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Butterflies are free, but garden took work

Butterflies are free, but garden took work

Date published: 8/9/2003

Free Lance-Star columnist Tony Wrenn's insight into the needs of the butterfly garden were right on the money ["If you plant it, they will come," Aug. 2, Town & County]. This letter is to add some personal insight into how the butterfly garden at Belmont evolved.

Richard Hicks, one of the Belmont Master Gardeners, designed our butterfly garden and presented it to the other Belmont Master Gardeners for concurrence, then to head gardener Beate Jensen. With her approval, the Master Gardeners began researching the types and needs of butterflies in the Stafford County area.

Soon we had a list of candidates, their plant and other needs, such as rocks to sun themselves on and a mud area for them to gain minerals and water. We decided to create paths through the raised beds to permit visitors easy access. The paths have a base of 10 sheets of newspapers (The Free Lance-Star), topped off with hardwood mulch from Norfleet. Weeding in the paths has been practically eliminated. Annual flowering plants have been grown from seed in the internal raised beds; perennials line the perimeter.

The effort was rewarded during the First Saturdays in the Garden event at Belmont on Aug. 2, when visitors were rewarded by seeing more than 12 unique butterflies (at times, several of one kind) using the various plants and flowers. They put on a great show.

Terry Drew

Stafford

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Date published: 8/9/2003