There will be a Butterfly Festival at Cherokee Pollinator Garden, Sunday, October 13, 2-5 p.m., featuring the bright fall colors of native sunflowers and goldenrod.  

There will be children’s activities, information on pollinators and the native plants that support them, garden tours, plant sale, refreshments, and possibly a monarch release! Peak butterfly season is winding down, with many butterflies beginning their migrations to the Gulf, and this last generation of this year’s monarchs continuing on to Mexico. 

The garden is in the field and in the woods adjoining the Rose Garden at Cherokee Lake Park. Volunteers with Friends of Lost Creek Forest maintain the garden. Pictured is the Gulf fritillary butterfly, the most common butterfly. It migrates to the Gulf of Mexico, and then, as the weather cools, further south in Florida and Texas. Their caterpillars and butterflies are still present in Cherokee Pollinator Garden with their larval host plant, passionvine.