Young milkweed ready to be planted.

“Within half an hour, fifty gardening volunteers — kneeling on the ground, digging away and swatting flies — had planted 500 milkweed plants.”

“The milkweeds planted [last] Saturday in a meadow at the New Jersey Botanical Garden [in Ringwood] were meant to host monarch butterflies that migrate thousands of miles each year.  They lay eggs only on milkweeds, meaning that, as a sign at the event said, No milkweed, No monarchs.”

The plants were purchased through a collaborative funding grant from the National Audubon Society and Bergen County Audubon Society.

Read more by Minjae Park on northjersey.com here