Home | NationalMonarchDome

1/6

The National Monarch Dome

Why Your Participation is Essential

In addition to helping reverse the tragic population loss, many monarchs have been displaced from their original migration routes due to habitat loss, climate change, and various other human activities; with enough participation by home and business owners, we can restore many of these routes and create new ones!

Because changing weather patterns can change their migration routes every year, the National Monarch Dome will provide the indomitable fortress needed to ensure they can thrive no matter what. The selected flowers also benefit the non-migrating summer broods of monarchs plus many other types of pollinators so your efforts will be rewarded throughout the seasons.

The Super-Star Powers of these Flowers

Because there are so few monarchs left, each support pillar must include at least one super-attractor to give you the best chance for them to find and utilize it; and include at least 1-2 native milkweeds as these are the ONLY host plants that they can lay their eggs on.

Imagine the sadness that mom monarchs must feel when they cannot find the milkweed required to have their children - we must help them so that she will instead feel the wonderful joy of fulfilling her final mission in life!

The Super-Star Selections for Your Landscape

Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris Ligulistylis)

this stunning 3-6 feet tall towering beauty emits a hormone that monarchs can detect from afar- providing an extraordinary natural beacon that will give you the best chance for them to find and utilize your support pillar. MBS will grow in most locations that are sunny and well-draining, in at least zones 3 through 8 which covers most of the contiguous USA. Part of accepting that monarchs have faced displacement due to human activity is planting the flowers they evolved to rely on everywhere we can- this is a perfect plant to do so!

Blue Fortune Agastache (anise hyssop)

this superior specimen will attract and feed monarchs throughout the heat of Summer and into the Fall. Monarchs (and a huge variety of other pollinators) find this plant to be completely irresistible and will feed on its prolific blooms and prodigious growth for an incredible 4 months (~July – October), making it the most robust selection to ensure nectar availability in almost any suitable growing location (sunny and well-drained) throughout the USA (hardy in Zones 3 – 8).

Orange Butterfly Milkweed (asclepias tuberosa)

this is the perfect milkweed choice for sunny and well-drained / drier soil locations. This plant provides all the required benefits that monarchs need from milkweed as a host-plant to lay their eggs, and looks fabulous doing so with its extraordinary orange blooms that also provide June-August nectar. Like all milkweeds, it is best to keep this in an area that pets won’t get to because of its mildly toxic nature if eaten in large quantities. Incredible growing region tolerance of Zones 3-10 (all of the contiguous USA).

Swamp Milkweed (asclepias incarnata)

milkweeds are 100% required for monarchs because their young caterpillars evolved to eat only milkweed -it builds up a toxin in their bodies that is harmless to them but harmful to birds and other species- the beautiful orange color of monarchs serves as a warning to would-be predators! Swamp milkweed is the best choice if you have a consistently-moist area in your landscape with 2-8 hours of sun per day, anywhere in Zones 3-9. Monarchs and many other butterflies enjoy its nectar too during its early to mid-summer bloom. If you have pets that eat plants, it is best to keep this in an area they won’t be able to get to, as it is mildly toxic if eaten in large quantities.

Goldenrods (solidago sp.)

For those of you in the Southern half of the USA, late-bloomers like Goldenrod will help provide the needed nectar energy as they migrate through in September and October. Their striking yellow blooms attract and feed monarchs and many other pollinators when little else may be in bloom. Excellent selections include Seaside Goldenrod (solidago sempervirens) for Coastal areas in Zones 3-8, Sweet Goldenrod (solidago odora) is the most versatile for a wide range of soil, sun, and heat conditions in Zones 4-9, and for moist areas with part-shade Wrinkeleaf Goldenrod (solidago rugosa including "Fireworks") is a great selection for Zones 4-8.

October skies aromatic aster close up.jpg

Asters (symphyotrichum sp.)

Asters are another excellent selection for those of you in the Southern half of the USA; their late blooms (August - October) will specifically help the migrating monarchs passing through on their way to the mountains of Mexico. Aromatic Asters (symphyotrichum oblongifolium) have superior versatility for most any reasonably well-draining soil (including salt-tolerance in Coastal areas) in Zones 3-8 - with prolific and beautiful periwinkle-blue blooms. For moister areas and heavier soils, New England Asters (symphyotrichum novae-angliae) are a great choice- the pure-strain may need staking with its tall height, though there are excellent more compact cultivars including "Purple Dome" and "Grape Crush" available; Zones 4-8.

The Miracles of the Monarch Migration and Life Cycle that Each Pillar of the Dome will Support

1. The autumn migration, that starts around August in the Northern USA / Canada. This brood will travel on an incredible 1,000 to 3,000 mile journey to the mountains of Mexico (east of the Rocky Mountains) and to the coast of California (west of the Rocky Mountains). Everyone’s support pillar throughout the USA will help provide the food-nectar energy they need to reach their destination

2. In the Spring, this brood heads back North and MUST find milkweed in the southern parts of the USA on which to lay their eggs. How incredibly sad to have made this long journey only to be the last of their generation because mom monarchs cannot find any milkweed to lay their eggs. We have the power to provide the joy she deserves to fulfill her final mission in life- those of you in the southern half of the USA please take note of how important it is for you to have milkweed in your support pillars to enable this miraculous legacy to live on!

3. The brood born on this milkweed in the southern USA will then travel North; there will be around 3-4 additional broods (generations) born throughout the summer, each of which lives only 4-5 weeks. Without milkweed, these broods will be the last of their generation because the parents have nothing to lay their eggs on. And just as our children have the best chance of survival when we as parents and they as developing youth have a balanced diet and are healthy, so too is it with each generation of monarchs – the selected flowers in your support pillars throughout the Monarch Dome in the northern half of the USA will help do exactly that throughout the summer- ultimately leading to the healthiest and highest possible population of monarchs born in August that will travel the incredible 1,000-3,000 mile journey and live for 8-9 months to repeat one of Nature’s most amazing and delicate lifecycles

The National Monarch Dome

The National Monarch Dome

Why Your Participation is Essential

The Super-Star Powers of these Flowers

The Super-Star Selections for Your Landscape

The Miracles of the Monarch Migration and Life Cycle that Each Pillar of the Dome will Support

Plant your individual support pillar for the National Monarch Dome and create a legacy of human compassion united in saving our beloved monarchs!

Plant your individual support pillar for the
National Monarch Dome and create a legacy of human compassion united in saving our beloved monarchs!