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Reno landscaper has talent for growing butterflies too

Photo by Janelle Patterson An old world swallowtail butterfly searches for nectar on a butterfly bush at Thomson’s Landscaping in Reno.

MARIETTA — Fluttering around and landing lightly on flowers, three different kinds of insects have returned to Marietta for the summer.

“We’ve been doing this for years, there’s an interest in the shrubs, plants and feeders that attract the butterflies, so it all ties together,” said Russ Thomson, owner of Thomson’s Landscaping. “It’s free though and really those who come are the grandparents with their grandchildren.”

Thomson’s has one greenhouse specifically dedicated to butterflies, full life cycles on display inside the confines of a few screens.

“We’re no Chicago botanical gardens or anything, but my office is just above the greenhouse and those little squeals as the kids see them fly and land, that’s why we do this,” said Thomson. “You can only walk the river trail and get ice cream so many times in a summer with the grandkids, and here we see them spend a couple hours together and smile.”

The three species inside the greenhouse are the well-known Monarch butterfly, the American Lady and the Swallowtail.

Photo by Janelle Patterson A monarch butterfly lands to feed on the nectar from a coneflower in Reno at Thomson’s Landscaping.

Thomson said they get the first generation as chrysalises and as those hatch, they lay eggs on the milkweed plants and the life cycle begins again.

“We keep them around until after Sternwheel Festival before letting them go, but the monarchs are the ones that do the best here,” he said.

Russ’s daughter Jane Thomson said she’s even taken a toddler in to see the butterflies.

“Our computer guy came in to fix a problem and brought his 3-year-old daughter, and of course she was all over her dad,” said Jane. “So I asked her if she wanted to go in the butterfly house and her eyes just lit up.”

Inside the house are also all the flowers and foliage which attract the pollinators including beebalm, milkweed, hydrangeas, coneflowers and butterfly bushes.

Photo by Janelle Patterson A monarch caterpillar eats away the leaf of a milkweed plant at Thomson’s Landscaping in Reno.

“A lot of people try to plant things which attract butterflies and hummingbirds,” noted Russ. “Though our top request is low maintenance then I hear ‘we want as much color as long as possible and we want to attract the butterflies and hummers.'”

The butterfly house is open during regular business hours for the landscaping business, which is located on Ohio 7 in Reno.

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Butterfly Life Cycle

1. Egg: A female butterfly lays an egg, usually on leaves or stems of plants.

Photo by Janelle Patterson An American Lady Buttefly lands on a hydrangea flower at Thomson’s Landscaping in Reno.

2. Caterpillar: The caterpillar leaves its egg home and begins eating voraciously. A fully grown caterpillar can be 100 times larger than its original size by the time it’s done.

3. Pupa/Chrysalis: Hidden beneath a leaf or off of a stem a caterpillar will enclose itself in a hardened case to protect itself while tissue, limbs and organs form.

4. Butterfly: Once the butterfly’s organs, limbs and tissue are fully formed it will emerge from its chrysalis, dry its wings and take off to find nectar and mate with new butterflies to start the process over again.

Source: National Geographic

Photo by Janelle Patterson Russ Thomson finds a monarch butterfly egg beneath a milkweed leaf at Thomson’s Landscaping in Reno.

Photo by Janelle Patterson Wings of a monarch butterfly begin to be seen inside a chrysalis in the butterfly house at Thomson’s Landscaping in Reno.

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