Planting native milkweed and plenty of other nectar plants are the best things that you can do to save the monarch migration.  Our Milkweed Market plants are too small in the first year to support a large number of caterpillars.  They are intended to grow to become monarch habitat, and this takes time.

FYI: To track this migration and the emergence of milkweed, go to the Journey North website and click on the monarch image. 

Another great thing you can do for monarchs is to collect wild eggs and rear them indoors.  This protects monarchs that might otherwise be subject to predation and parasitism. It is estimated that less than 1 in 100 monarchs survive in the wild, and bringing them indoors can help.  They may still get a disease, and you may still see mortality.

Purchasing monarch larvae is a great way to educate students of all ages about monarch biology when wild caught eggs are hard to find. Education is the primary focus of our monarch rearing kits. However, we do not intend for our rearing kits to be used as a conservation effort.  Releasing lab-reared monarchs into the wild neither helps nor hinders the population.  Remember, if you are purchasing a Monarch Rearing Kit for personal use, there may be fewer rearing kits available for educational purposes.  And, only purchase rearing kits if you have sufficient milkweed to feed them.