Behind Foley Hall tucked away in a valley at The University of Kansas’ West Campus is a hidden oasis for gardeners, nature enthusiasts and butterflies alike.  A secret garden exists that has been created this past month by The Master Gardeners of Douglas County in cooperation with The Monarch Watch group. 

This lovely piece of earth has been cultivated into a butterfly sanctuary, primarily because of the hard work and vision of master gardener Margarete Johnson and her efforts.

A visitor is greeting with meandering paths that are lined with river rocks that lead through the sights and sounds of this butterfly habitat. One side of the path is surrounded by fields of bright yellow solidago, prairie grasses and other native Kansas plants that go on for as far as the eye can see and on the other side of the path, in the garden itself, there are splashes of crimson saliva, multiple zinna plants in a rainbow of colors, and purple and mauve butterfly bush all in a row.  A bubbling water feature makes a nice soothing sound as butterflies happily float by in the breeze.  In the center of this garden stands a mesh tent crammed full of milkweed plants that are playing host to what looks like hundreds of fat caterpillars.  The caterpillars are madly inching their ripe, yellow, black and cream striped bodies along the milkweed snacking on every little leaf.  They are preparing for their metamorphous into Monarch Butterflies.

So, who better to seek advice on planting and attracting butterflies to a garden than Chip Taylor, the founder of Monarch Watch and professor in the Entomology program at the University of Kansas and Margarete Johnson a master gardener.

The Douglas County Master Gardeners and The Monarch Watch teamed up to create this garden as a project to help master gardener students get volunteer hours and for the Monarch Watch to acquire a showplace for the butterfly population.  Margarete Johnson’s hopes for the garden, she states, “We would like to see it mature and improve through time this is only the first month of the gardens existence but we would like for it to grow and prosper for many years to come.”

Monarch butterfly gardens need caterpillar food plants or host plants which are Milkweed and nectaring plants.  Johnson explains, “The butterflies lay their eggs on the host plants and the only plant a Monarch uses as the host plant is Milkweed.  The adults than feed off of the nectaring plants once they are in the butterfly stage therefore, if you want to see the full process of the Monarch it is suggested that both plants are put into the garden”.

Professor Chip Taylor adds, “In mid May we have a plant fund raiser.  We ask for donations from the public and in return we give out five different species of milkweed and about eight other nectaring butterfly plants.  This way people can go home and attract Monarch Butterflies to their own gardens.”

For the butterfly garden behind Foley Hall most of the milkweed was started in seed form by Professor Taylor and his pupils.  Powell gardens donated a few verbena and Margarete Johnson brought some starter plants from her own garden.  The public is welcome to come take a look at their creative efforts and catch a glimpse of some winged friends fluttering about.

Professor Taylor recommends, “Red Salvia and Red Pentas attract the butterfly Cloudless Sulfur which is a big lemon yellow butterfly that migrates through here each autumn.”  Margarete Johnson also has some recommendations for gardeners who want to lure butterflies, “Good host plants are Rue, Dill, Parsley and Fennel and for the Monarch Butterflies Milkweed.  Once in adult form zinnas, salvia, butterfly bush, button bush and wafer ash all lure a butterfly to a space.  Keep in mind when creating a garden meant to attract butterflies that they gravitate towards bright colors and it is often a good idea to group together the same color for an optimal affect.”

The ideal time for Monarch activity in this area according to Professor Taylor, “Generally the Monarch population arrives around the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th of September and the peak of their visit is around September 23^rd.”

Now is the time to get some plants in the ground that will keep migrating butterflies fueled up for the long trip to the mountains and fir trees of central Mexico.  The added garden guests are bound to delight any nature lover throughout the fall with their whimsical flight patterns and brightly colored bodies weaving and eating on some well chosen plants.

Suggested Host Plants:

-Milkweed

-Butterfly weed

-Fennel

-Parsley

-Rue

Suggested Nectar Plants:

-Butterfly Bush

-Golden Hops

-Sassafras

-Wafer Ash

-Button Bush

-Chaste Tree

-Blue Mist Shrub

-Gay Feather

-Verbena

-Penta

-Lantana

-Salvia

-Zinnia

-Mexican Sunflower

MONARCH WATCH

-Monarch Watch was started in 1992 by Professor Chip Taylor at the University of Kansas when he noticed very few Monarch’s moving north and suggested to some colleagues to start a tagging program.

-The feedback has been so positive there are now over 100,000 people who participate annually, 37 states, 2000 schools, and a number of Canadian provinces.

-A public tagging takes place on September 18^th at the Wetlands.  Several hundred people generally participate and enjoy a day out in nature learning about the Monarch Butterfly.

-www.monarchwatch.org

Originally Printed in The Lawrence Journal World 

See Photos: 1, 2