The Association for Butterflies mini-grant was awarded to Coldwater Community Center. The grant will create or improve habitat for pollinators and provide for nature and community to come together.

MSMC Parks and Recreation
Jeffersonville, Kentucky 40337

Becca’s Butterfly Habitat offers 8500 square feet of space dedicated to meeting the needs of butterflies through each stage of their life cycle.

Phase I (a perennial garden that covers 100 square feet, installed spring 2021) includes plants that flower from early spring to late autumn, with several long blooming species and space for annuals to fill in gaps between bloom times. A list of flowers we currently have started in the garden is as follows: ajuga, asters, blanket flower, butterfly weed, coneflower, coreopsis, dahlias, dianthus, garden phlox, hyssop, obedient plant, red drift roses, rudbeckia, sedum, spirea, swamp milkweed, tree lilies, verbena, and yarrow. That is a concentrated, three-season-long source of nectar for adult butterflies. Additionally, the butterfly weed and swamp milkweed are host plants for the Monarch butterfly. Last year we also planted zinnias and other wildflowers to the right and left of the perennial garden to provide added swatches of color to attract the attention of passing butterflies.
Phase II, III and IV include adding several elements to the garden in order to make the space a complete habitat meeting the needs of area and migrating butterflies. For example, establishing the bog area will provide a puddling station with more nectar plants surrounding it. The drainage ditch will keep the water runoff from damaging the perennial garden which will ensure that those plants will have the best growing conditions. Bushes around the outside of the sitting walls surrounding the outdoor classroom will provide shelter and windbreak for butterflies. In order to make the habitat a certified Monarch waystation, we need to add another type of milkweed this year to the perennial garden.
While this garden will provide for butterflies’ needs for nectar, moisture, host plants and shelter, it will also educate the community about the importance of caring for our environment and all the creatures that inhabit it. But, do environmental education efforts truly lead to conservation efforts? According to Nicole Ardoin and Estelle Gaillard (2019, Environmental education outcomes for conservation: A systematic review), environmental education efforts that involve focusing on local issues, partnering among the public, academic and scientific communities, and providing opportunities for folks to be actively involved lead to positive conservation outcomes. As members of the community spend time, attend programs, and participate in developing and caring for this butterfly garden, it is our hope that they will expand upon our efforts by putting in their own butterfly gardens and caring for the environment in other ways. In fact, this has already happened. One of the volunteers helping with the watering last summer purchased a seed mat from our FlowerPower fundraiser and established her own little backyard butterfly garden. We can only hope that with the establishment of this habitat project at Botts Nature Park many who come into contact with it will be motivated to provide for the needs of butterflies and other pollinator

At the very least, the installation of Becca’s Butterfly Habitat will repurpose and beautify an area of Botts Nature Park in Mt. Sterling, KY that was unsightly and unusable. The location was intended to be an outdoor amphitheater. However, with the drainage issues park workers were not able to mow parts of the area and so it lay unused with a large bare, swampy spot in the middle. Already, this garden has provided so much more for the community. For example, a local Boy Scout rallied his whole troop to prepare the garden surface, and the boy earned his Eagle Scout for doing so. Students at the high school were able to participate in starting seeds in their greenhouse for the garden. And adults connected with new friends and old as they worked together to plant and maintain the landscaped area.
According to the Ellison Extension Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A&M, research shows that gardening activities and involvement in outdoor programming have so many benefits to all members of a community. The site noted that children who spend time around plants learn better and that children with ADHD in particular show improvement in their ability to focus, concentrate and engage when they have an opportunity to spend time in outdoor activities. Another research finding is that people who spend time outside in nature have a significantly more positive outlook on life. Stress levels are decreased and increased feelings of vitality and energy are all outcomes of spending time in outdoor activities. Gardening provides a therapeutic outlet for people who have undergone traumatic life events, giving them a way to work through the trauma and improve their mental health. And beautiful garden settings provide parks with a wonderful focal point for a multitude of programming possibilities that have the ability to engage all segments of the community.
The possibilities are endless for promoting these positive impacts upon the community involved with Becca’s Butterfly Habitat, from installation to maintenance to ongoing programming. The idea to install the garden came about at the start of the covid pandemic as a way to provide “safer” opportunities for youth to have internships and other leadership roles at a time when most extra-curricular activities in the schools, 4H, etc. had shut down. Youth have been and will be invited to be involved in designing the signage, developing the website content and QR codes, starting seeds and transplanting, prepping and maintaining the plantings, building the walls and paths, and solving drainage issues. I will be developing presentations for multiple grade levels related to plants/seeds/pollinators/ conservation that I will offer to the local elementary, middle and high schools. When phase three of the garden project is accomplished, the local schools as well as a local youth treatment facility and foster care agency will each have an opportunity to plan, plant and maintain a plot, personalizing it however they wish. This will provide hands-on experience with gardening and conservation that brings these topics to life. We have brainstormed other uses of the garden—outdoor classroom for teachers, butterfly releases, plant swaps with local gardening enthusiasts, plant-your-own butterfly garden programs, literacy activities (story walks, word garden–St. Michael’s College, Vermont), and even some adventure playground-type activities (Ithaca Children’s Garden’s Hands-On-Nature Anarchy Zone). Finally, when complete, we believe Becca’s Butterfly Habitat will provide a beautiful background for photographers in the community. This will complement the deck on the pond just down the hill from the garden site where many couples have chosen to hold their wedding ceremonies.