Meggan Monday: Pass Christian Butterfly Waystation
The Pass Christian Library is attracting more than just avid readers to its location. They also planted a garden to encourage butterflies to stop, rest, and revive during their annual migration.
Erin Dupree with the Pass Christian Garden Club said, “This is such a fantastic way to get kids outside, to see the butterflies, to see the caterpillars, to see the native flora, to learn, to get out to the library to read a book on something. It’s just, it’s like a wholesome experience all the way around.”
Laurie Bradford with the Pass Christian Garden Club said, “Together we all took some existing garden beds that had been neglected and cleaned them up, put in fresh soil, some native plants, some seeds, and we started what became a butterfly weigh station.”
Pass Christian Librarian Melanie Walrod said, “We got the volunteers to plant the host plants and that’s the plants that the caterpillars eat and the butterflies lay their eggs. Then we also planted nectar plants for the butterflies to feed off of. You also need to provide water and shelter. Well, you saw the shelter there with lots of plants and the oak tree was right there, too. The water is a puddling station and we were as easy as that. We were certified. If you notice, we do have lower numbers of butterflies passing through, especially this year. So, I think it’s very important to provide them a waystation, a place where they can rest during their migration.”
Eileen Rowe with the Pass Christian Garden Club said, “So, they need lots of nectar plants to eat and bulk up before they hit the road to Mexico, because they’re flying a long way. In the spring, they arrive and we plant food for them. That’s when we need the milkweed, because they eat milkweed, lay their eggs and hatch a butterfly, and that butterfly moves on north, and the Gulf Coast is the last place they are before they leave for Mexico, and the first place they land when they’re coming back.”
What a great way to help the butterflies and encourage children to get involved! You might want to mark your calendars for the third annual Butterfly Count on September 28th and the Monarch Festival on October 5th.
More information can be found here.
