National Monarch Butterfly Dome Project

The National Monarch Dome project is designed to be a simple and potently beneficial way
to help reverse the tragic decline of the Monarch butterflies. The Monarchs need many
more people to lend a helping hand, with population decreases as high as ~90% over the
last few decades and even more devastating 99% population decrease west of the Rocky
Mountains.
To participate, all you need to do is plant at least one of the Monarch “Super-Attractors” and one of the Monarch “Super-Host” plants from the selections below. You will
be given a QR code to scan to have your individual Monarch Dome support pillar added to
the virtual map hosted at www.MonarchDome.com. The selections are perennials so if
planted at the proper location with appropriate soil amendments and consistent watering
over the first couple months, they will come back every year and are little to no
maintenance thereafter. All selections are deer resistant and drought tolerant once
established.
Plant these Robust & Preferred Monarch Dome Selections anywhere within the
stated growing Zones:
Monarch Super-Attractors: plant at least one:
“Blue Fortune” Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) growing Zones 3-8
Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris ligulistylis) growing Zones 3-8
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea): straight species and the cultivars “Ruby
Star”, “Magnus”, “PowWow”, and “Sombrero Rosada” – growing Zones 3-8.

Super-Host plants: plant at least one:

Milkweed:
Orange Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) growing Zones 3- 10
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) growing Zones 3-9
Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) growing Zones 4-9; one of the least toxic of
all the milkweeds so an excellent selection for hot, dry areas where a low toxicity
milkweed is highly desired.
Special selections for Zones 7-9:
Green Antelopehorn Milkweed (Asclepias viridis); especially recommended to
the southern USA States as it is the earliest to emerge and bloom to help the Monarchs returning from Mexico to lay their eggs and fulfill the final mission of their
amazing journey!
Asters: Aromatic Aster “October Skies” , New England Aster straight species or
cultivar “Purple Dome” provide Sept-Nov. nectar as the Monarchs travel
throughout the southern USA on their way to Mexico or CA (others can be
considered, though need to know for sure they are very attractive to Monarchs in
particular!)
Goldenrods: also provide excellent source of nectar in Sept-Oct. for migrating
Monarchs in the southern USA. Sweet Goldenrod (Solidago chilensis / odora),
Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens), and “Fireworks” (Solidago rugosa) are
the most robust / easiest to grow; relatively low tendency to spread for the
Goldenrod sp. though “Fireworks” can spread aggressively in consistently moist soil
conditions.

Please know Common Milkweed asclepias syriaca (or other very aggressive milkweeds) should not be included at this time.
You may want to install a small garden fence perimeter around your Monarch Dome
support pillar garden- to establish it as your contribution to help this National iconic
species recover and especially if you have pets that may eat plants because all milkweeds
can be toxic if eaten in large quantities. You should also use garden gloves as all parts
(leaves, stems, roots) of milkweeds possess this toxicity. The selected milkweeds are those
that have low tendency to spread - to avoid unwanted distribution in your yard or nearby
areas (crop fields, horse farms, etc)- it is critical to act as both thoughtful neighbors and a compassionate Nation to help our Monarchs while avoiding undesirable side-effects that
could pressure these desperately needed efforts.