GARDEN CLUBS OF ILLINOIS PRESIDENT’S PROJECT–

MILKWEED FOR MONARCH

 

Most of you have read many statistics about the catastrophic plummeting number of monarchs seen in Mexico, their migration site and all across Texas, the Midwest (including Illinois) and Canada. Each of us, although we are only One can do something to help reverse monarch numbers and assure that there will be monarchs in our future. And that is... Plant Milkweed! – the only plant that monarchs will lay their eggs on. Every member of Garden Clubs of Illinois and every GCI club can take part in helping to bring back monarchs, one milkweed plant at a time, one re-seeded back road at a time with no expense or modest expense to individual or club.

Milkweed For Monarchs is being developed as a multifaceted project involving planting native
swamp milkweed, (Asclepias incarnata), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), and common
milkweed (Asclepias Syriaca) where appropriate throughout the state.

1. GCI will partner with the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Department of
Natural Resources to get flower seed including milkweed into any roadside restoration projects or construction being done around the state such as infields, ramps and interchanges. Operation Wildflower Chairman Barbara Bischoff Kleeman is already in discussion with Steven Gobelman, Roadside Operations Manager at the Schaumburg office of IDOT.

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