How To Protect Monarch Butterflies with Gardening
Recently classified as an endangered species by the International Union For Conservation of Nature, the monarch butterfly is one of our most recognized insect species. For decades, gardeners, biologists, and entomologists have been watching the decline of these butterflies and pushing to get them on the list. But what does it mean to be on […]
Swallowtail Butterflies in Your Garden
Attracting swallowtail butterflies to the garden is something many gardeners strive for. Why do we love swallowtail butterflies? It is because these butterflies are large, showy, and fun to watch. Even as a child I watched the large yellow and black striped Eastern Tiger Swallowtail swooping and landing on the garden phlox in my grandmother’s […]
Build a Butterfly Garden in 9 Steps
Building a butterfly garden should be on the list for every gardener. You can make your entire garden and landscape a butterfly garden or you can create a small, postage stamp garden specifically for butterflies. Anyone, even balcony gardeners can have a butterfly garden. You can have your own pollinator paradise in 9 easy steps. […]
15 Host Plants for Butterflies
Butterflies are the flying flowers of the garden. Everyone notices them and everyone loves them. To attract a wider range of butterflies to your garden, you need to have a variety of host plants and nectar plants, and even a variety of ecosystems would be helpful. The best butterfly populations are going to be common […]
Spring Pollinator Plants
Finding plants for pollinators in springtime can be a bit frustrating. While there are lots of trees and shrubs, not to mention natives, blooming around you, it can be difficult to discover exactly which plant is best suited for your own pollinator paradise. And spring blooming flowers for the garden can be difficult to come […]
Consider the Cottonwood
With Kansas Day over and done, we think back to the symbols of our state. What is mightier than the cottonwood, the tree that towers over the Great Plains? The Eastern Cottonwood, Populus deltoides, is the symbol tree of Kansas because of its tough nature and survivability. The cottonwood grows where it should not, survives […]
Top 5 Plants for Pollinators – September
September is here and right around the bend is autumn. September is a month after my own heart, with my birthday and my siblings’ birthdays. We always had a huge party for the three of us, usually on Labor Day weekend. Summer was waning, but their was still a feel of excitement in the air […]
Fritillary Butterflies
Frititllary butterflies are one the most common butterflies in spring in Kansas. These showy fliers can be seen flitting among the early summer wildflowers on the prairie and in home landscapes. They are fond of milkweeds and thistles as nectar sources, along with many other native and introduced flowers. Here are the types seen in […]
What is With All the Butterflies?!
Recently, here in Northeast Kansas we were seemingly swarmed by millions of butterflies. Along nearly every road and blacktop surface, butterflies swooped and landed and were struck down by passing cars. No matter how many died, more took their place. I have been asked multiple times what kind of butterfly they are and where did […]
