64 Plant Monarch Garden for Medium Soils

Any of our Pre-planned Gardens can be succesfully planted in either, spring or fall. If you are planting in fall we recommend having the plants in the ground at least 6 weeks before the ground freezes (soil temps below 40 degrees). This is bit of a guess, as it is difficult to know when that will occur in a given year, but base your estimate on the average fall/winter in your area. There's no harm in planting earlier. 

Read our article Tips for Planting in Fall  for more information on fall planting.

As a rule, we don't allow plant substitutions to be made in any of the Pre-Planned Gardens. If you are looking for more customization, our 32 and 16-Plant Custom Kits let you mix-and-match plants, with a wide variety of choices, for a great price.

Yes. The plants in this garden will withstand frost in the spring. Newly transplanted plants may experience frost damage to the leaves, but the plant & roots remain alive (viable). If the frost or cold temperatures persist the plants can take some time to recover, but should continue to grow with warmer weather.
If the plant foliage is damaged by frost (often it turns black or brown), remove the blackened or damaged foliage.  New growth will slowly appear-most plants taking a few weeks to do so.

Most of the plants in our pre-planned gardens are hardy to zone 4, and only a few species are hardy to zone 5. Once the plants are established they are unlikely to be phased by seasonal weather.

Yes, we provide a planting plant (layout) with each of our preplanned gardens. The layout plan that is visible in the product image gallery is included in the shipment, along with the plants. You can follow our planting plan, or feel free to get creative with your own arrangement!

Yes, you should pull out the Canada goldenrod. It spreads both rhizomatously and through self seeding, and can quickly overwhelm any garden.  The Stiff Goldenrod you may want to keep. Monarch butterflies love Stiff Goldenrod and it is an important plant for them in the fall when they need lots of nectar for their fall migration. You may want to cut off the developing seed heads of Stiff Goldenrod before the seed is dispersed. This will sufficiently control the spread of Stiff Goldenrod but is unfortunate for the birds, as it does remove a seed source that they seek.

As for mulching, yes, mulch the garden. We recommend mulching after planting. As the plants grow, and become larger, the need for mulch will diminish.  First do your weeding, then water very thoroughly! Then apply a layer of mulch. Clean straw mulch is probably the best mulch for prairie native plants but it is not always available.  With straw mulch, you can mulch it anywhere from a thin 1" layer to 3" deep.  Instead you may choose to use a standard shaved wood mulch at 1"- 2" deep. The amount of mulch that you apply can depend upon existing conditions. Sometimes a thin layer of mulch is all that is needed. You may also use leaf mulch. Leave and straw both break down pretty fast - one year - and will quickly contribute to improved soil health. Shaved wood mulch breaks down much slower. If you use wood mulch make sure it is shaved wood mulch and not bark chips.

It's best to do this before the weather turns very hot, but any assistance at cooling the soil and retaining water will be beneficial for the plants in hot weather. Ultimately the goal is for the full grown plants to completely fill the garden ground space. At that point mulch is not really needed. The spent plant material itself can provide all the mulch that is needed.