Cove Island Butterfly Garden - 2009

Pictured above, L-R: Pam Hale, Beth Miller, Cathy Lynch, Sally O'Brien, David Winston, Dick Lane, Paul Wicht, Lynne Garcia, Audrey Connolly, Rob Krizek.
The fence-like structure in the middle is holding up the raspberries
and protecting the asters from the deer.
Photo: Sue Sweeney 

Certainly that is one way to begin, but our focus is to bring to this sanctuary an increased awareness of the diversity and beauty of our native plants. And what a great place to start!

But, who were we really building the garden for? All butterflies, any butterfly? What did we really know about butterflies anyway?
If you’ve ever really wanted a great introduction to the butterflies around you, I highly recommend “The Connecticut Butterfly Atlas” published by the Ct. DEP. From there we were introduced to the concept of larval foods and nectar foods. You see, flowers attracting the butterflies are sources of nectar for the butterflies flying at the time. Once the butterflies have mated they seek a place to lay their eggs. The female, like the great mother she is, will only lay her eggs on plants that her offspring can eat as soon as they are born. Each butterfly requires a different plant. Connecticut is or has been host to about 125 butterflies. Which ones would we hope to attract?

The Butterfly Atlas also introduced us to the conservation status system that organizes how plentiful or rare each butterfly is. S5 butterflies like the Monarch are very common, whereas the S1, Common Roadside Skipper is not very common at all any more.
We wanted to see some results but at the same time did not want to only attract the most common butterflies. We opted for a group with a conservation status of S3. This group of butterflies is considered “Vulnerable”.

The garden was off and running!