Raising monarchs on video: how to find the right food plants

Start with Susie Vanderlip’s monarch videos

Susie Vanderlip shares videos from monarchs she raised in her Orange, California garden. Her 2020 collection links a close look at caterpillars eating and a separate video of an adult monarch drinking milkweed nectar. Her YouTube life-cycle playlist also includes caterpillar feeding, chrysalis formation and adult emergence. Start with the feeding clip, then use the playlist to see where that stage fits in the larger sequence.

References: Susie Vanderlip · Susie Vanderlip · Susie Vanderlip

In a plant-search video, Vanderlip begins with the monarch rather than a general label such as “butterfly plant.” She checks a regional plant guide for milkweed, notes its scientific name, and then asks a native-plant nursery which locally appropriate plants it has available. She keeps the host-plant search separate from the list of flowering plants for adult nectar. The useful step is checking the intended animal and plant together before assuming any attractive flower will feed a caterpillar.

A caterpillar’s host is not the whole menu

Monarch caterpillars eat milkweed, while adult monarchs drink nectar from a variety of flowers, including milkweed. Monarch Joint Venture recommends regionally native milkweeds and nectar plants, and links regional guides and sources. Its guidance for California also asks people near overwintering sites to check local conditions before planting milkweed.

References: Monarch Joint Venture

For another butterfly, first look up that species and its larval host plants instead of assuming that milkweed is its food. Once the host is identified, a regional plant guide and local native-plant producer can help narrow the options. Keep the plant’s scientific name with the choice so that the question at the nursery is specific; a label saying a flower attracts adult butterflies does not by itself tell you it feeds their caterpillars.

Pulenaz works through the plant question

After watching butterflies at a meadow, Pulenaz wants to understand what a monarch caterpillar would eat. She writes “monarch” beside “milkweed,” checks the plant name against a regional guide and looks up a local native-plant supplier. She also makes a separate note for flowering nectar plants: the two lists answer different questions even if a plant can serve more than one purpose.

At the nursery she checks the plant label against her notes and asks which milkweed is appropriate locally. She leaves the selection until she can confirm the name and source. The sequence is simple enough for a beginner to follow: identify the butterfly, find its larval host, check regional suitability, then look for a source. It builds on the same curiosity she brings to watching adults at flowers.

What to watch for

Vanderlip’s caterpillar-feeding video gives the plant search a visible result: a viewer can see the young animal eating rather than only hear the name of its food. Her adult nectar clip supplies the second half of the distinction. Pulenaz’s plant check is a useful companion if the question is how to begin finding a suitable plant, while Vanderlip is the starting point for watching monarchs progress through the stages.

Sources and attribution

1. Susie Vanderlip

   New Videos from Raising Monarchs April–July 2020Published Aug 13, 2020 · Recorded Oct 29, 2026

2. Susie Vanderlip

   Monarch Butterfly YouTube Video Playlist by Susie VanderlipPublished Sep 5, 2019 · Recorded Oct 29, 2026

3. Susie Vanderlip

   Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis Making a ChrysalisPublished Aug 4, 2016 · Recorded Oct 29, 2026

4. Monarch Joint Venture

   Planting Monarch HabitatPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 29, 2026