How to find native milkweed for monarch butterflies
Butterfly fans, take a breath. I know it’s officially spring and we’re all pounding on nursery doors, anxious to plant some California native milkweed to help the endangered Western monarch butterfly stay afloat since, yes, milkweed is the only thing its caterpillars will eat and nonnative varieties appear to be hastening its demise. But here’s the thing: native milkweeds are still slowly coming back to life. Native milkweeds — especially narrow-leaf milkweed, the most prominent variety in California — are just now emerging from dormancy, a normal, natural thing that won’t be h...