Civic Projects

History of the Creation of WHITEHAVEN BUTTERFLY GARDEN The Whitehaven Butterfly Garden is on the grounds of the historic Whitehaven rest stop at exit 7 on I-24 in Paducah Ky. Whitehaven (Anderson-Smith House, named ‘Bide-a-Wee’ by the last owners) is currently owned by the Kentucky Finance Cabinet and operated by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. It is a historic plantation house in use since 1983 as the Kentucky Welcome Center near the state border with Illinois. The home was built in 1865 by Edward L. Anderson and sold to James P. Smith upon the death of Anderson’s wife. James P. Smith’s wife, Helen Elizabeth Rose Smith was a charter member of Paducah Garden Club; three daughters-in-law and a granddaughter subsequently were members of the club. The Smith family literally walked away from their home in 1968, fearing the proposed interstate would run directly through their property. They left it in the care of ‘caretakers’ who abused it, ravaged it, sold bits and pieces from it, and finally abandoned it in 1979. The homeless took over. It was destined to be torn down when the community college purchased the property in 1981, knowing they could never afford to renovate it. And then, along came a visit from Governor John Y. Brown, looking for an interstate welcome center location, and as they say, the rest is history. It is the only historic house in the United States also used as a rest area. The small butterfly garden situated on the original property near the truck parking area was established in 2015 by the Paducah Garden Club’s Horticulture Committee and continues now as one of the club’s major projects. The idea of a pollinator garden was inspired by the January 2015 club program entitled ‘Monarch Butterflies: Struggles for Survival’ given by Bill Black, member of the Kentucky Lepidopterist Society and husband of PGC member Nancy Black. The talk was still very much on everyone’s mind when the PGC Horticulture Committee met a few months later. Stephanie Young, Mary Dyer, and Suellen Johnson were chairs of the PGC Horticulture Committee, and they had hoped to convince the rest of their group to find a community project in addition to their monthly workshops. At their March 2015 meeting, while tossing around a few ideas, Lois Hammet remarked that she had been part of a beautification group supporting the grounds of Whitehaven; she thought there was some money remaining from this now defunct group; she would check. Dabney Haugh, another PGC member and member of the Kentucky Lepidopterist Society, again mentioned the plight of the monarchs and that she had wanted to visit a Kentucky native plant grower, Ironweed Nursery. In a blink of an eye, the butterfly garden was a committee project. In the ensuing four months, a core group of horticulture members met with the Whitehaven grounds keeper, Ronnie Wilson, and they were ‘given’ a four-quadrant garden that had been abandoned by another garden club years before. The area is roughly 1/8 of an acre, with four cement walkways fanning from a raised central cement circle, creating 4 equal planting areas, two shady and two sunny. The committee ‘inherited’ a black urn that was left in the center of the raised circle, two black iron benches, scattered clumps of stella d’oro lilies, 2 struggling Japanese maples, and a whole lot of weeds. They secured additional funds to purchase plants, tilled up the two sunny quadrants, made two trips to Ironweed Nursery, and they were ready to begin. Alicia Bosela, owner of Ironweed Nursery, provided indispensable assistance, not only in choosing a wonderful variety of Kentucky natives for the garden but in helping to determine the number of plants needed. In 2015 the nursery was in Columbia, Kentucky (a mere 2.5-hour drive from Paducah), although it has since relocated to Waddy, KY. On August 21st, 2015, a dozen members showed up for the initial planting; a week later another dozen completed the planting. The initial plants consisted of: (2) Indian Plantains Arnoglossum plantagineum (4) Mist Flowers Eupatorium corlestinum (4) Common milkweed Aesclepias syriaca (24) Milkweed “Butterfly weed” Asclepias tuberosa (8) Whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata (2) Golden Alex Zizia aurea (2) Gray headed coneflowers Ratibida pignata (6) Western sunflowers Helianthus occidentalis (8) Goldenrods Solidago (4) Aromatic asters Symphyotrictum oblongifolium (6) Everlasting sunflowers Helianthus (2) Rattlesnake masters Eryngium yuccifolium (1) Scarlett bee balm Monarda didynia (5) Purple coneflowers Echinacea purpurea (4) Pale purple coneflowers Echinacea pallida (2) Ironweed plants Veronia fasciculata (4) Swamp milkweed Aesclepias incarnata This garden proved to be a real tribute to how well native plants adapt. The plants were left to reseed themselves over the winter, and by the spring of 2016, the garden was full and gloriously blooming. As Chair of Horticulture, Stephanie Young completed the paperwork, submitted it to Monarch Watch and the Whitehaven Butterfly Garden became an official Monarch Watch Way Station (#14017) in July of that year. In August, just one year after the first plant was put in the ground, the club celebrated this milestone with the community with a reception on site. It was attended by the president of the Garden Clubs of Kentucky. The initial plants were soon supplemented with a few natives that members shared from their gardens. Tansy might have been a mistake; it loves the garden and has been the source of a vigorous curbing campaign ever since. Some white yarrow left over from the club’s biennial Mayfair plant sale has found its way into the garden. In 2018 the club became more invested in the other two quadrants of the garden and replaced the two dying Japanese maples with two vitex. These two areas are much more shaded than the butterfly garden, so the plantings there have remained simpler. Existing and transplanted stella d’oro daylilies, assorted mums and a few spring blooming azaleas round out the plants here. As we came out of the COVID shutdown, for the first time the Butterfly Garden became its own committee within the club with its own budgeted line item and its own chair. By 2022 there was no doubt that this was a project embraced by the entire membership. That year the club invested in an official ‘park’ sign showcasing the life cycle of the monarch and some of the native plants that support it that are found in this garden. (Pulse Design, Inc. Mary Chiz) The most recent addition to the garden (2025) is a stone barrier placed on the outer perimeter of the southern shady quadrants to curb the incursion of Bermuda grass. From the beginning of the garden, the Kentucky Dept of Transportation staff and crew have supported the project and have been real partners with the garden club. They diligently water the gardens at least twice a week, they willingly haul away debris after our workdays, and they were the strong backs to assist us when we needed to move the sign into place. They were so inspired by the idea of our butterfly garden that they dug and planted a second pollinator/butterfly garden closer to the highway that they maintain. Since its creation, the Whitehaven Butterfly Garden has been a beloved space for many reasons. It is a respite for weary travelers who stop at the rest area. One member happened to be present when a busload of Korean tourists stopped, and she had an animated ‘sign-language-conversation’ about its purpose and beauty. Other members have happened upon truckers having lunch there, families walking their dogs and giving their children a science lesson on the monarch life cycle using the signage. The garden club has had meetings there; they showcased it during their 2017 Mayfair Garden Tour; the photography committee has taken award winning photos there. It was a beautiful public place of refuge for many during the COVID shutdown and continues to be a source of solace and pride for the club and the community. Annually, thousands of weary travelers make Whitehaven a stop on their journey and many of them ‘Bide-a-Wee’ in the butterfly garden. Submitted by Stephanie Young, Paducah Garden Club, Zone VII