Hoping that I have the garden ready!

[Andrea]

This weekend and after work this week I have been tearing the butterfly garden apart trying to get ready for the Monarchs on the move.

I cut the milkweed down low to stimulate some new young leaves, trimmed the nectar plants down, and put in a bunch of new purple cone and zinnia plants. Also, put in lots of colorful flowers near the road to catch their attention as they float by. I'm going to get some colorful nectar plants in the window boxes, too. Bought more zinna and milkweed seeds to get me through the winter to early spring.

I'm thinking about a big sign that says "Y'all come in here for nectar, milkweed, and a rest."

[Mona Miller]

That is what the Monarch Waystation is all about.

http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/
"What IS a Monarch Waystation anyway?
A "waystation" may be defined as an intermediate station between principal stations on a line of travel. If we imagine the principal stations for monarchs to be the overwintering sites in Mexico and the points of reproduction in the breeding season, then it becomes easy for us to visualize the value of resource-rich waystations along the monarch’s route through its annual fall and spring migrations. Without resources - in the form of nectar from flowers - fall migratory butterflies would be unable to make the journey to Mexico. Similarly, without milkweeds along the entire route north in the spring and summer months, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration each fall."