Monarch Migration Celebration Saturday, September 24th

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Here at the Delaware Nature Society, monarch butterflies matter. Learn about our precious Monarch butterflies and other awesome animals that call the Peterson Wildlife Refuge home.

Free and open to the Public. Saturday, September 24th, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM DuPont Environmental Education Center, 1400 Delmarva Lane, Wilmington, DE 19801

Enjoy activities for all ages. See live butterflies, turtles and frogs! Tag and release Monarch butterflies to help science! Explore nature center exhibits! Use water nets to catch and look at minnows and other small marsh critters. Try your hand at beginner canoeing, and more!

Monarch Butterflies are In Trouble

Their numbers have been declining in the last several years over much of their North American range.

Why They’re Declining

There are multiple reasons for this decline, including the loss of open meadow habitat that monarch butterflies depend upon for food and successful reproduction. They need habitat – flowers and milkweed – across their migration path, including here in Delaware.

Monarch-friendly Meadows

Most of the meadow areas at the locations we operate – Ashland Nature Center, Abbott’s Mill Nature Center, Coverdale Farm Preserve, and DuPont Environmental Education Center – are managed for biodiversity and clean water and thus provide monarch butterflies with the plants they need to survive. Native flowering plants and milkweeds thrive in our fields. We use carefully-timed mowing, controlled burning, and supplemental seeding to increase the amount of milkweed and other flowers that support pollinators in our meadows.

How You Can Help

Plant Milkweed Plants

Milkweed is very important for monarch caterpillars, which feed only on the leaves of the milkweed plant and monarch butterflies lay eggs on their leaves.

Support monarch butterflies with native varieties we recommend:

• common milkweed (Asclepias syriaia)
• swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnate)
• butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberose)

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