In the spirit of “Thinking Green” while developing an environmentally conscientious school community, Mr. Tripp’s ninth grade constructed a butterfly garden.  The goal of this project was to create an active butterfly ecosystem using organic components ranging from organic compost, natural pest control and non chemical fertilizers.  We wanted to attract native butterflies including the Monarch, Tiger, and Viceroy butterflies by using an assortment of attractor and nectar producing plantings.  No sooner had we completed the first phase of this project than we discovered that we were attracting more than just butterflies as the following pictures will attest.  We would like to thank Betsy Witthuhn who provided many of stunning    pictures that grace these pages.

     We used over 600 pounds of organic compost to augment

soil.  It was very sandy, rock filled and contained “contractor

rubble”.  We have also started “worm farming” or

vericomposting in order to provide organic nutrients to the

soil.  Milorganite will be employed as well. We planted

pentas, lantana, milkweed, passion vines, diplonica and

plumbago to serve as attractors, sources of nectar for

adult butterflies and food for the caterpillars. Aphids are a

real problem for milkweed so we released over 4000 ladybugs

to take care of any problem.  The picture on the right shows

the ladies swarming over a pod of milkweed.