Sudbury groups hope to help monarch butterflies

Ahead of Earth Day on Friday, a few groups in Sudbury are coming together to help monarch butterflies in the area.

The help will come in the form of free milkweed seeds and although the bags look small, they will serve a big purpose in the Sudbury area.

“Monarch butterflies will not survive unless they get milkweed at the caterpillar stage,” said Carrie Regenstreif of the Sudbury Pollinator Project.

“It’s really important because monarch butterflies have been in distress worldwide.”

Regenstreif said the milkweed seeds are free and there’s enough for everyone to lend a hand.

“We probably have enough milkweed for a hundred or more people to take some and plant some, so that would be great,” she said.

The free seeds are available at Seasons Pharmacy and Culinaria during regular business hours.

“We’re under assault from all sides from trying to have a sanitized agricultural model and this is one of the reasons why those monarch butterflies are in crisis because we sort of plow hedgerow to hedgerow and we don’t remember to leave those weeds,” said Rachelle Rocha from Seasons Pharmacy and Culinaria.

“We don’t think they’re important because they don’t feed us. But they do feed the butterflies and they feed the birds and so it’s really an important awareness thing.”

Experts say it’s one of the easiest plants to grow and it’s as simple as just scattering it on your lawn and leaving it be.

Ahead of Earth Day on Friday, a few groups in Sudbury are coming together to help monarch butterflies in the area. The help will come in the form of free milkweed seeds and although the bags look small, they will serve a big purpose in the Sudbury area. (Alana Everson/CTV News)

“It just grows on the surface,” said Rocha. “So it doesn’t require digging or starting it indoors. It just requires scattering.”

“The flowers are quite pretty too. It’s a lovely plant and I just think it’s cool. The more of it we have growing, the more monarch butterflies we might see.”

It does require cold weather at first, but the free bags at Seasons Pharmacy and Culinaria have already been wintered, meaning it will grow in time to help this year.

“Pollinators are super important for humans, actually, it’s not just about pretty butterflies,” said Regenstreif.

“Butterflies pollinate a lot of plants and other pollinating insects, which the project is also focusing on. But one in three bites of food you take actually depends on a pollinating insect of some kind.”

This is the second year for the Sudbury Pollinator Project and the overall goal is to encourage more people to plant gardens that support butterflies and other pollinator species.