Miracles in Your Own Backyard

By Jason Frederick

Join us for our April general meeting where Cheryl Malloy will share her tips on butterfly gardening. The meeting will be held Friday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Rockledge Presyterian Church on Rockledge Drive in Rockledge.

In her workday world, Cheryl Malloy is a Mission Integration Manager at NASA, leading multi-disciplined teams in the complex effort of joining a spacecraft and launch vehicle; a job that often keeps her on the road. When she gets home, she likes to stay there, thus she and her husband Charles' trial-and-error process of enticing one of life's little miracles, butterflies, into their own back yard.

In the spring, Cheryl and Charles generally set their sights on bringing a particular species to their butterfly garden. "You don't have to have a green thumb," Cheryl tells us. "In fact, it is probably better if you don't. Caterpillars are tremendous eating machines, and if you want caterpillars you shouldn't get too attached to your plants!"

Cheryl began to hand raise some of her new friends. "I've lost several hours watching a chrysalis emerge and drying its wings," she says. "It is every bit as soothing as an aquarium. We won't talk about the caterpillar stampede that happened a couple of years ago!"

She has studied the likes and dislikes of species in her yard and declared the Gulf Fritillaries the hardiest. Eventually, Cheryl was cajoled into sharing her knowledge with local elementary school classes and children of friends. Be sure to join us for this fun and informative presentation.