The Butterfly Dunes

“When passion meets inspiration, obsession is born.”—Ewan MacKenna

My butterfly gardening journey happened instantly, as if it was my destiny.

When the butterflies, pictured on the succulent above, appeared one morning in my greenhouse my life transformed, just like as a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, and I’ve never looked back.

I had always grown a vegetable garden while living in Oklahoma. After moving to Florida and attempting to grow all the vegetables one can grow in Oklahoma’s thick rich prairie topsoil, the disappointment of failed gardening attempts happened year after year. Florida is a very different environment, with thin sandy topsoil and very little organic matter. My region in Central Florida is a semi-tropical climate, with short mild winters and an extremely hot dry period from winter to late spring. One must amend and fertilize the soil and water frequently during the dry season. I even resorted to buying composted cow manure every year. Since I refuse to use any harsh poisen on bugs, I was mainly feeding the bugs, and most every vegetable plant was devoured prior to blooming or producing vegetables.

After trying this for two or three years, I automatically began growing “Home Depot” ornamental plants and herbs. I began growing herbs in pots. At one point, I put parsley in a pot in a spot underneath a greenhouse shelf, and soon discovered several beautiful caterpillars devouring every leaf. I quickly researched them and learned they were in fact the larvae of the Eastern Black Swallowtail, though I made the common mistake of thinking they were Monarch caterpillars. The very next day, the caterpillars were gone and the parsley was eaten. I was clueless as to where they went.

A few weeks later, I went out to the greenhouse, and there were two gorgeous Black Swallowtails, which had just emerged from their chrysalises, on the succulent in the top photograph.

This experience has completely changed my perspective as a human being. I have become a passionate caretaker of the butterfly dunes, always inspired to improve it year after year.