October 03rd, 2013

E. E. KING

October 03rd, 2013

10/3/2013

E. E. King
for more of my writing on bugs plants ideas and kids
http://evieevekng.wordpress.com

Two or three years ago I began planting Milkweed in south Central LA. Today we found the first generation of “native” south central monarch and swallow tail caterpillars.

What this means…because milkweed is very drought tolerant… is that unless someone digs up the milkweed that there will be butterflies in south central for whatever forever is.

I’d talk about a simple plan. It would cool cities, aid a beleaguered species, create environmental stewards in the inner-city and make cities more beautiful and magical.

If every stretch of unused dirt, parkways, medians etc. were planted with milkweed, monarchs would inhabit our streets.

It’s practically free and requires next to no upkeep.

Milkweed is completely drought tolerant and spreads like rabbits. It can grow almost anywhere and once established needs no care. Because we are planting in areas only inhabited by garbage and Bermuda grass, there is no problem with displacement of species. There are no species to displace.

Currently Monarch’s migratory patterns are at risk due to habitat loss. However, if you plant milkweed they will come.

NATURE & SCIENCE