Nannup and its butterflies

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I’ve spoken about small towns in Western Australia and their efforts to attract tourists. Nannup is one of those towns and was mentioned recently as they’ll be hosting the Gravel World Championships in 2026. They also hold a music festival each year and a tulip festival when the streets and home gardens are all planted with tulips. Such massed plantings aren’t common elsewhere in our state and draws a lot of tourists. Now Nannup is making the news as it’s being taken over by monarch butterflies. These are taking advantage of two highly invasive plants – milkweed and narrow-leaf cottonbush, both of which are declared weeds and are common along the banks of the river. The butterflies lay their eggs on the plants which provide food for the hatching caterpillars. The butterflies can use the pollen from native bushes and garden plants but need the milkweed and/or cottonbush to lay their eggs. The locals are hoping to find a balance so that the monarchs continue to visit. There seems to be a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ to just about everything. Have you found that? The photo is from a previous tulip festival.