For many of us, spring is happily welcomed after a long, cold winter. With the warmer days also comes so much good – golden sunshine, later sunsets, and blossoming of flowers. Late spring into early summer also signals the return of monarch butterflies in Rhode Island. Although the number of monarch butterflies has significantly decreased in recent years, there are ways you can help preserve these beloved insects when they arrive in New England.

Some of the springtime’s most beloved visitors to Rhode Island, monarch butterflies usually begin to appear in the state in June.

Those in the southern part of the state usually see the butterflies in the earlier part of the month while the butterflies migrate to the rest of the state between mid and late June.

Monarch butterflies, who spend winters in Mexico, usually begin their journey south between the middle to the end of September.

You may have noticed fewer monarch butterflies in recent years. The decline of monarch butterflies has become so drastic that the International Union for Conservation of Nature included them on the red list of endangered species in 2022.

The monarch butterfly population has dropped for various reasons – from the use of insecticides and pesticides to climate change. There is a way to help the butterflies, though, and to perhaps strengthen their numbers.

Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants where caterpillars will hatch days later. The caterpillar remains in the safety of the milkweed for a few weeks until their transformation into a butterfly.

If you want to attract monarch butterflies to your yard, plant milkweed or one of several other nectar plants. Common and swamp milkweed are the typical types found in Rhode Island. Milkweed can be grown in your yard or in a planter.

The butterflies also feed off of such plants as New England asters, summersweet, woodland sunflowers, and seaside goldenrod. Planting them could also draw monarch butterflies to your yard.

Monarch butterflies are a wonderful part of late spring and summer in Rhode Island, so keep an eye on the sky!

Are you looking forward to the return of monarch butterflies in Rhode Island? Do you do anything to attract them to your yard? Let us know in the comments! You can learn more about the monarchs on the Monarch Migration website. You might also want to start preparing for the return of hummingbirds in Rhode Island, too.