VIDEO: Professional gardener in St. Paul is rescuing monarch eggs

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Monarch butterflies are a beautiful and important species in Minnesota, but sometimes their eggs are endangered by those who want to get rid of the native plants that they crave.

That's why Parker Grubb, a professional gardener and painter in St. Paul, is rescuing the eggs and raising them at her home.

"(Monarchs) go through so much change, so quickly. They're so incredibly delicate while still being resilient. They're a poster child for why conservation is so important," Grubb said.

It all starts with the native plant, milkweed.

"Milkweed is actually the only thing that monarch caterpillars will eat," Grubbs said. "The reason is that there's a toxin in the milkweed that the caterpillars absorb in their bodies and make them toxic to predators that would eat them otherwise."

So, Grubb will remove milkweed patches from "high risk" areas, like places that get regularly mowed or where a client doesn't want it in their yards. Grubb will find the monarch eggs - usually under the leaves of the milkweed - and take them back home, raise them to butterflies and then release them.

Grubb is also a painter and has a series called "Release" that Grubb calls an "exploration of joy" when releasing the butterflies to the wild. 

The monarch butterfly is unique in that it's the only known butterfly to migrate as birds do, traveling as far south as Mexico. 

For those interested in getting into the hobby and conservation effort, Grubb recommends checking out information from MnDOT on noxious weeds, and heading to Birchbark Books in Minneapolis to check out their field guides.

You can also check out more of Grubb's artwork on her Instagram, and another account for daily monarch updates. 

For much more, watch the video above.