Interview with Katie Banks Hone, The Monarch Gardener

Introduction

We’re thrilled to feature Katie Banks Hone, a dedicated entrepreneur, scientist, and mother who turned a passion for chemical-free native plants into The Monarch Gardener—with a little encouragement from her two daughters. Her expertise in native gardening is a game-changer for Massachusetts and the broader Northeast. Join us as she shares her insights, tips, and the journey behind her thriving nursery. Let’s dig in!

Thank you so much for the time Katie! I’m excited to hear about all you’ve done for Massachusetts gardens.

Let’s start at the beginning. What inspired you to start The Monarch Gardener? Was there a moment that sparked your passion for native plants and pollinators?

My undergraduate thesis researched interdunal plants, even though my aspiration was to work with animals. I went on to work for the New England Aquarium for 13 years after I graduated from college and did indeed get to work with animals of all kinds, but I was still the staff member the Fishes Department looked to when plants were needed to make an exhibit “pretty.”

I left NEAq in 2009 when I got pregnant with my second daughter and spent the next four years as a full-time mom. I did a lot of gardening and re-landscaping in that time, building rain gardens and monarch waystations at my own home and helping other moms do the same.

One day, when we were driving home from a day helping another mom plant milkweed, I asked my then four and five-year-old girls if they thought ‘mom could make a job out of this’ and they screamed “YES!” from the back seat, and the rest is history.

What a beautiful origin story! Your daughters’ enthusiasm and support for your business make it even more special.

I’d love now to ask about the namesake of your nursery—the monarch.

Why are monarch butterflies such an important species to support in Northeastern home gardens?

I’ll share a secret: monarchs are actually very poor pollinators.

They don’t even come close to the rate of pollination a native mason bee can achieve. But people LOVE monarchs, they are beautiful and elegant and charismatic. More importantly: they don’t sting or bite. If I begged folks to plant a wasp garden I doubt I would convince many! But ask them to plant a monarch garden and they are on board. What they don’t always realize at first is their monarch garden is supporting potentially hundreds of other pollinators too.

There are actually 11 species of milkweeds native to my state of Massachusetts, so there’s really no need for me to look afar to find a species that works in my garden.

Spot on—monarchs are the perfect hook. If they get people walking into your nursery and growing native plants, that’s a win.

Can you talk about the connection between native milkweed in the Northeast and monarch populations? What’s the best way for someone to help monarchs?

No milkweed = no monarchs.

Milkweed is absolutely essential to the monarch’s life cycle. It is the ONLY plant monarch caterpillars can eat.

The best milkweeds to plant in your area are the ones native to your area. There are actually 11 species of milkweeds native to my state of Massachusetts, so there’s really no need for me to look afar to find a species that works in my garden. Research the needs of the milkweeds native to your area and find one whose behavior you like and whose needs fit your property.

But equally important is fall nectar. The monarch 2023-2024 population overwintering in Mexico was a lot smaller than predicted despite early spring numbers showing promise. The culprit was lack of fall nectar, the monarchs migrating south starved.

Some homeowners are hesitant to plant milkweed because they worry it will spread too much. What do you say to people concerned about that?

Research your milkweed, and stay away from species that spread with rhizomes. If you don’t want volunteers, pluck the seed pods before they open. It’s actually very, very easy to ‘control’ milkweed if that is needed.

Beyond monarchs, what other pollinators benefit from native plants, and how can homeowners support them?

Native plants have evolved very closely with native insects. Every Lepidoptera needs a host plant as a larva, or caterpillar. No host plant and that species of moth or butterfly can not survive.

Every native plant you plant is the salad bar for something. The flowers of the plants also have close relationships with certain pollinators. Cardinal Flower, for example, has such a long tubular flower that hummingbirds are the only animal that can effectively pollinate it. When you plant a native garden you are literally providing the ecosystem for thousands of native animals.

I haven’t used a single spray, organic or not, in 13 years and my garden is the envy of my neighborhood.

Now, I’d love to pivot and hear some of your hard-won advice for gardeners just starting their native garden.

What’s one simple change that a new gardener can make to create a more pollinator-friendly yard?

Ditch your chemicals! You don’t need them.

I haven’t used a single spray, organic or not, in 13 years and my garden is the envy of my neighborhood. And this means all chemicals, including those nasty rodenticides that are killing off our raptors and foxes.

Beginner Tip

Katie Banks Hone’s Advice for Someone Getting Started

Start small: remove a few square feet of lawn.

You’ll find you don’t miss it, and the creatures that come and use the plants you plant in place of lawn make it so worth it. After that, it gets addictive to remove bigger and bigger chunks of grass.

There’s a common assumption that native gardens look messy or require lots of maintenance. What’s the reality?

They actually require a lot less maintenance than ornamental gardens if you plant plants in the right place to complement their needs. You can also design your gardens to use shorter plants that don’t flop over.

I don’t think my gardens are ‘messy’. They are not ‘neat’ either but they are planted in a way to mimic what a traditional ornamental garden would be like, but with natives.

Native plants for beginners

Katie Banks Hone’s Picks

Living in the Northeast? Katie recommends these natives:

Butterfly Weed

Golden Alexander

Goldenrods

Is there anything you would like to add as we close out our interview?

It’s important not to get greenwashed by some of the nativars and cultivars out there. When shopping for natives try to buy straight species.

If there’s a name in quotes after the scientific name, skip it. Many of these altered natives are sterile (no nectar or pollen) or have leaves and petals that the insects that have evolved with the plants do not recognize.

If you need help sorting through the long lists of plants out there, find a native plant society in your area, and they can help make sense of it. Another good place to start is a local, small, native-only nursery. They will be well educated on plants for your area.