Written by Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion Horticulture Director Most of us think of butterflies as colorful, even gaudy. We imagine them frolicking in the warm summer sun without a care in the world. This month’s pollinator, however, is a butterfly of a different stripe altogether. The mourning cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa) wears dark, mysterious colors […]
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Written by Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion Horticulture Director One of my favorite harbingers of spring is the golden currant bush (Ribes aureum). In April and May, this native shrub blooms with clove-scented golden flowers that attract many pollinators. One of the pollinators it feeds is our Hunt’s bumble bee (Bombus huntii), or as I like
Written by Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion Horticulture Director There are certain garden stories that I hear so often, I can recite them from memory. This year, I predict that at least one person will tell me about the monarch butterfly that visits their garden every day at the same time. I will nod with interest
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Written by Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion Horticulture Director If I were to come up to you and say, “I’m planting a garden that attracts flies!”, what would you do? Would you back away slowly from me? Envision a trash dump? Flies are usually perceived as dirty, annoying insects, but there are over 16,000 species of
Written by Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion Horticulture Director In popular culture, the universal calling card for bees is bold black and yellow stripes. We associate this striking color combination with bees for a reason – once you get stung, you never forget! Seeing yellow next to black triggers those painful memories and reminds us to
Written by Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion Horticulture Director Most of us have seen the black-and-white footage of teenage fans screaming for the Beatles, but there are very few people who are fans of U beetles, even though these insects are so important to our ecosystems. What would it take for people to call themselves “Beetles
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By Amy Yarger, Butterfly Pavilion Horticulture Director From early spring until frost, little white butterflies are probably the most common ones we see in our gardens and parks. These butterflies, members of the Pieridae or sulfur family, emerge from winter hibernation in their chrysalids to flutter over weedy spaces, vegetable patches, and along drainages and
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Do you like spending time outdoors? Are you interested in taking an active role in conservation? Then you’re going to love our two new clubs — Citizen Science Club (for adults) and Citizen Science Club, Jr (for families and kids). Citizen scientists are everyday citizens who help conservation organizations around the world collect vast amounts
