The Butterfly Garden
Interpretive Gardens
Xeriscape Garden

The Butterfly Garden
By Don Noble

The Butterfly Garden is one of few public butterfly gardens in Ontario to use exclusively native wild plant species. It is designed to provide a living environment for the four stages of a butterfly´s life cycle and includes three habitat areas: sandy well-drained, meadow and wet meadow habitats. All three regions are found side by side at the north end of the park just south of the wetland and are bordered by spruce logs.

Butterflies lay eggs on specific host plants. Eggs usually hatch into caterpillars after less than a week. Predators, such as birds, wasps or ants, eat most caterpillars before they mature. The caterpillars that survive moult into a pupa encased in a hard outer shell called a chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis the pupa undergoes a spectacular change. When it emerges, a butterfly´s wings are tightly wrapped around its body. They quickly unfurl and harden, and within minutes, the butterfly takes flight. Over winter, a butterfly either migrates south or hibernates as a butterfly, caterpillar or chrysalis.

A large patch of Pearly Everlast in the northwest corner of the garden has been most successful in attracting butterflies to lay eggs. In May and June hundreds of caterpillars of the American Painted Lady Butterfly eat the stems of the plant almost bare.

Stinging Nettle, in the southeast edge closest to the river, is the food plant for the larva of the Question Mark, the Comma, Milbert´s Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral butterflies. Caterpillars are found on this plant in rolled-up leaves.

Monarch caterpillars are attracted to the swamp milkweed, common milkweed and butterfly milkweed. The latter two are found in the southwest corner next to the wooden sign. All milkweeds contain the poison cardiac glycoside that protects them from being eaten by most animals. Monarch caterpillars are immune to the poison, and birds that try to eat them will throw up. The Monarch butterfly occurs across Canada and is responsible for the most spectacular fall migration of any butterfly.

The Wild Lupine is the only host plant of the beautiful Karner Blue butterfly, which is now endangered in Ontario due to habitat destruction. A Wild Lupine species native to Ontario has been planted on the sandy hill at the west side of the Garden. The seed was collected from a recently reintroduced wild population at Toronto's High Park.

The Wild Bergamot flower, found in the east side of the garden, has a long tube with nectar at the bottom. Butterflies uncurl their long proboscis and hummingbirds use their long beak and tongue to reach the nectar. Several Hummingbird Hawkmoths have also been seen feeding on the bergamot. The Potter Wasp and Ruby-Throated Hummingbird are other creatures that have been spotted in the butterfly garden.

Sunning spots and perches are located throughout the garden for butterflies to warm themselves. Butterfly hibernation boxes provide shelter for many species that over-winter locally as adults.

Some Butterflies Identified in the Garden:
Monarch
Spring Azure
Viceroy
Common Ringlet
Aphrodite Fritillary
Cabbage White
Pearl Crescent
Varieties of Sulphurs
Red Spotted Purple
Hobomok Skipper
White Admiral
Question Mark
Red Admiral
Comma
Common Wood Nymph
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Little Wood-Satyr
Black Swallowtail

Because our gardens are in a natural park, they do not get frequent attention. Things may happen to them that would not be appreciated in a home garden. We do not mind if wildlife eats from our gardens, for example. All healthy gardens can serve as habitats for insects, frogs, toads, snakes, rabbits and deer. If these consume plants, flowers and vegetables, it only shows the complex web of natural life, which has some plants and animals serving as food for others.

We like to enrich the beds with compost from our on-site compost demonstration area, and to participate in a seed exchange program for local native plant species.

Our Interpretive Gardens may change from year to year as people choose new themes. They have been adopted in the past by the Georgetown Horticultural Society, the Red Cross Society, and a grade four class at George Kennedy Public School. To find out about adopting a bed next season, contact us.

Xeriscape Garden:
Droughts Are No Problem!

A xeriscape garden consists of drought-resistant plants that can tolerate dry, hot conditions. Once it is established, it needs very little water, making it water-efficient and low-maintenance. Yet for the first year or so, the garden needs watering and weeding until the plants' root systems become established. Our xeriscape garden is located beside the kiosk at the foot of the bridge leading down into the park.

Soil Improvement
As with every type of garden, good soil in a xeriscape garden gives plants the best chance to grow strong, healthy and able to withstand stress. Soil that is too sandy or has too much clay, can be improved with the addition of plenty of organic matter: compost, well-rotted manure or peat moss. It´s important to mix this matter deeply into the soil, to encourage and feed deep, extensive roots.

Mulching will reduce evaporation and keep the soil cool in hot spells, while proper watering at the right time will keep plants alive with the least use of water.

These practices will go a long way to helping any garden survive droughts.