Gardening for pollinators at Tel Hai
In order for a yard or gar- den to be designated a Monarch Waystation by the Monarch Watch organization, it requires only a few things: milkweeds, nectar sources, and shelter needed to sustain monarch but- terflies as they migrate through North America. Pretty easy. But it might also be helpful to have Shirley Walton and the Tel Hai Nature Society around to inspire and guide you.
Walton, who grew up on a dairy farm in southern Chester County, developed an interest in butterflies
years ago as a means of keeping her family entertained. “When you have nine children, you have to find ways to keep them occupied,” she jokes.
Through reading this column over the years, Walton knew of my interest in pollinators. She invited me to come take a look at the gardens at the Tel Hai retirement community in Honey Brook, PA, where she now resides. She wrote, “Here in our … community garden, we plant for the birds, bees, and butterflies, as well as grow vegetables. The butterfly weed makes a nice addition … and encourages the monarchs to visit and multiply.”
Walton said that when she moved to Tel Hai, she discovered that so many of the people she met did not know that butterflies come from caterpillars. Two years ago, she bought a couple of flats of butterfly weed plants (Asclepias tuberosa) and the Nature Society gave them away to other gardeners living there. Their project quickly took off.
Their main interest was in
helping to provide nectar sources and host plants for monarch butterflies. Butterfly weed fills both those needs. They soon learned that inviting others to grow plants for the monarchs yielded additional, unexpected benefits.
Growing plants to host monarch caterpillars and butterflies “gives people something interesting to do,” Walton observed. She introduced me to one of her neighbors, Connie Eells, who grew just one butterfly weed plant last year. When thirty or so monarch caterpillars appeared, they quickly defoliated the plant. Walton clipped some stems from her own garden, put them in jars of water, and rushed them over. The larvae quickly found the new foliage, and several days later formed their beautiful, jade-green chrysalises. Through all of the “buzz” that this generated, Connie’s flower garden became the talk of the community.
The main stop on my tour was the community garden, which hosts individual residents’ vegetable gardens and also the Nature Society’s Butterfly Garden. Here, Walton and the seven or so other members of the self-formed group plant species specifically to attract pollinators: butterfly weed for the monarchs, parsley to attract black swallowtail butterflies, and nectar plants like zinnias.
Walton is careful to distinguish between common milkweed and butterfly weed. Both are natives, both attract monarchs, but they are quite different. Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is somewhat coarse-looking and can be aggressive in the garden, spreading via underground rhizomes.
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a more delicate plant that keeps to itself. As Walton remarked, “It blends and behaves in the garden.” She found that while people were resistant to growing common milkweed, they were happy to plant butterfly weed with its brilliant yellow-orange flowers, and even just a plant or two in individual gardens can provide benefit to the monarchs. She pointed out butterfly weed in many gardens as we walked through the community, and we found monarch larvae on most of the plants we checked. One other selling point for butterfly weed: it’s deer resistant.
Both of these milkweeds are also quite different from butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii). Buddleja attracts butterflies that feed on the nectar, but it is not a host plant, providing no food for larvae. It is invasive, and easily crowds out important native species. Planting a single butterfly bush can cause untold harm to local ecosystems as the plant spreads into adjacent areas and beyond.
Note: If you are interested in learning more about or purchasing a Tower Garden (From the Ground Up, August 2, 2018), please let me know, and I will put you in touch with Hallie Steinberg. She likes the Tower so much, she became a “virtual franchisee.”