Free Milkweeds for Schools & Nonprofits

You will need to include:

1. A letter of support from the person in charge of the property
2. A photograph of the garden site
3. A map or diagram showing the garden as it relates to surrounding buildings and trees
4. Details about your use of the garden and maintenance. Our goal is to provide milkweed for monarchs for many seasons, and these details will help us help you achieve that goal.

What's a "plug?"

The native milkweed that is awarded to qualified applicants comes in "plugs." These are live plants that have been grown in a restoration nursery.  The plants are often trimmed to increase the root mass, or are trimmed for shipping. This does not harm the plants, and can actually benefit them. Unlike nursery plants, restoration plants are grown for habitat restoration, not for aesthetic value at the time of planting.

Applications will be reviewed in the order that they are received.

Note to Texas applicants: EACH Texas recipient will receive a full flat of 50 plants. If 50 plants are too many for your garden space, find a partner organization such as a school, library, public park or nature center. We will need an application from both organizations.

Additional Resources to Explore:

The US Fish and Wildlife Service created a downloadable Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide and the USFWS Schoolyard Habitat Program helps teachers and students create wildlife habitat at their own schools.

The St. Louis Butterfly Project created Resource Page with an abundant source of information about monarchs, milkweed and community science programs.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT NATIVE MILKWEEDS:
These plants may be free to you, but they are incredibly valuable (retail value is between $100-160 per flat; value to monarchs is without measure), and we want them to succeed. Every year, we receive feedback from recipients, saying that their plants "died," even when we know that the plants were strong and healthy when they left the nursery.

Who will be considered for free milkweeds?

Applicants that demonstrate the following will be given higher rankings:

• Schools and Educational Non-Profits will be given highest priority
• Educational goals of garden clearly described
• A long-term maintenance plan for the garden space
• Adequate space (>100 square feet) and light (>6 hrs per day)
• Spring/Summer/Fall nectar sources existing or to be added in addition to milkweed
• You will commit to sending an evaluation of the garden success and spring/summer/fall photos of the planting and maintenance of the garden.
• We will respond to a survey for photo submissions and garden evaluations
• All application materials must be complete prior to review by Monarch Watch
• Please answer all questions to the best of your ability. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

You should receive a confirmation email when you submit this form. Please email us at monarch@ku.edu if you have any questions.

Select your ecoregion based on the results of the Pollinator Partnership ecoregion finder. Click here: Pollinator Partnership

​Not all Ecoregions are listed on this application. If you do not see your Ecoregion listed below, that means we do not have plants for your area. Our milkweed availability depends on donations of seed from volunteer seed collectors and on availability of milkweed growers.

Upload a letter of support to Monarch Watch, giving you authority to alter the property by planting a pollinator/butterfly garden. The letter must come from a person of authority at the organization so that we can see the upper-level management approves of the milkweed planting. Use letterhead or other official stationery.

The letter should:

• demonstrate a recognition of the importance of planting milkweed for monarchs.


• briefly state the vision and goals for the garden


• list educational activities planned in the garden


• describe collaboration with partners and community

What is the total approximate square footage of the garden bed(s)? 100 ft sq is an ideal minimum size.

Using the instructions below, please indicate the Latitude and Longitude of your garden site, which may be different from your current location. We use this information for grant reporting only.

To get the coordinates of a place:
On your computer, open Google Maps.
Right-click (or control-click) the place or area on the map.
To copy the coordinates automatically, select the latitude and longitude.

(Source: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/18539)

Please use the Decimal degrees (DD) format, such as:

Latitude: 41.40338

Longitude: -95.17403

Other options for finding latitude and longitude:

https://www.gps-coordinates.org
https://www.latlong.net

Do you have funds ($40.95) to certify your garden as a Monarch Waystation and order a weatherproof sign?   If your site is already a Waystation, please provide the certification number, if possible.  Certification is not a requirement.  You can purchase a sign at the Monarch Watch Shop.

Click on  Monarch Waystation Registry to search for Waystations.

If you already have a registered Monarch Waystation and a certification number, enter it here.

Will you be creating a new garden, amending an existing garden, or expanding an existing garden?

Milkweeds need full sun. How many hours of sunlight will be available to the milkweed in the garden?  

The new plants will need to be watered.  Once established, they will only need to be monitored if it is extremely hot and dry, or if they appear to be wilting. 

Is water readily available to water the garden each week?

Monarchs need more than milkweed. Plan for 2-3 nectar plants for every 1 milkweed plant.

For a list of good nectar sources for the eastern US, please visit: Eastern US Butterfly Garden Plant List

For a list of good nectar sources for Texas and Oklahoma, please visit:Texas Butterfly Garden Plant List

Or, see Monarch Watch's Butterfly Gardening Page.

How many nectar sources already exist OR will be planted in the space?

Bloom Times- Approximately how many species bloom in each season?

Will you evaluate the garden's success?

To justify the funding for this project and future projects, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) asked us to request photos of your gardens at different times during the season.  The best photos tell a story about the people in your garden and show context.  We have plenty of photos of caterpillars on milkweed. A better picture would be of someone looking at caterpillars and interacting with the garden.

Please send us photos of the garden while it is being planted, after it is planted and later in the season (Summer or Fall). These updates can be emailed to us at monarch@ku.edu. We will also send you a fillable form in the fall with the option to upload photos.

If possible, also evaluate the garden's success. Tell us about your successes and failures. Tell us about the bees and butterflies that have been attracted to your garden. Most of the insects visiting the flowers in the garden can be identified using the many websites devoted to butterflies, moths, bees, flies and beetles. See examples of these websites, here: Common Waystation Insects. To facilitate these identifications, have students and visitors take pictures. Lists of pollinators (and/or their pictures) could be posted in the garden or on a website dedicated to the garden. Please keep track of these so that you can evaluate the success of the garden!

Please commit to sending us the following information in the Fall (or spring, if you receive fall plants):