Monarchs

When I heard P. Allen Smith describe orange as a "quarrelsome"color in the garden - that it doesn't get along with other colors, I laughed.

It is true that orange doesn't mix well with the most popular hues we love in gardens: combined with pink, for example, the sight is akin to the clanging of two pot lids. Awful. In some cases, orange can be a high contrast for deep purple.

However, the only orange flower I own is milkweed (asclepias) because it is a Monarch caterpillar host plant.

I planted it next to a yellow butterfly bush to assure the butterflies would find the plant they lay their eggs on with ease. Mother nature did the rest, and every year, to my delight (as if I had something to do with the wonder of nature) I can spy the vivid yellow and black striped caterpillars munching happily away.

I cannot find, hard as I look, where they create their emerald green pupae, though. Now that will be a grand day!

Worrying about them, though, is pointless. The caterpillar is savvy. The juices from the butterfly weed makes them poisonous to birds, which avoid preying on both the caterpillar and the butterfly. That is why Painted Ladies mimic the Monarch in design - they are trying to trick the birds.

This year was an especially glorious season for butterflies, and I had beautiful black swallowtails much of the summer.

Butterflies need a complete habitat. While the butterfly bushes are wonderful, they also need early bloomers and host plants. To attract and track butterflies in Connecticut, visit the Connecticut Butterfly society, www.ctbutterfly.org.


September is the time Monarchs make their great migration to Mexico, and each year the CBS has a field day at Hayley Farm in Groton. There, children can capture various butterflies to examine them before they leave for the winter. The field trip is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, Hayley Farm, Groton. For more information, (860) 859-1326.

One sure way to attract these majestic butterflies to your yard, is the butterfly weed. Look for it in garden centers. If orange is too quarrelsome, try the pink or white variety. I wish I had.