Digging In: A Garden is the Best Way to Help Nature

By Jennifer Smith 

It may seem counterintuitive to say I want those who are supporting nature to take a lighter hand. 

The idea came while visiting pollinator and monarch butterfly social media groups. I was surprised to see people, with the best of intentions, collecting caterpillar eggs and bringing them indoors to raise. This seemingly helpful practice has led to a slew of issues. 

Many find they don’t have enough food for all their caterpillars. Others have the butterflies in containers and no source of food as they wait for the remaining butterflies to emerge.  One container was cramped, and the butterflies barely had enough room to unfurl their wings. Some group members promoted collecting milkweed plants and leaves at county parks to take home to feed the house-raised caterpillars. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is never the answer. And what’s to become of the caterpillars in that county park if it’s pillaged?  

A few years ago, I experienced the downfall of someone’s good intentions. At the pollinator garden in the park a visitor asked what I was going to do with all the monarch caterpillars. Nothing, I replied. I planted a garden for them, so they have what they need to survive. The next day every single caterpillar was gone. Would all the caterpillars in the garden survive to maturity? Wasn’t it best to raise the caterpillars in captivity to ensure their survival? Maybe not. A quick read on the Xerces Society’s website confirmed my suspicions.

I find it encouraging that the urgency to protect nature is being recognized. The monarch population does need help, but not in the form of glass jars, mesh cages and air-conditioned family rooms. Help is a garden. A garden in bloom from summer into late fall. A garden that is left unmolested so as not to risk damaging monarch chrysalises. And even more so, help comes with the discontinued use of chemicals. 

Members of the online monarch groups share their horror in discovering their butterflies, bees and caterpillars dead following the chemical treatment of a neighbor’s yard. The battlelines are drawn: the gardeners for nature and the gardeners that want unblemished, insect-free yards. Until that battle is won, raising monarchs inside will do little to help if they are released into an environment of dangerous chemicals. 

Habitat is what is needed now. Front yards dedicated to planting for pollinators to inspire others to do the same. Commercial properties, schools and churches deciding to convert part or all of their vast areas of lawn into pollinator friendly habitats would be wonderfully impactful. 

Nature is resilient if we give her half a chance. In our gardens, the Asclepias plants are supporting dozens of monarch caterpillars. Each day I see monarchs taking flight, enjoying the flowers we have in bloom before starting their journey south. We planted a wonderfully diverse garden that’s still in bloom and will be for some time yet. And it’s not just the monarchs that find sanctuary: swallowtails, skippers, moths and countless varieties of bees and other insects find a home in our gardens.

What do you have blooming now and what is yet to bloom? Threadleaf ironweed (Vernonia lettermannii) is putting on quite the show as is Rudbeckia ‘Autumn Sun’, some Echinacea, Penstemons, and salvias. The Sedum are beginning to bloom as is the blue blooming Caryopteris ‘Dark Knight’. Many annuals will ease our gardens into late fall bloom. Annual blue salvia holds on well to the first hard frost as does Lantana, cheery pockets of tall zinnias, and Cuphea. Planting a garden for pollinators is a rewarding, beautiful, and a natural way to help the monarch butterflies thrive.

Jennifer Smith is an award-winning pollinator garden designer with Wimberg Landscaping.