| Building a butterfly garden as a
science project in school would be a great educational experience for all
ages. Students will use critical thinking skills, math skills and
science skills while building a butterfly garden. We dedicate time
to educate students about the importance and beauty of a butterfly garden.
These gardens can be a school wide project or an individual classroom
project. Regardless, everyone will enjoy and learn from this
project. Not only will the students and teachers, alike, learn from
this experience, they will admire the beauty of the garden and the monarch
butterflies that will be attracted. The most important element in
creating a successful butterfly garden is to provide both, nectar and host
plants. Nectar plants provide food for the
adult butterflies, and host plants provide food for the caterpillars.
- Some common nectar flowers
are Zinnias, Mexican Sunflowers, Lantana, Butterfly bush and Salvia.
- Some common host plants are
Milkweed for Monarchs, Parsley for Painted Ladies and Anise for
Swallowtail butterflies.
A Little Information
about the Milkweed Plant
- Milkweed plants usually grow about 2-6 feet in
height.
- The leaves can grow from 2 to 10 inches long, and
the top of the leaf is smooth, while the bottom is hairy so that the
monarch butterflies can lay their eggs. These leaves contain toxins-
poisonous chemicals. These toxins don't hurt the caterpillar, but they
do make the caterpillar poisonous to most predators.
- Because it eats milkweed leaves as a caterpillar,
the monarch butterfly is also poisonous.
- The survival of the monarch butterfly depends on
this self-defense system provided by the milkweed.
- The flowers on this plant are actually a bunch of
little flowers on the same stalk.
- Milkweed is the only plant that the monarch
caterpillar can eat.
Did You Know???
·
Sap from milkweed was used by pioneers as a cure for warts?
·
The airborne fluffy parachute of the seed was used by Native
Americans to insulate moccasins?
·
The dried empty seed pods were used as Christmas tree
decorations by early pioneers?
·
The boys and girls from Wisconsin schools collected 283,000
bags of milkweed fluff for use in military life jackets during World War
II?
·
It is used as an indicator of ground-level ozone air
pollution?
 |
If you are interested in
building your own butterfly garden, or would like to receive seeds
for a school project, please donate $2.00 or more (the
more you donate, the more seeds we can supply) to:
Amazing Butterflies-Seed Promotion
and we will send you seeds, with full instructions,
so that you can begin to plant your very own
Monarch Butterfly Garden.
Instructions and Release Brochure
Included With With Your Seeds
Send your donation and a self
addressed,
stamped envelope to:
Amazing Butterflies – Seed Promotion
8037 W McNab Road
Tamarac, FL 33321 |
|
Home Page
