Every spring, the big box stores roll out a rainbow of seedlings under fluorescent lights: petunias, marigolds, zinnias, and “pollinator blends” designed to catch your eye. They’re planted in tight rows, surrounded by mulch dyed red and black, and watered by timer. The neighbors compliment the blooms. The yard wins a prize. The Instagram photo gets liked.
And yet—no caterpillars come.
No birds build nests.
No bees nest in the soil.
No ecosystem is restored.
No future is planted.
Because decoration is not restoration.
We’re facing an ecological emergency—not a landscaping dilemma. The birds and the bugs don’t need more pretty flowers bred in Holland. They need the right number of the right plants—plants that evolved in place, plants that carry the genetic code of a region, plants that have not been stripped of their chemical defenses or smothered in synthetic fertilizer.
They need Milkweed. They need Black Eyed Susans. They need Coneflowers. They need native grasses and rough shrubs and deep taproots. They need fall bloomers and leaf litter. They need us to plant not for our sense of style, but for the survival of the biome we live in.
Every Monarch butterfly you’ve ever seen was born on a milkweed leaf. Without that leaf, there is no egg. Without the egg, there is no migration. Without the migration, there is no return.
So when you plant to restore, you are not beautifying a space. You are mending a broken contract between place and possibility. You are answering the call of a hungry chickadee looking for caterpillars. You are laying a table for native bees who will not visit your supermarket daisies. You are, whether you know it or not, becoming a steward of continuity.
Restoration is not tidy. It’s not immediate. It’s not symmetric. And it doesn’t look like the cover of a garden catalog. But it lasts. And it matters.
At Johnny Butterflyseed, we don’t sell you hope in a plastic tray. We sell seed that remembers what this continent was before the bulldozers came. We sell seed that knows how to stand through wind and drought. We sell the beginning of a fix, for those who are ready to plant one.
So skip the tulips. Skip the mulch volcanoes and the curated pollinator kits.
Plant to restore. Not to decorate.
Because the bugs and the birds aren’t here for the show.
They’re here to survive.
And they’re waiting on you.
Milkweed Seeds
Seeds for growing plants in the Milkweed genus (Asclepias); required for all Milkweed butterflies, like the Monarch and Queen.
The Adventures of Johnny Butterflyseed – Author Signed First Edition Children’s Book
Save the monarchs!
Johnny Butterflyseed and his fairy friend, Raven Silverwing, embark on a mission to save the rapidly disappearing butterflies. They enlist the help of Queen Venus Goldwing and her kingdom of monarchs to educate and inspire kids to become butterfly farmers. At first, Johnny faces his own internal struggle with self-doubt and fear in his ability to make a difference, but then soon develops a mindset that allows him to not only get started, but also make progress one day at a time. Through challenge after challenge, Johnny learns that he is not alone in his mission and that there are many people who want to help. Together, Johnny, Raven, and Queen Venus educate thousands of children on becoming butterfly farmers.