Western Monarch Butterfly Resources

15 Top Western Monarch Resources for Monarchs & Milkweed

Monarch enthusiasts in warm regions are dealing with a unique set of circumstances and issues when it comes to butterfly gardening and raising monarchs. These include plant care issues and dealing with more monarch disease when raising monarch butterflies.

Check out these valuable resources for getting first-hand info from those supporting monarchs in these regions:

1. The Beautiful Monarch is a facebook group created to teach members how to raise and properly care for the monarch butterfly from egg to flying adult along with learning about their predators, diseases and other monarch facts.

While this group is intended for monarch lovers across North America, there are many in the group from western and southern locales. Join the group to network with other monarch supporters in your area:

The Beautiful Monarch (archived in 2023)

2. Butterfly Farms is a California nonprofit 501(c)(3) dedicated to education, conservation and research of our important pollinators. They study the host and nectar plant relationships of pollinators using the Western Monarch Butterfly as our model. Learn about western monarchs for the website and visit their new farm (in late 2023) to learn more about monarchs:

Butterfly Farms

3. Monarch Butterflies in the Pacific Northwest is a portal for research, conservation, and news of the pacific northwest monarchs:

Monarch Butterflies in the Pacific Northwest

4. Monika Moore is the California Butterfly Lady and shares her first-hand knowledge of gardening and raising butterflies is Southern California. You can like her facebook page to get updates in your newsfeed:

California Butterfly Lady

5. Track Monarch and Milkweed activity across the west with:

Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper

6. The Southwest monarch study researches the breeding and migration patterns of western monarch butterflies in Arizona and the southwestern US:

Southwest Monarch Study Website

7. Butterfly Gardening Tips & Ideas for Central California:

Art Shapiro’s Butterfly Site

8. Las Pilitas Nursery has put together a list showing native plants used by California butterflies, including monarchs:

Plants for a California or Western Monarch Butterfly Garden

9. Annie’s Annuals is another highly reviewed California nursery that offers native and annual butterfly plants. Click on each plant’s thumbnail for more info:

California Annual and Perennial Butterfly Plants

10. Theodore Payne Foundation inspires and educates Southern Californians about the beauty and ecological benefits of California native plant landscapes:

Theodore Payne Foundation and Nursery

11. Armstrong Gardens

“I have purchased Asclepias Fascicularis, Asclepias Tuberosa, and Asclepias Curassavica at various Armstrong Gardens locations in the Los Angeles area. I have purchased Tropical milkweed that had instar 4 caterpillars munching on the milkweed – which gave me good assurance that no pesticides are used. You have to be careful though – if you get a milkweed that was not grown in California – like for instance Ascelepias Linaria that was grown in Arizona – out of state growers are required by regulations to treat everything even milkweed with pesticides before it can be sent to California. I had a detailed discussion with one of those growers. So it is best to stick with milkweed that came from local growers like “Monrovia” or other small local growers. Armstrong has readily given me the phone number of their milkweed growers so I could talk with them and see if they use pesticides.”

thank you community member Karen R.

12. Located on 40 acres of the historic Rancho Mission Viejo in San Juan Capistrano, the Tree of Life nursery supplies a high quality line of over 500 species and varieties for landscaping and ecological restoration at the wholesale level, and also has a retail store that welcomes California native plant enthusiasts 6 days a week.

Tree of Life Nursery

13. The Xerces society protects monarchs and other wildlife through the conservation of their native habitat. Download their free guide on milkweed and monarchs in the western US:

Milkweed and Monarchs in the Western US

Western Monarch Count Resource Center

14. If you’re looking to purchase monarch eggs, caterpillars, chrysalides to raise and release, this California vendor ships to states west of the continental divide including CA, WA, OR, AZ, UT, NM & CO:

Monarch Eggs, Caterpillars, & Chrysalides (no vendor listed currently)

15. Monarch Butterfly Friends Hawaii is a facebook group about attracting and supporting monarchs in Hawaii and learning about milkweed species grown in the Hawaiian islands:

Monarch Butterfly Friends Hawaii Facebook Group

Please comment below if you know of other good western monarch resources