The flowers mingle beautifully in a late-summer breeze along the west patio of the Iowa Memorial Union, the dark crimson petals of bee balm providing a perfect contrast to the golden blossom of the black-eyed Susan and the orange glow of the blanket flower.
The flowers mingle beautifully in a late-summer breeze along the west patio of the Iowa Memorial Union, the dark crimson petals of bee balm providing a perfect contrast to the golden blossom of the black-eyed Susan and the orange glow of the blanket flower.
It’s a lovely sight, but the purpose of these plants isn’t simply to please the eyes of passersby. The blooms have had two important jobs this season: to provide pollen for bees and to nurture new generations of monarch butterflies.
Mission accomplished, says Mike Rhinehart, landscape construction supervisor in Facilities Management. At one point over the summer, he counted some 50 chrysalises, the pupa stage in the metamorphosis of a butterfly.
“I didn’t expect to see monarch caterpillars the very first year,” says Rhinehart, who has raised butterfly eggs at home with his kids and released about a dozen. “This garden came about faster and turned out better than I could have imagined. It blew me out of the water.”
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Image via University of Iowa.
