Waiting for monarchs

I brought some Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) shoots and (dug-up) plants to share with a friend in the mountains.  She's "fostering" monarch caterpillars through Monarch Watch (I think).  What a great thing to do!

I had plenty of milkweed in the Piedmont, but the chilly spring has meant slow emergence in the mountains.  And the numbers of monarchs overwintering was at a really low point this year, so help (for the successive broods as they come north) is especially important.

Planting milkweeds of all sorts, but particularly common milkweed, is especially important, as it helps their journey north, as it takes at least 4 generations to make it to the farthest point!

My favorite site for tracking the adults is Journey North, but there are others, too.

And my friend shared this great video about the journey of Monarchs via her Facebook page, which I'm reposting here.