THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603150078
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARCIA MANGUM, HOME & GARDEN EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
WONDERING WHAT PLANTS will draw butterflies to your garden? Or which chemical sprays are safe to use around the delicate winged creatures?
Richard Hesterberg, curator at the Cypress Gardens butterfly conservatory in Florida, can answer those questions and more at the Mid-Atlantic Home & Garden Show at the Virginia Beach Pavilion next weekend.
``Everyone wants to know what plants to put in to attract butterflies,'' Hesterberg says. ``Most want to plant nectar plants, which the adult butterflies use to get food from.''
He encourages those who are seriously interested in butterfly gardening to take it a step further and set out host plants, which attract butterflies for egg-laying.
Hesterberg acknowledges that a drawback of host plants is that they attract hungry caterpillars. But the caterpillars are very specific. They won't eat the plants from which butterflies draw nectar. ``You don't have to worry that they're suddenly going to start eating your roses,'' he says.
Hesterberg has served as curator of Cypress Gardens' ``Wings of Wonder'' conservatory since it was built in 1993. The 5,000-square-foot conservatory houses butterflies from around the world.
Butterflies can be found in all parts of the United States, Hesterberg says, with more species found in temperate areas. Wherever you live, native plants attract the native species of butterfly, he explains.
He will have lists of nectar plants appropriate for this area available at the show.
In addition to planting the right plants, serious butterfly gardeners must commit to reducing toxic sprays that can harm butterflies. Instead, they should use soaps, oils and various biological controls.
``People will really be helping the environment by having a refuge that the butterflies can go to and reproduce,'' he says.
Hesterberg, who became interested in butterflies when he was a child, has collected and studied butterflies for more than 20 years in nine countries throughout Central and South America.
Recently Hesterberg was promoted to director of animal operations and also administers the park's Birds of Prey and Reptile Discovery programs. Cypress Gardens is a 200-acre tropical garden theme park in Florida.
Hesterberg will speak at the Green Thumb Theater each day of the Mid-Atlantic Show. He is speaking in place of Joe Freeman, Cypress Gardens' chief horticulturist, who was sick and unable to travel.
The other featured speakers for the weekend are Dean Johnson and Robin Hartl, hosts of the public television series ``Hometime,'' which airs in Hampton Roads at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturdays on WHRO, Channel 15. There will also be presentations by local gardening experts. (See schedule box.) ILLUSTRATION: File color photo
Learn how to attract butterflies to your garden.
Color photos
Richard Hesterberg
Graphics
SPEAKER SCHEDULE
HIGHTLIGHTS OF HOME & GARDEN SHOW
[For complete graphics, please see microfilm]
by CNB