Look through the eyes of a butterfly.
Think like a flying butterfly as you look for a place to land.
Where would it be?
This was the question Thelma Beaubien asks people as she gives insight into her colourful world, Gardening for Butterflies.
Beaubien was in Guelph recently for the City of Gueph's Healthy Landscapes Speaker Series.
Her answer?
“Verbena is number one. And then number two would be the butterfly bush and then the Mexican sunflower.
“They like an isolated head. This is one pattern I’ve noticed through my pictures,” Beaubien said.
“If you plant the right plants, they will fly in. They know where to come back. They remember and they do come back.”
And Beaubien would know.
Back in 2008, Beaubien was retired and decided to dig the grass and tree out of her front yard in Waterloo.
She was used to waking up early and driving out to conservation areas to take photos. But she then came to realize, there was a much closer alternative.
“I learned about nature through the eyes of my camera for about 40 years but then I decided to bring nature right to my doorstep where I can bring it up close and personal,” she said.
For Beaubien, it was about taking her interests of photography, gardening and butterflies and making them one.
“So that was it. I just started planting. It really did take a lot of plants and the right combination of moisture and sun. And then it just grew.”
What’s now called Beau’s Butterfly Garden has become a butterfly haven where 28 different butterfly species have been recorded.
Adding pathways in 2017, allowed Beaubien to walk through her garden and capture a closer look of her beloved gentle creatures. With camera and notebook in hand, she continues to record species, the number of butterflies and the type of flower that most attracts them.
“Every species of female butterfly has a host plant where they will lay their eggs,” Beaubien says.
And the magnet for the monarch is milkweed.
“They starve for it,” Beaubien says. “If we all just planted a couple milk weed plants, this would make a huge difference.”
Every year hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies undertake a great 3,000-mile journey in their annual migration from Canada and the United States to their wintering grounds in Mexico.
On her bucket list, Beaubien and her husband Ron did travel to Mexico where they visited four sanctuaries.
“It was so overwhelming. The migration was up 144 per cent this year. With enough milkweed, we can supply the super generation. This is the fourth generation which is the largest, longest flying and longest living monarch generation,” Beaubien said.
“With ideal weather conditions and enough food source, they will come back to Ontario.”
According to Beaubien, some entomologists have argued that gardens and non-native plants get in the way of migration.
“I disagree. The pattern I’ve seen is that they come, they nectar in a frenzy and fly away,” she said.
Beaubien has recorded as many as seven different species of butterflies in her garden in one day. She has also received a visit from two rare species, the fiery skipper and variegated fritillary. Two uncommon species, the silver spotted-skipper and banded hairstreak are new sightings, thanks to Beaubien, on the Ontario Butterfly Atlas map.
Beaubien is an author and a photographer. She is active in local photography and horticultural clubs, the Toronto Entomologists’ Association, a member of Waterloo Region Nature and she was presented with a 2016 Conservation Award. She has also won numerous awards for her photography and audiovisual shows.
But what lies at the root of it, is that Beaubien is a gardener.
“I’m just overwhelmed by the response. Who would have ever known? I think people see what I’ve done and realize that they too can make changes,” she said. “It makes you appreciate nature and it gives me such a pleasure to be able to share it with everyone.”
As she displays one last butterfly picture, it’s clear. What was once just a small retirement project, Beau’s Garden has now become a lifestyle.
“See? They are nectaring! Oh, look how happy they are…."
