Leonardtown Butterfly Trail

06/02/2026

Create a Pollinator Garden to Support Butterflies and Beneficial Insects

A thriving pollinator garden does more than add color to your yard. It supports butterflies and moths through every stage of life by combining two essentials:

1️⃣ Host plants for caterpillars
2️⃣ Nectar-rich flowers for adult pollinators

Different butterfly species rely on different plant pairings. Here are some of the most effective combinations:

- Spicebush Swallowtails — Sassafras or Spicebush as host plants, with Cardinal Flower for nectar
- Zebra Swallowtails — Pawpaw trees for caterpillars, paired with nectar plants like Lantana
- Gulf Fritillaries — Passion Vine for larvae and Coneflowers for feeding adults
- Monarchs — Milkweed is essential for caterpillars, while Joe Pye W**d provides valuable nectar
- Painted Ladies — Thistles serve as host plants, with Asters supporting adult butterflies
- Viceroys — Willow trees support caterpillars and nearby nectar flowers help attract adults
- Tiger Swallowtails — Ash, Tulip Tree, or Wild Cherry as host plants, with Gaillardia for nectar
- Red Admirals — Nettles are important host plants, while flowering herbs and nectar blooms attract adults
- Question Mark Butterflies — Hackberry and Elm support caterpillars, with nectar plants nearby for adults
- Sulphurs — Clover and other legumes act as host plants, while Garden Phlox offers nectar

🌿 The best pollinator gardens mix native trees, vines, shrubs, and flowering plants. This creates food, shelter, and breeding space for butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects throughout the growing season.

More butterflies. More biodiversity. A healthier backyard ecosystem.

06/02/2026

06/02/2026

Watch our for turtles!

CALIFORNIA, Md. — As warmer weather settles into Southern Maryland, wildlife officials are reminding drivers to watch for turtles crossing roads during their annual nesting and breeding season. In Southern Maryland, drivers are most likely to see turtles near wetlands, farm fields, wooded roads, c...

05/27/2026

What you did right this month — and what the yard did with it.

You left the leaf litter under the shrubs.
→ Firefly larvae completed the pupal stage underneath it.

You left the dead branch on the oak.
→ A chickadee nested in the cavity and fed her chicks from it all month.

You didn't spray the caterpillar web.
→ Dozens of bird species fed from it. The tree releafed on its own.

You left a bare patch of soil near the fence.
→ Ground-nesting bees moved in.

You left a dish of wet mud near the wall.
→ The barn swallow rebuilt.

You didn't mow the back edge.
→ The tall grass gave fireflies a place to flash and fledglings a place to hide.

🌿 None of this cost anything. No purchase, no project, no permit.

The things you didn't do mattered more than the things you did. The leaf litter you didn't rake. The branch you didn't cut. The edge you didn't mow.

The yard noticed 🐾

05/27/2026

Why is the problem getting worse when we are clearing out natural areas and spraying everything with harmful chemicals?? Hmm 🤔

05/27/2026

Interesting information about native bees

Modern Farmer Rural Life · Agriculture · Environment Advertisement “The Honeybee Got the Marketing. The Bee That Actually Pollinates Your Food Got Nothing — Not Even a Place to Nest.” Inside one of the only workshops in America still hand-building homes for her — and why it’s closing thi...

05/20/2026

The Maryland Department of Agriculture has declared May as Native Plant Month! UME offers guidance to homeowners and landscapers to promote the use of native plants and restore Maryland's habitats. Learn more about our program and how we can help you at https://extension.umd.edu/programs/environment-natural-resources/program-areas/maryland-native-plants-program/.

05/20/2026

One strip of lawn converted to native plants changes what shows up in the yard within a single season.

A 3-foot border of native wildflowers along a fence line hosts caterpillars that turf grass can't support. Those caterpillars feed the nesting birds already in the neighborhood. The bare soil at the plant bases gives ground-nesting bees a place to dig. The leaf litter that accumulates underneath becomes habitat for firefly larvae.

The lawn itself isn't the problem. The ratio is.

🌿 Three low-effort conversions that shift the balance:

- Stop mowing a 10-foot strip along the back edge — native grasses and wildflowers colonize on their own within two seasons
- Replace one section of turf with clover — it fixes nitrogen, feeds bees from spring through frost, and stays green without fertilizer
- Leave fallen leaves in garden beds through spring — the cocoons, larvae, and overwintering insects inside them are the food web's starter culture

None of these require removing the entire lawn. A yard that's 80% turf and 20% native habitat supports dramatically more life than one that's 100% turf.

The difference isn't perfection. It's one strip 🌿