Fish Like A GIRL: Garden Fest brings an afternoon of fun

I had an opportunity this year to not only attend Garden Fest at Seasons of Life, but to have an educational booth at the event. The Lakeland Gardeners asked if I would come to their fundraiser and talk about gardening with butterflies. Of course, I was excited to do just that. I got to talk with so many gardeners and landowners who are looking to bring more butterflies into their yards.

Based on my conversations, it has been either feast or famine when it comes to monarchs. Each person who came up to talk to me immediately started to talk about milkweed. I found it interesting, but I suppose I expected it at the same time. When people think about butterflies, they think about monarchs. When they think about monarchs, they think about milkweed. 

In any event, many people told me they had not seen any monarchs, or had seen very few. We wondered if that might be due to the strange spring or the drought-like conditions that followed. Then, about midday, several people came through to say they had never seen the numbers of monarchs they saw this year. That was great news. But, as I said, it did seem to be a “feast or famine” situation.

As far as other butterflies, many people did not have as much knowledge about them as they did monarchs, which was not surprising. Most did not know that many butterflies, monarchs included, will visit fruit that is left out for them. They are attracted to the sweet smell. Bananas, pears, peaches and watermelon are some of their favorites. A few people told me they left citrus out for their butterflies as well, mostly oranges.

Another thing that was part of my educational booth was a butterfly puddle. This was also a new one to me. I found out about it while doing some research for the event. There are certain butterflies that will only drink out of mud puddles. As one can imagine, that might greatly limit their ability to find water during drought periods. Beaches and the like would be helpful, I am sure, but rainy periods would seem to work more in their favor.

Creating a butterfly puddle is as easy as it sounds. I used the bottom of a tera cotta plant pot. I dumped some sand in there, making a low spot that would serve as my puddle. The videos I found said to put a small amount of fertilizer or potting soil around the puddle to give the butterflies some of the nutrients they need. I used worm castings from my vermicomposting bin. I figured that should be the same thing. From there, I simply filled it up with water. Once the water soaked into the sand, I made sure there was still a puddle available. That was it. Super simple.

I also included a regular water feature for attendees to look at. Something like this could also be done in a bird bath, I explained to those who stopped by. In fact, it is a practice I use in my own bird bath. The problem with most bird baths is that they are too deep for pollinators to use effectively. Even a few inches of water is too much for butterflies and bees. For that reason, in my bird bath at home, I added some glass rocks (the kind you get at the dollar store, craft stores and other big box stores) to one side of my bird bath. I stacked the rocks up so that some of them were out of the water. 

My idea is these rocks will make a great place for pollinators to stop by and get a drink of water. I put the bird bath next to my garden because, to be honest, it is a bit more for the pollinators than the birds, but they are more than welcome, too.

In my example at Garden Fest, I did have some of these rocks, but I also added some moss to the water feature. The container itself was a clear plastic plant pot liner that a person can buy for under $1 in most places. Normal rocks one might find in their yard would work just as well. That said, it does not cost a lot of provide water for butterflies. 

I had quite a few conversations about rain gardens and butterflies that day as well. Rain gardens are great at keeping water where it falls rather than letting it run off and cause erosion and other issues. But they also make great habitat for wildlife. Butterflies and Lepidoptera are no exceptions. 

When looking at any butterfly garden, whether it is a rain garden or one more prone to having “dry feet,” color is important. Large blocks of color help butterflies find the specific flowers and plants they need. Open, sunny areas are best. Butterflies are attracted to reds, yellows, oranges and other bright colors. Moths, on the other hand, can be just as important and prefer muted hues such as whites and even mild yellows.

Like other wildlife, butterflies also need safe places to shelter. They need overwintering habitat, places to spend the night, and hideouts from storms and inclement weather. Prairie and meadow species of butterflies may crawl down to the bases of thick native grasses to find shelter. Woodland species tend to seek shelter under leaves and duff on the forest floor.

We also talked about shrubs and trees quite a bit during Garden Fest. Some understood their importance and others admitted they only thought about wildflowers when it came to pollinators. Chokecherries, willow and oak are said to be some of the keystone species to plant for butterflies as well as other pollinators. And that was the overarching theme of the day — when we do things to attract butterflies, such as plant native species, increase biodiversity and provide habitat, those spaces will benefit many more species of wildlife.

Garden Fest was such a fun event. The weather was perfect. The music was great. And I met some really nice people. It was fun to just spend the day talking with other gardeners about our successes and struggles in our own garden. I hope to be back again next year.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].