DIY Network

School Courtyard Garden: Plan, Costs and Products Meet the Wadsworth students and find out the gardening challenge plan. From "Garden Sense" episode DGAR-311

Walter with Wadsworth fifth grader Justin Frazier

The focus of this episode of Garden Sense is a public inner-city school. Wadsworth Elementary School is in the heart of Atlanta, and like many public schools in low-income neighborhoods, it has its struggles--but plenty of spirit too!

Fifth grader Justin Frazier asked for our help turning his school courtyard into a butterfly garden.

The dedicated staff members at the school think it's a great idea and love the idea of an interactive outdoor classroom for the 350 students who don’t have a lot of exposure to gardens and botanicals.

Students, parents and staff offered to volunteer with the work even through it was during summer break.

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Gardening Challenge

Before--Long view

Before--Close-up

After--Long view

After--Close-up

Required Project Timeline

The Wadsworth butterfly project took just more than six hours to complete with help from dozens of volunteers.

Project Details

Walter developed a plan that will bring beauty and butterflies to Wadsworth Elementary School. First, he chose nectar rich plants that are key to attracting butterflies. Secondly he selected so-called host plants that caterpillars will feed on to sustain the garden. And finally, the plan calls for tactics to keep the plants watered so the caterpillars and butterflies stay hydrated and happy.

Digging the new garden bed was a challenge because the dirt was packed down from years of being walked on by the students. A crew was hired to dig it up before the Garden Sense gang got started. It took approximately six hours to dig a bed 35 feet long and 20 feet wide.

There were more than 20 volunteer helpers, and some worked on clearing and cleanup while others helped plant new sensible selections.

	The students of Wadsworth Elementary School learn the importance and pride in taking care of the Butterfly Garden!
	The students' butterfly feeder is a hit!
	Walter and the Garden Sense team included the perfect plants...
	that would attract a multitude of butterflies for the students to enjoy.

Web Extra: Butterflies

DIY's Garden Sense production team gave the Wadsworth Butterfly Garden a boost by adding the following butterflies:

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes Fabricius)

• Wing span: 3 1/4" - 4 1/4" (8 - 11 cm).

• Identification: Upper surface of wings mostly black; on inner edge of hind wing is a black spot centered in larger orange spot. Male has yellow band near edge of wings; female has row of yellow spots. Female hind wing marked with iridescent blue band.

• Flight: One or two flights from April to October in northern regions of range; three flights in southern regions.

• Caterpillar food: Leaves of plants in the parsley family (Apiaceae) including Queen Anne's Lace, carrot, celery and dill. Sometimes plants in the citrus family (Rutaceae) are preferred.

• Adult food: Nectar from flowers including red clover, milkweed and thistles.

• Average lifespan is two weeks.

Gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)

• The gulf fritillary is poisonous to predators that may want to eat it. It gets its poison from passion vine, which is the only plant upon which the caterpillar feeds.

• Orange and black markings.

• It lives up to six months, which is very long for a butterfly.

• The gulf fritillary is found in the warmest parts of the United States.

The Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

• The monarch butterfly is sometimes called the "milkweed butterfly" because its larvae eat the plant. Milkweed is the only thing the larvae can eat.

• Toxins from the milkweed are poisonous to predators.

• Wingspan of 3-3/8" to 4-7/8".

• Adult: Bright orange with black wing veins and outer margins. The wings have white spots on outer margins, and three orange patches are found near the top of the forewings.

• The hind wings are very rounded, and they are lighter in color than the forewings.

• The body is black with white spots.

• Male monarchs have a dark spot (scent scales) on the hind wing and have small claspers at the end of the abdomen.

• Females have thicker wing veins.

• Monarchs drink nectar from many flowers, including milkweed, dogbane, red clover, thistle, lantana, lilac and goldenrod.

• The life span of the adult Monarch varies, depending on the season in which it emerged from the pupa and whether or not it belongs to a migratory group of Monarchs. Adults that emerged in early summer have the shortest life spans and live for about two to five weeks. Those that emerged in late summer survive over the winter months. The migratory Monarchs, which emerge from the pupa in late summer and then migrate south, live a much longer life--about 8-9 months.

Zebra Longwing Butterfly

• The adult Zebra Longwing is mostly black with yellow stripes and spots.

• The adult has a 2" to 4" (5 - 10 cm) wingspan.

• Adults sip sweet nectar and pollen from lantana and shepherd's needle.

• The Zebra Longwing butterfly makes a creaking sound when it is alarmed.

• Long lifespan of approximately six months.

• Passion vines host zebra eggs and larvae. Passion vines contain toxins that are consumed by the larvae and make the adult butterflies poisonous to predators.

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes Cramer)

• Wing span: 4" to 6-1/4" (10.2 - 16 cm).

• Identification: Forewing with diagonal band of yellow spots. Tails are edged with black and filled with yellow.

• Caterpillar food: Trees and herbs of the citrus family (Rutaceae) including Citrus species, prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) and hop tree (Ptelea trifoliate).

• Adult food: Nectar from lantana, azalea, bougainvilla, bouncing Bet, dame's rocket, goldenrod, Japanese honeysuckle, and swamp milkweed.

• Not sure how long lifespan is--average is two to three weeks but varies with species.

Gardening by Zip Code If you're looking to start a gardening projectbut don't know your gardening zone—visit the National Gardening Associations's USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. Enter your Zip Code to identify the proper zone.

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