And So It Begins...

Exhibit A: "The Ailing Flower Bed" -- consisting of a deep slope, a shallow soil bed, gravel from the driveway, garlic mustard, and some invasive shrubs.

As a co-leader for a Girl Scout troop, I was thrilled when my troop voted to plant habitat gardens for monarch butterflies and native bumblebees. I even tried talking them out of their plans, making sure they really didn't want to do one of their other ideas instead. I didn't want my unexpressed enthusiasm for the project to somehow have subliminally influenced their decision.

So when they finalized their idea and selected their garden plans, I set out only to make sure the plants in the pre-planned monarch and pollinator gardens they chose were really ideal native plant choices for monarchs and native pollinators. As I did some fact-checking, something clicked, and I just had to put together a butterfly garden of my own.

I researched the common butterflies of Wisconsin, along with their native host and nectar plants. With the help of my husband, hours of research, graph paper, a pile of dirt, and an ailing flower bed begging for new life; the butterflies migrating in and the caterpillars waking up from their winter's sleep may think they've found heaven next summer.