Kirksville Area Master Gardeners share Milkweed for Monarchs

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Kirksville Area Master Gardeners have given away more than 9,000 milkweed plants since 2014.

The University of Missouri Extension Master Gardeners began promoting milkweed for monarch butterflies in early 2014. Then-chapter president Diane Johnson launched the crusade after reading about the decline of monarch butterfly populations. Since the early 1990s, eastern monarchs have decreased by 80%-90%.

She challenged master gardeners to plant milkweed in their gardens, raise awareness of the monarch decline and serve as information resources for others.

Master gardener Dan Getman said the group quickly realized that they did not have enough milkweed seed and plants to meet the challenge. That first year, chapter members could only order a flat of 32 plants from Monarch Watch, an organization based at the University of Kansas focused on monarch tracking and conservation.

They solved the issue of milkweed availability by partnering with a local nursery, Claire’s Garden, and its owner, Claire Peckosh. Each year, Peckosh grows plants from seed, based on input from the master gardeners.

Volunteer master gardeners repot these seedlings into 4-inch pots, and Peckosh monitors and waters them until mid-May. They then distribute the various species of milkweed. MU Extension horticulture field specialist Jennifer Schutter and Getman say they are grateful for Peckosh’s efforts to sustain the project for 12 years.

From 2014 to 2025, Kirksville Area Master Gardeners provided a total of 9,120 milkweed plants, an average of 760 plants per year, to members, neighbors and other gardening groups.

At its peak, the program provided more than 1,000 plants each year for four years (2017-2020). “We’ve planted milkweed in several city park flower beds that we maintain,” says Getman. Two of those are registered as monarch waystations through Monarch Watch.

The group has presented to civic and gardening groups in Missouri and published articles in the Missouri Extension Garden Talk newsletter. Through these educational efforts, they tell the story of why milkweed and other pollinators are important to staving off declining monarch populations.

Master gardener chapter members also hold an annual plant sale to sell milkweed seed at the Kirksville Farmers Market. This gives them an opportunity to share the story of the monarch butterfly with young and old as they stamp monarch butterfly images on children’s hands, distribute coloring sheets and flip books, and encourage grandparents and parents to raise monarch butterflies and plant butterfly gardens.

Some of the Kirksville master gardeners participate in citizen science projects, including Journey North and the Monarch Tagging Program, both of which track monarch migration, and Project Monarch Health at the University of Georgia, which monitors levels of a protozoan parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, which affects the health of monarchs and their ability to migrate.

In addition to planting milkweed at their homes and in city gardens, several area landowners established acres of native prairie plants, including milkweed and nectar plants, to support monarchs and other pollinators. These plantings are often facilitated by the private landowner contacts at the Missouri Department of Conservation.

More information

• Monarch Watch
• Project Monarch Health
• Journey North
• Monarch Joint Venture
• Missouri Department of Conservation

Learn more at the MU Extension Master Gardeners in Kirksville webpage, or contact the MU Extension Center in Adair County at 660-665-9866.

Photos

Milkweed 1. For more than a decade, Kirksville Area Master Gardeners have potted milkweed seedlings into 4-inch pots that Claire Peckosh of Claire’s Garden waters and cares for until they are ready to be given away. Photo by Sue Limestall.

Milkweed 2. Kirksville Area Master Gardeners such as Dan Getman participate in outreach events in the community such as Earth Day celebrations and plant sales to educate the public about the importance of milkweeds to monarch health. Photo by Jennifer Schutter.

Milkweed 3. Kirksville Area Master Gardeners such as Sue Limestall and Cheryl Layton participate in outreach events in the community to educate the public about the importance of milkweeds to monarch health. Photo by Sue Limestall.

Milkweed 4. Kirksville Area Master Gardeners pot milkweed seedlings into 4-inch pots that are cared for by local gardening center, Claire’s Garden, until they are ready to give to others to encourage monarch butterfly populations. Photo by Dan Getman.

Milkweed 5. Since 2014, Kirksville Area Master Gardeners have promoted the planting of milkweed plants for monarch butterflies. They have given away more than 9,000 milkweed plants that feed monarch butterflies in their annual migration to Mexico. Photo by Dan Getman.

Milkweed 6. Kirksville Area Master Gardeners, in partnership with Claire’s Garden, make thousands of milkweed plants available to the public to fight declining monarch butterfly populations. Photo by Sue Limestall.

Monarch 7. Monarch butterflies use native milkweed plants to fuel up on nectar as they migrate to Mexico for the winter. Milkweed also provides a place for monarch larvae to lay their eggs. Photo by Anna Weyers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Milkweed 8. MU Extension Master Gardeners in Kirksville make educational resources available to the public through public events. Photo by Jennifer Schutter.