Texas Butterfly Highway
Some people love the Garden in the spring to take in the show of bluebonnets bursting forth. Others, to witness the powerful regrowth of the bananas after the winter dieback. This year, I’m really looking forward to the butterflies. For me, they are magic. I’m sure my excitement is due in part to our March for Monarchs event and a new exhibit that will soon make its debut in the Susan Garver Family Discovery Garden. Everything butterflies is in the air.
Butterflies are powerful symbols of love, hope, and strength. If you have ever walked along our perennial border with a kaleidoscope of butterflies dancing around, you have surely fallen under their spell. These magical creatures carry significant meaning to cultures across the world. The monarchs that leave Mexico in the spring, indicate to the Mazahua and Otomi peoples that it is time to prepare the soil for the year’s harvest. As they return in the fall around the time of the celebration of the Day of the Dead, they mark the end of the agricultural season, and–according to Mexican lore–carry the souls of the deceased to comfort family members. Monarchs also have symbolism for the Hopi (abundance and health), in Christianity (transformation and rebirth), and in Taiwan (good luck and long life), to name a few.
I hope that you will come see the magic of butterflies at the Garden this spring through sculpture, parade, and slowing down to watch them dance in the air from flower to flower.
Claudia Gee Vassar, President & General Counsel
———-
Read the March 2023 e-newsletter for more, including recommended plants for attracting monarch butterflies to your home garden and an interview with the new leader of the Bloomers young professionals group.