LADYBUG: BUTTERFLY GARDENING TAKES OFF

There is always something new in the gardening world. This year it is Butterfly Gardening. Much material is available telling of the merits of gardening to attract butterflies.

Butterfly watching ranks high among outdoor pleasures, right up there with enjoying birds and wildflowers, the Missouri Department of Conservation, published in 1990,. Along with birdhouses and hummingbird feeders, a local garden center (Sunny Hill) has new butterfly boxes, to attract a variety of butterflies to gardens during the summer season.

To create a butterfly garden, select flowers and herbs that will provide edibles for these colorful insects. Recently, during National Herb Week, we wrote about fennel, as it is the official herb for the week. This herb will attract the beautiful black swallowtail butterfly. You may notice there are green, black, white and yellow striped "worms" on fennel, as well as on dill and parsley leaves. Do not destroy them for they will turn into beautiful, showy butterflies!

There are a few things that must be provided in your garden to attract these beauties. First, they must have food. The plants, herbs and flowers offered must have foliage for food and protection and remember, they love those that offer nectar.

Butterflies require moisture, but they also need the nutrients that come from mud and muddy water. A shallow birdbath with some garden soil around the edge is the way one gardener provided the moisture they require. Simply watering the same spot in the garden every day with the garden hose to make a small puddle will also fulfill this requirement.

Butterflies are most active during the morning and afternoon hours, generally avoiding the heat of midday. Shrubs, bushy blooming plants, decorative vines and nearby trees are helpful for shelter. Believe it or not, a row of sunflowers at the edge of the garden will give butterflies a place to hide under the leaves for rest and protection.

They are at home in meadows, too. Plant a butterfly garden by tilling up a strip of soil in the sunshine and planting wildflower seed in which some herb seeds have been mixed. A "weedy" type of garden will surely draw some Missouri butterflies.

Some 198 species of butterflies have been recorded in our state. Butterfly families are commonly named for unique body parts or dominant colors that distinguish them from the other butterfly groups. Some of the Swallowtail group are -- Spicebush, Tiger, Zebra, Pipevine, Giant and Black. The Brush-footed include Buckeye, Question Mark, Red Admiral, Red-Spotted Purple, Mourning Cloak, Hackberry, Goatweed, Painted Lady, Viceroy and Great Spangled Fritillary.

The four stages in butterfly metamorphosis (from Conservation Book) are, egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and adult. In the spirit of the Ugly Duckling, metamorphosis begins when the fertilized egg hatches into a small caterpillar.

The caterpillar becomes an undulating eating machine, continually searching for food and appearing to grow larger by the hour. After finally getting its fill, the caterpillar slowly molts into an inactive mummy like stage called the chrysalis. Within this waxy pupal case, the mystical transformation into adulthood occurs.

As the chrysalis case splits, the wrinkled winged adult butterfly emerges. After stretching and drying the butterfly takes to the air in search of a mate so the cycle can be repeated.

The miracle is completed. The ugly caterpillar has become a beautiful airborne ambassador of nature.

Although many insects migrate, the long distance butterfly champion is the monarch. Each fall, Missouri monarchs join other than have come from as far away as Canada and migrate south to a small alpine forest 75 miles west of Mexico City.

For three Februarys we went to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and from there trips were made to this great natural phenomena of nature where 100 million monarchs find their wintering ground. Another miracle is this butterfly, weighing only about half a gram, can migrate more than 2,000 miles. Although we could not make the trip, we shared the wonderful pictures and stories of those who did.

Butterfly watching ranks high among outdoor pleasures, along with enjoying wildflowers, and bird watching. The aesthetic appeal is even more significant when we realize that they neither sting, bite nor transmit disease.

Children especially love butterflies. Growing butterfly-attracting plants, such as butterfly weed, marigolds, snapdragons, butterfly bush, Sweet William, lavender, asters, daisies, lantana, verbena, coneflowers, black-eyed Susan, bergamot, sumacs and viburnums, and others can teach children the relationship between plants, birds, butterflies and people.