Home gardeners' role in saving the monarch butterfly

A monarch butterfly rests in the Rice Native Gardens just outside the Field Museum in Chicago, the United States. Photos: TNS

On a suburban street with smooth lawns and trimmed bushes, Martha Chiplis’ yard stands out. It’s not just the wild- flowers: Purple wild petunia, golden lanceleaf coreopsis, hot-pink Bush’s poppy mallow. It’s the lemon-yellow goldfinches that snack on the seeds, the fluffy bees that feed on the blooms.

And then there’s the star of the show: A monarch butterfly that descends within minutes.