Cutfoot Butterfly Garden on the Chippewa NF

By Melissa Rickers on May 5, 2010

The Chippewa National Forest's Deer River Ranger District established a butterfly garden at the Cutfoot Visitor Information Center.

A break from the vagaries of northern Minnesota spring weather allowed a determined group of folks from the Chippewa National Forest's Deer River Ranger District to establish a butterfly garden at the Cutfoot Visitor Information Center. Following one of the warmest and driest Aprils on record, May has been a marked contrast of seemingly constant rain with discouraging bouts of snow mixed in. Over 15 different varieties of hardy perennial flowers known to be favorites of butterflies were planted, with plans to continue to diversify the garden in the future. The plants are all labeled, and a display inside the Visitor Center will explain how the garden was built. A favorite stopping place for local children, this summer's visitors will have a chance to build their own stepping stones to create pathways inside the garden.

As is so often the case with gardens, it was a community of folks who contributed in various ways to the effort, from removing an overgrown tangle of weeds last fall, to hauling in and spreading new dirt, to getting the plants in the ground, and mulching it all down to reduce future weeding needs. The eclectic crew of people included SCSEP's, fire crew personnel rained out from other work, a resort naturalist, an administrative assistant, an information assistant, a wildlife biologist, a local volunteer, and even a member of the visiting Schenk Job Corps initial attack fire crew.