Toward the end of April/beginning of May, I saw whispers of butterfly weed begin to emerge in the flower bed. Good timing, I thought, because I rarely see butterflies until later in summer, with the majority of monarch caterpillars hatching in August and later. Plenty of time to fatten up the food source. Lo and behold, a few days went by, and I found myself losing count of baby caterpillars when I reached numbers in the 30s. I panicked. I looked at my small, little plant. I looked at all the hungry caterpillars. Plant. Caterpillars. Something had to be done.

When they were big enough, I loaded them up and took them to the Dr. Bill Roston Native Butterfly House at the Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park in Springfield, Missouri. I was surprised to find flittery butterflies already taking up residence, including a zebra swallowtail, with more species emerging. The Butterfly House is free and open daily.

words + photograph Julie Johnson