I have seen about half a dozen Monarchs in my yard this summer, lots of Red Admirals and swallowtails. Until two years ago, I generally saw lots of butterflies, including Monarchs, every day. Last year I saw no butterflies at all for the entire summer-very distressing-even though I have coneflowers, Joe Pye, several varieties of agastache, and other butterfly-attracting plants in my yard. So last summer I added several butterfly weed plants to my gardens. I think it is very clear that the population is declining. We gardeners are in a position to help, and I hope that we all do our part.
The bee population seems to have rebounded. There were few last year, but my yard has been buzzing like crazy this summer.
