WGNSS Butterfly Gardens
The Webster Groves Nature Study Society has sponsored two butterfly gardens in the St. Louis area, both of which are thriving. Our main goals for these two projects were to promote the use of native Missouri wildflowers in gardens to attract butterflies, and to educate the public about butterflies and their relationship to host and nectaring plants.
Our first Butterfly Garden was planted in the summer of 1999 in the North County Recreation Area in conjunction with the St. Louis County Parks & Recreation Department. It is located on the left side of the driveway as you enter. Over 16 species of Missouri wildflowers are growing there. We owe a special debt of gratitude to WGNSS member Kraig Paradise for his tireless efforts to create and care for this garden. Kraig is an experienced butterfly gardener and his butterfly “yard”was the subject of an article in the North County Journal in 1999.
In the summer of 2000, the Webster Groves Nature Study Society planted the “Jim Ziebol Butterfly Garden”at the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area in St. Charles County near the new headquarters building. The Butterfly Garden is a joint project of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the North American Butterfly Association, St. Louis Chapter.
The Jim Ziebol Butterfly Garden encompasses about 1/4 an acre and contains approximately 22 species of native Missouri wildflowers. Thanks to the time, energy and creative efforts of Jeannie Moe, Dennis Bozzay, Betty Tanner and others, this garden has also thrived.
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Native Missouri nectaring plants and host plants that can be found in our two Butterfly Gardens include:
- Common Milkweed Asclepias syriaca
- Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata
- Butterfly Milkweed Asclepias tuberosa
- Blazing Star Liatris pycnostachya
- Slender Mountain Mint Pychanthemum tenuifolium
- New Jersey Tea Ceanothus americanus
- Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea
- Pale Purple Coneflower Echinacea pallida
- Gray-headed Coneflower Ratibida pinnata
- Blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta
- Tickseed Coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata
- Mist Flower Eupatorium coelestinum
- Bergamot Monarda fistulosa
- Ironweed Veronia baldwinii
- New England Aster Aster novae-angliae
- White Heath Aster Aster pilosus
- Rose Verbena Glandularia canadensis
- Blue Sage Salvia azurea
- White Crownbeard Verbesina virginica
- Evening Primrose Oenothera biennis
- Daisy Fleabane Erigeron annuus
- Joe Pye-weed Eupatorium purpureum
- Blue False Indigo Baptisia australia
- Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium