A Backyard Full of Life

For most of my life, I appreciated nature without thinking much about how it all worked.

Growing up along the New River in Fort Lauderdale, I was surrounded by it. Our yard was filled with tropical plants, fruit trees, and wildlife. We had avocados, grapefruit, lemons, limes, mangos, coconuts, tomatoes, and countless other plants growing around us. It was simply part of everyday life.

At the time, I didn't realize how lucky I was.

Years later, when we bought our first house, I tried my hand at gardening. Like many beginner gardeners, I had mixed results. I planted lettuce, okra, beans, peppers, and tomatoes. Sometimes things grew well. Other times they didn't. Gardening taught me early on that nature doesn't always follow your plans.

When we moved into our current home ten years ago, everything changed.

The previous owners were nature enthusiasts and veterinarians who had already started creating something special in the backyard. They had planted host plants and nectar plants that attracted butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators. One of those plants was a Giant Milkweed, struggling to survive. 

At the time, I didn't know much about milkweed or why it mattered. I certainly didn't know that it would eventually become one of the most important plants in my garden.

The more I learned, the more interested I became. I started researching butterflies, host plants, pollinators, and ecosystems. What began as curiosity slowly turned into a hobby and eventually into a passion.

About four years ago, I decided to take what I had learned and intentionally create a butterfly and pollinator garden. Instead of planting whatever looked good, I began planting with purpose. Every plant had a job. Some provided nectar for adult butterflies. Others served as host plants where butterflies could lay eggs and caterpillars could feed. Trees and shrubs offered protection. Flowers attracted bees and hummingbirds.

Slowly, the garden began to transform. So did my understanding of nature.

Today, our backyard is a certified Monarch Waystation. It provides Monarch butterflies with the food, shelter, and resources they need to complete their life cycle and continue their migration. Along the way, I have also created habitat for other species, including Zebra Longwings, Giant Swallowtails, Gulf Fritillaries, Yellow Sulfurs, and Painted Ladies.

One of my favorite sights is watching Giant Swallowtails lay eggs on my wild lime tree. What looks like an ordinary tree to most people becomes a nursery for the next generation of butterflies.

For a while, I even raised butterflies in protective enclosures and tracked their development. It was fascinating to watch their transformation from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. Eventually, I stepped away from raising them in captivity after learning more about the diseases and deformities that can occur in enclosed environments.

These days, I prefer to let nature do the work. One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that if you provide the right environment, nature will usually find its way.

People often ask how to attract more butterflies. The answer is surprisingly simple. Give them what they need. Plant the right host plants. Add nectar plants. Provide shelter and water. Create a healthy ecosystem.

If you build it, they will come.

What started as a gardening project has become something much more meaningful. Every day, I get to watch butterflies emerge, hummingbirds feed, bees pollinate flowers, and plants support life in ways I never noticed before.

Nature has a way of rewarding those who pay attention.

Through this section of Only One Life, I'll share stories from the garden, lessons learned through years of trial and error, information about butterflies and pollinators, and simple ways anyone can create a more welcoming habitat for wildlife.

What I've learned over the years is that nature isn't really about gardening. It's about paying attention. A butterfly laying eggs on a host plant. A hummingbird visiting a flower. A bee moving from bloom to bloom. A plant that struggled one season and thrived the next. Small moments that are easy to miss if you're not looking. 

The more time I spend in the garden, the more I realize that nature is always working, always adapting, and always teaching us something. And if you're lucky, all it takes is one butterfly drifting through the yard to remind you that there's an entire world of activity happening around us every day.

That's why nature will always have a place in my life. And that's why it has a place here at Only One Life.