing will help the monarchs reach their destination. Creating more monarch habitat will help work to reverse their decline.

Milkweed is crucial for monarch caterpillars as their sole source of food and habitat. However, habitat loss from land development and the use of herbicides and pesticides are causing milkweed to vanish rapidly. Monarch-butterfly populations have declined 85 percent in the past two decades.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation Pollinator Habitat Program is taking action by providing free milkweed seeds to Tennessee residents. Offering both red milkweed for smaller areas and aggressive-growing common milkweed for larger areas, residents can help rebuild their habitat at their own homes, ensuring essential food and shelter for the monarch butterfly. Visit www.tnpollinators.org/milkweed/ to order your own free milkweed seed.