Go Green

Education to take wing in
new butterfly garden

By this time next spring, the College of Lake County should be the summer home of a breathtaking array of colorful butterfly species with noble-sounding names like red admiral, monarch and viceroy.

A new 4,416-square-foot butterfly garden has been approved for construction on the south side of the campus, between the C and B Wing entrances, according to Cindy Trombino, a biology instructor who has been a proponent of the project. Trombino, along with Kelly Cartwright, biology instructor and Rory Klick, horticulture department chair, coordinated efforts to secure a $5,000 CLC Foudation grant to pay for the garden's construction.

Red admirals, monarchs, painted ladies and even coral hairstreaks (no kidding) are just some of the fanciful names for the vibrantly colored, winged insects that will grace the new garden. Providing the butterflies with a place to rest and pollinate will be a mix of colorful native wildflowers, including purple coneflower, yellow-orange butterfly weed and magenta-colored beebalm, Trombino added.

The new garden will include a gravel pathway, benches and a pond. Small trees, including Hawthorne trees, which sprout a white flower in summer and a red berry in fall, will complement the wildflowers. "The vegetation will attract the butterflies naturally," Cartwright explained. "There will be no attempt to capture butterflies and bring them to the garden."

The garden is expected to be a source of relaxation and stress relief, Trombino said. "There's lots of evidence that being in nature helps people relax and focus on their higher priorities," she said.

More directly related to CLC's mission are the educational benefits of the butterfly garden.

"The garden will be far more than a place for the community to sit and relax," said Klick. "It will be a living, outdoor classroom, offering environmental lessons for students, staff and the community."

The garden will be used as a teaching tool to explain the critical role butterflies play in the natural world, Trombino added. "They pollinate plants, which leads to the creation of new seeds that grow into new plants," she said. "Butterflies are also an important food source for predators, from birds to insect species. And since butterflies are sensitive to chemical pesticides, their abundance and diversity are a measure of the health of an ecosystem. Generally, the higher the population and diversity of butterfly species, the healthier the ecosystem."

The garden also will be a living, colorful demonstration of how native plants and flowers can beautify a landscape while requiring far less maintenance than cultivated plants, Trombino said. "Native plants are not only pretty to look at, but they are adapted to survive droughts and do not require pesticides," she explained. "Their maintenance is less expensive, and they require less water than many popular plants sold in lawn and garden shops."

For biology students, the butterflies will provide examples of predation, as in the case of a praying mantis feeding on a butterfly, Trombino explained. In the garden students will also be able to observe the many ways butterflies have evolved to avoid predation. The butterflies also offer examples of mutualism, in which one species helps another for mutual benefit, as in the case of the eastern tiger swallowtail pollinating and gaining nectar from the butterfly bush.

"Eventually, we plan to have state K-12 teachers and students visit the garden as part of their science lessons," Trombino said. "We're very excited to hear that the grant funding has become available," Trombino added. "We plan to offer opportunities for the public to be involved in the planting of the native wildflowers and the small trees. As lay volunteers help us construct the garden, they'll see that constructing a butterfly garden is something that they can do in their own back yards."

Coming attractions: A look at a few butterflies

If you think butterflies look colorful, wait 'til you see some of their names. Of the 18 butterfly species common to Lake County, here are a few that you may encounter at CLC's new butterfly garden next summer: