Vancouver Island Master Gardeners 
There is a lot of concern about monarch butterflies in the news (rightfully so!), but that has led to a bit of confusion. A company is apparently mailing out milkweed seeds for monarchs that contain harmful plants. The fact is, monarch butterflies are not native here on Vancouver Island, and their host plants (milkweeds) aren’t either. Many milkweeds have invasive properties that threaten our native habitat and make them poor choices for Vancouver Island gardens. It is additionally confusing that some milkweeds are native to BC, but only in the interior.
I’ve had people tell me at MG clinics that they have seen monarchs in their yard. They are either misidentifying them (which is easy to do), or someone near them has raised and released them (which is sad, because they will ultimately not survive). There are ways to garden for our amazing diversity of Vancouver Island butterflies, and the best thing is to plant native larval host plants. Find more info here:
https://hat.bc.ca/plants-that-attract-butterflies
Here is a quick visual reference for just some of our native butterflies here on the island (this one focused on S. Vancouver Island):
And a great comprehensive website to reference about VI butterflies:
https://vancouverislandbutterflies.com
The reason things like “helping monarchs” are popular is that people really want to do something in their gardens that helps. That is a great instinct to have and for us as Master Gardeners to help nurture. We are essentially at the frontlines of helping people navigate confusing topics like this!
I hope this gives you some great information when questions come up at clinics about milkweed, monarchs and butterfly gardening.
Whitney Peek, CMG