Step 2. Draw the butterfly’s wings, following the example provided. Wipe away any unnecessary lines to refine your drawing.
7 Ways to Attract Monarch Butterflies to Your Garden
Draw these beautiful pollinators to your yard with our seven secrets for a successful monarch garden.
Kate Richards is a home, gardening, and cocktail recipe writer and influencer. She launched her blog Drinking With Chickens in 2016. She describes herself as a “feral forest child,” spending a lot of time in the garden where she grows ingredients to use in her cocktails. Because many drink recipes call for egg whites, she decided to start raising chickens to get farm fresh eggs. Therefore, Drinking With Chickens was born.
Kate has amassed over 80,000 followers on Instagram and 27,000 on Facebook. Her content focuses on her farmhouse home updates and design, lifestyle, pets, and of course, cocktails. She has been featured in publications like Country Living, HGTV magazine, and Apartment Therapy. In 2016, she published the book “Drinking With Chickens: Free-Range Cocktails for the Happiest Hour.”
Updated on July 22, 2022
It’s no secret that filling your garden with pollinator-friendly plants will encourage an array of beautiful—and beneficial—winged guests to visit. But have you considered how to attract monarch butterflies specifically? During the summer, it’s always a thrill to see these orange-and-black insects flitting around your flowers and fueling up on nectar. It can be even more exciting to watch their tiny caterpillars hatch on milkweed and grow a little larger every day, until they make their green-and-gold cocoons. If you’re extra lucky, you just might witness the adult butterfly emerging a couple of weeks later, then taking its first flight. Make your garden a more welcoming haven for monarchs with these seven tips.
Make Milkweed Your Focus
What flowers do monarch butterflies like best? The answer is easy: milkweed. Planting this hardy perennial is the best thing the average gardener can do to help monarchs. It is the most essential component of a healthy monarch habitat—the butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed, and it’s the only thing monarch caterpillars eat. Look for plants in the Asclepias family (such as Asclepias syriaca, Asclepias speciosa, Asclepias incarnata, or Asclepias curassavica, depending on the region where you live). Native species of milkweed are always preferable—you want to replicate the environment monarchs would naturally seek out as they migrate through your area. Purchase your plants from a reputable grower who doesn’t use commercial pesticides or fertilizers, or start them from seed yourself.
It’s no secret that the widespread use of insecticides and herbicides has contributed to the decline of the monarch population (as well as critically endangering other important pollinators). Many pesticides are non-discriminatory, meaning that when you spray them to kill one type of insect, you wipe out any that come in contact with the chemical, including beneficial insects. Butterflies are especially susceptible, so it’s crucial to avoid the use of any toxins in your monarch habitat. Instead, use organic pest- and weed-control methods that won’t harm pollinators.
Plant Nectar-Rich Food Sources
While the caterpillars devour the entire milkweed plant, the adult monarchs only drink the nectar from the flowers. Which means these grown-up butterflies need more to feed on. Fill your garden with as many nectar-rich flowering species as possible, planning for early, middle, and late bloom times to ensure there is a constant supply of food. This will help attract monarchs flitting about in search of sustenance, as well as a range of other butterflies, birds, and pollinators. Some plants that provide plenty of nectar include: joe pye weed, lantana, liatris, echinacea, flowering sages, verbena, buddleja, bee balm, black-eyed susans, and yarrow. And, of course, milkweed.
Butterflies: Nature’s Metamorphosis
Beyond their aesthetic allure, butterflies captivate us with their incredible metamorphosis. They begin life as humble caterpillars, seemingly unremarkable creatures, only to undergo a miraculous transformation into the beautiful butterflies we admire. This metamorphosis serves as a symbol of growth, change, and the inherent beauty that can emerge from within. Through this drawing, you can explore this profound natural phenomenon and convey its essence on paper.
The ability to draw is a universal skill that transcends age, culture, and background. In today’s world, learning to draw has never been easier, thanks to readily available resources and step-by-step instructions. Whether you aspire to monarch butterfly drawing, side butterfly drawing or other subjects like drawing frogs or drawing tulips, the journey of self-discovery and creativity through drawing is within your reach.
Easy butterfly drawing: Simplicity and Elegance
So, how to draw a butterfly? It’s surprisingly simple, and Mimi Panda has thoughtfully prepared instructions suitable for both adults and children .
- Butterfly drawing tutorial for adults
- Butterfly drawing tutorial for kids
Our step-by-step tutorials will guide you through the process, breaking it down into manageable, easy-to-follow steps. Whether you’re a budding artist or a seasoned pro, you’ll find these instructions invaluable in creating your own butterfly masterpieces.
Drawing Tutorial for Adults. How to draw butterfly
Step 1. Begin by drawing a square. Divide it in half vertically and horizontally, making sure the upper part is slightly larger than the lower. Create an inverted trapezoid inside the square.
Step 2. Start to sketch the gentle curves of the butterfly’s wings and its graceful body.
Step 3. Bring your butterfly to life by adding intricate patterns to its wings. Erase any unnecessary auxiliary lines.
Step 4. Finally, add color to your masterpiece, and watch your elegant butterfly come to life in vibrant hues.
From sketching the graceful wings to adding intricate details and shading, our tutorial provides butterfly drawing ideas. Immerse yourself in the world of butterflies and embrace the therapeutic joy of creating beautiful art.
Basic instructions for creating a monarch butterfly drawing
Monarch Butterflies
Do You Know a Monarch When You See One?
Teaching Suggestions
Back to Overview
Summary
Hundreds of observers track the monarch’s migration every fall and spring. In order for the data to be valid and useful, reported sightings must be accurate.
| How can an observer distinguish a monarch from other look-alike butterflies? |
Lesson Goals and Objectives
Goals
- Help students accurately identify a monarch butterfly by its distinctive field marks and unique characteristics.
- Help students distinguish between monarchs and look-alike butterflies.
- Build students’ observation and identification skills in preparation for reporting their own observations.
Objectives
By the end of the lesson students will:
1. Examine the cover of the slideshow depicting monarchs and look-alike butterflies. Have students describe the colors, sizes, shapes, patterns and distinguishing field marks of each butterfly. Ask questions to assess prior knowledge:
How are the butterflies alike and different in size, shape, and color?
2. Read aloud the title and invite students to take a picture walk through the pages—quickly scanning the photos, diagrams, and maps. Encourage them to share questions and predictions.
Determine how you will have students experience the booklet text for a first reading: whole class, small group, partner, or individual. Encourage students to take notes or mark up the text–underlining key ideas and making notes in the margins.
1. Observe and Identify
Give students the Note-taking Chart to help them organize facts about the Monarch, Viceroy, Queen, and Painted Lady butterflies. Revisit each page of the slideshow to collect facts from the text and images.
2. Draw and Describe
Give students the Draw and Describe handout to create a scientific drawing of a monarch butterfly. Challenge them to draw the butterfly to scale with the help of measurement tools. Introduce glossary words related to monarch anatomy. Encourage students to use the vocabulary words and photos to describe a monarch.
4. Design Identification Cards
Have students synthesize their learning by designing Identification Cards. Discuss the distribution map. Explain that knowing where a species is likely to occur can help with identification. Challenge students to map and describe monarch distribution in North America on their identification cards.
5. Wrap Up
Affirm student achievement with a Citizen Scientist Certificate of Excellence. Summarize how students contribute to real-world monarch research as citizen scientists.
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