Thoughts From The Belly

Thoughts From The Belly
May 2009
By: Dan Mays – Ironbelly1@aol.com

Every year I am asked, “So what are you going to plant this year, Dan?” This question provides me with a perfect segue to launch into my personal campaign to improve the sorry state of Butterfly Gardens. I am certainly not discouraging folks from planting gardens with butterflies in mind. My hope is that I can encourage others to expand their focus to include the untapped possibilities of “what could be”. Establishing a few plants originally imported from China and watching a few monarch butterflies sipping nectar is setting a low bar indeed. In warmer climates (particularly in Great Britain), Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) has proven to be an invasive thug. Planting something just because the horticultural mass-market industry dubbed this thing “Butterfly Bush” is not my idea of a sane approach. Following this magazine-promoted tack robs well-intentioned gardeners of an easily attainable bounty, simply for the sake of filling the marketing coffers.

It is true that this Chinese exotic draws adult butterflies to sip nectar – and that is largely the problem. The key word here is: “adult” – and only adult. What do the butterflies feed on prior to becoming adults? It certainly is not Buddleia davidii or most any other plant imported from foreign lands. While marketers harp about “clean foliage”, every gardener truly interested in Butterfly Gardens should translate this term to be “something my baby butterflies can’t or won’t eat”. Caterpillars don’t damage foliage – they are foraging.

Monarch butterflies flittering about are truly a delight to see. Instantly recognizable, they have a fascinating migratory habit. However, concentrating solely upon Monarchs is like dining exclusively on Big Mac’s for every meal. The world of butterflies and moths is a superbly rich place if only we will expand our knowledge a bit. Be careful … you might soon learn about skippers, blues, brushfoots, hairstreaks, etc.

The expanded world (egg, larva, pupa and adult) of butterflies includes general feeders and something called “obligates”. Obligates are essentially finicky eaters. In other words, if their favorite plant is not found to lay eggs on, that butterfly or moth species will not multiply. Regal Fritillary butterflies seem to have a distinct preference for Birdfoot Violet (Viola pedata). However, bear in mind that it is the immature stages that require native violets. The adult will sip nectar from a wide variety of plants. I guess this tips my hand as to the answer to the opening question: “So what are you going to plant this year, Dan?” The obvious answer is Birdfoot Violet. I have 100 of those plants on order from the Master Gardener plant sale.

My interest in butterflies was stirred to life last year when I visited the 20 acre Duke Prairie. It lays a few miles north of the Quad Cities, just southeast of Grand Mound in Clinton County. I was meeting up with a group from the Quad Cities Native Plant Society for a field trip and arrived a little early. At first glance, the place was full of interesting plants. However, the thing that seized my attention was the profusion of butterflies. They were everywhere! Curiously, most were species I rarely see. Many (and I emphasize many) were butterfly and moth species I had never seen before. The place shamed the meager butterfly garden “how-to” attempts advocated in popular magazines. Coincidentally, there was not a “required” Buddleia in sight. Why was this? Why was there so much abundance and diversity?

Upon further research and lots of questions, the obvious answer surfaced. There was food – their food. The kind of food the individual butterfly species needed for their young. I liken this phenomenon to people. If you serve jalapeño peppers, the Hispanics show up. Serve pasta and the Italians show up. Serve sauerkraut and the Germans show up. Serve a big, long buffet and everybody (even the “kids”) will show up.

There remains much to be learned in the field of insect/faunal relationships. For further study, I recommend Doug Tallamy’s book, Bringing Nature Home. It is an enlightening, enjoyable read. AND … do check out the new Iowa Butterfly Forecast website. It will help put your butterfly garden efforts on steroids!