There is nothing like a beautiful garden to attract a flurry of butterfly activity and there is a special technique to creating a butterfly garden. Stop by the Kirwan House and Museum on Kent Island, headquarters for the Kent Island Heritage Society on Dominion Road, and you will see a prize-winning butterfly garden maintained by the Kent Island Garden Club. At their June flower show at the Historic Christ Church, a handsome silver platter was on display, the special exhibit award “Roadside Award” presented by the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland.
The Kent Island Garden Club is an accredited Federated Garden Club of America member and a member of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. of the Central Atlantic Region, District One. Members of the club donate their time to maintain a number of gardens in public places as part of their community service work. Flat stones for sun-bathing, shallow puddles or damp areas for the butterflies to drink, plants with continuous blooms, host plants to provide a place for females to lay their eggs and provide food for growing caterpillars, as well as nectar producing flowers are just a few of the attributes of a well-planned Butterfly garden. Favorite flowers include: Echinacea, Black-eyed Susan, Daisies, Phlox, and Zinnia.
