BUTTERFLY GARDEN
The Butterfly Garden is located near the tall grass prairie, the former site of the prairie forbs garden. The objective is to incorporate plants that attract butterflies commonly found in the Midwest, such as the Monarch. Butterflies need plants that provide food for the caterpillars as well as plants that provide nectar for the mature butterflies. Some of the plants to be included in the garden are the butterfly bush, milk weed, hollyhock, phlox, coneflowers, zinnias and asters to name a few.
The Bickelhaupt Arboretum is now an official waystation for Monarch Butterflies as designated by the University of Kansas Entomology Program. The arboretum, one of only four such sites in Iowa and the only public garden so named in the state, is committed to monarch butterfly conservation and helping to assure the continuation of the monarch migration.