You may have heard talk about the decrease in the Monarch butterfly population. Perhaps you’ve even heard that one of the key reasons is the disappearance of milkweed from roadsides, lots and gardens as more land is under development: milkweed is the only plant that supports these butterflies at a couple of different stages of its development. Recently, organizations have been encouraging people to plant milkweed.
One of those organizations is Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District. Now through October 31 it is collecting the distinctive Common Milkweed pods that contain its seeds so they can be processed and planted to create new butterfly habitats. They can be dropped off at the Cuyahoga SWCD office at 3311 Perkins Avenue, Suite 100, in AsiaTown. The collection bin is on the west side of the building by the garage door, where they may be dropped anytime. While there, you can take a selfie with the Pod Monster and send it to Cuyahoga SWCD to post on their Facebook page to show you care about the environment and its creatures.
Cuyahoga SWCD has its own native plant garden across the street from its office which is a registered Monarch Waystation with milkweeds, nectar sources and shelter for migrating Monarchs.
For more information, including how and when to pick the pods, how to store them and how to package them for drop-off, go to cuyahogaswcd.org/programs/common-milkweed-pod-collection.