February 12, 2016 - Monarch 1

Monarch on Clover relief print - Black Daniel Smith water soluble relief ink on 300 series Strathmore tan paper.  Black Micron drawing added to stalk of clover.

Several years ago we decided to collect some milkweed seeds from the nearby wetlands and see if we could start a small stand of protected milk weeds in our backyard.  I first learned of the reduction in the Monarch population at a local elementary school.  It is a science magnet site, and each grade levels studies one stage or aspect of the Monarch life cycle.  All children learn about the impact of GMOs and the negative impact on nature;s pollinators, like Monarchs and bees. 

Monarch on Clover relief print - Black Daniel Smith water soluble relief ink and FW acrylic inks gessoed on 300 series Strathmore tan paper; hand painted.  Black Micron drawing added to stalk of clover (note differences in above leaf configuration and this one.)

Setting up a bee hive just wouldn't work in urban suburbia, but bringing in a few milkweed seeds seemed like a very easy thing to do.  We assumed that  the name "...weed" implied hardy and '....will grow anywhere' and stopped along the bike path a couple of times in the fall to catch airborne seeds.

Whether the weed assumption was accurate or we were just very lucky, the spring of the following year several milkweed plants began growing and reached more than five feet by the end of the season.  Several of the stalks had flowers, so produced the easily recognized "pod."  Unfortunately, we didn't see any evidence of visiting Monarchs (insect or nobility.)

Monarch on Clover relief print - Main butterfly outline and clover  created with Black Daniel Smith water soluble relief ink on 300 series Strathmore tan paper.  Interior of butterfly wings and body are printed on patterned craft paper, then cut out.  These two prints have been combined and glued in place.  Black Micron drawing added to stalk of clover.to

The launch of the dried seeds in the fall was as expected, and we hoped for a regrowth of plants in the spring to try attracting Monarchs again.

Although the original plants may have become well established and expanded, I am pretty sure that some of the launched offspring traveled vertically to their parent's feet, because the following spring our crop had doubled and the milkweed stand was a bonefied "yard element."  Neighbors and friends who visited our back yard were curious about the appearance of renegade weeds in an otherwise weed-free yard.  Each time we had the opportunity to share the plight of the Monarch in a chemical-filled agri-world and also our hope for attracting a traveling Monarch or spotting some eggs attached to the bottom of a leaf or two.