To the Editor:
Last fall I offered milkweed seeds to all who wanted to help the monarch butterfly by planting milkweed. This year I have seedlings to offer.
You may or may not know that the monarch butterfly is on the brink of being added to the list of endangered species. Loss of habitat and loss of food supplies are considered the two main problems.
The monarch caterpillar eats only milkweed. Loss of green spaces and the common use of herbicides such as Roundup are leaving the caterpillars nothing to eat.
I have three kinds of milkweed: “butterfly weed,” which grows to about 18 inches high, has a bright orange flower, and likes well-drained soil; common milkweed, what Cape Codders and Islanders remember as
milkweed, growing 4 to 5 feet high with a dusty rose-colored flower, likes well-drained soil; and marsh milkweed, which grows about 3 feet high and has pink flowers, and likes moist or wet soil.
Our bugs, insects of all sorts, are in trouble with decreasing green spaces and increasing use of pesticides and herbicides.
Please think carefully before you use any pesticide or herbicide. It may be killing our beneficial insects that we love, as well as the bug or plant that you don’t like.
If you have some space to plant a few milkweed plants, email me please: suzannaaan@yahoo.com.
Suzanna Nickerson
Vineyard Haven
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