Garden Column for the Salisbury Post
Hilda Prange
Our Butterfly Garden - Things that worked and things that didn't

    One of the traits people of vision have is their ability to see ideas and plans in their mind. I envy this trait and have to do my planning on paper, hoping the idea comes to life and begins to take form. That's how the Butterfly and Insect Habitat at The West End Park was developing in late 2002. A number of the ideas worked, some worked for a while and some failed almost immediately. The first idea was to find the perfect site, a sunny spot for butterflies and insects to live and multiply. Butterflies need solar power to fly and most of the plants need sun to grow. There was a Weeping Apple and a Magnolia tree along with grass and weeds growing in and around our newly selected site, what luck! Next on our agenda, we needed to take a soil sample, kill the grass, till the ground, add soil amendments, till again and plant all the plants from my planning sheet; so far the vision was moving along.
    Problem number one presented itself. The ground was too hard to till because of all the dry weather we've had the last several years; no site work could be done in the summer as I had hoped, but fall was coming. With the fall came the rains and plenty of it, making it too wet to till the site. Tilling clay soil while wet is one of the worst things gardeners can do. What were we to do? After looking at our plan for the site, I was able to look through garden catalogs, order the seeds and purchase several plants for the perfect vision of the habitat.
    Steve Hooper started Marigolds, Zinnias, Parsley, Lavender, Dill, Sunflowers, Portulaca, Rudbeckias and Static early this year from his wonderful world of seeds. The rain continued into spring, creating soil too wet to work with. During a brief dry spell in May, the grass was killed with Round-up. Leaf mulch, Permatil, and fertilizer were tilled into the soil. We made a border of bricks, outlined the walkway and placed a bench for viewing in the garden. Then, the rain continued. Who would have believed the site would become a wet area? Not me, it wasn't in my vision!
    Due to the spring rains, we were unable to plant in the garden as early as we planned. Some of the plants in the greenhouse became leggy and root bound. We planted two Chaste trees early in April that have grown, bloomed and are loved by the insects, especially the bees. The site finally became dry enough to plant in mid-May. We planted all the plants Steve started from seeds, plus many others, such as Phlox, Goldenrod, Black-eyed Susan, Bee Balm , Purple Cone flower, Honesty plants, Sedium, Shasta Daisies, Joe-pye-weed (Eupatorium), Swamp Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, Passionflower, Vine, Flax, Lantana, Salvia, Pentas, and Verbena, Fennel, Queen Anne's Lace, Verbena, bonariensis (verbena on a stick), Ammi (Bishop's flower), Ageratum, Obedient plant, Scarlet Sage and several Buddleia (Butterfly Bushes). These plants came from Master Gardener's perennial beds, Garden Centers, Farmers Markets, catalogs and by plant propagation.
As the soil in the garden became more saturated, I noticed things began to die. The Honesty plants were the first to go; Joe-pye-Weed and Butterfly Weed faded away soon afterward. The Bronze Fennel died, but the Dill and Parsley plants in the same grouping are still living and enjoying caterpillars dinning on them. The Portulaca (listed as xeriscaping plants) are thriving in the wet area with butterflies fluttering all around them. The Flax and several of the Purple Cone flowers drowned. A Queen Anne's lace (a wild flower) from my friend's yard died but a purchased cultivar from a nursery is still living but not thriving. The Ageratum, Verbena bonariensis, Rudbeckias, and Sunflowers are blooming with insects and butterflies enjoying them. The Joe-pye-Weed was replaced and planted in a raised area; it's a thing of beauty now. I also noticed several of the plants transplanted from our Master Gardener's gardens are coming back to life. We're not sure if this is from the warmer weather or a few inches less rainfall lately. Everything planted in the last two weeks was planted higher and with Permital. These plants are surviving so far.
    One of the Butterfly Bushes had spider mites and died. We do not use pesticides in the garden, therefore some losses are anticipated. Many plants will be added in the next months and years. North Carolina State University lists over three hundred host and nectar plants for use in a butterfly garden in North Carolina. We will be removing some plants which are not working well and adding others as this study evolves into a safe and desired habitat for insects and butterflies. What a wonderful site to enjoy a lunch break or an educational outing.

    Hilda Prange is a Master Gardener Volunteer responsible for the Butterfly Garden at the West End Community Park Horticultural Demonstration Garden. The garden is located on Brenner Avenue near the V.A. Hospital in Salisbury.