Regal Fritillary Butterfly picture by Tom Pawlesh

The Regal Fritillary is one of the most beautiful and one of the most uncommon butterflies in North America. With the loss of 99% of it’s native habitat (tall grass prairie) the populations of the Regal Fritillary has crashed. The Prairie Garden Trust is going to try to help this species survive. Yesterday I found out from Alan Branhagen (Director of Horticulture at Powell Gardens) that he has found a private landowner willing donate pregnant Regal Fritillaries to the PGT in an attempt to establish another colony.

We should have the right food & habitat for them. The adults feed on milkweeds, thistles, coneflowers, blazing-stars, bergamots, clovers, goldenrods, and ironweeds. Those are all plants we have in abundance. The larvae prefer to feed on bird’s-foot violet and prairie violets. We have a colony of wild bird’s-foot violet and have planted the seed for prairie violets.

Thanks to Alan and Ona for their generosity!