The Dr. Bettye Myers Butterfly Garden

About the Project

TWU has approved a native plant butterfly garden project for the Denton campus that will attract and sustain monarchs and many other butterflies, bees, and birds. The butterfly garden is being supported financially by a generous grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (grant number: 83677401), funding from the university, and private donations. Read More >>

Watch: A Swallowtail caterpillar explores our Texas Prairie Parsley plant

Butterfly Garden Slideshow

Bumble bee (Bombus sp) on Pink Lantana (Lantana camara)

Black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) on Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea)

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

A pollen-loaded bumble bee (Bombus sp.) on sunflower (Helianthus sp.) inflorescence

Carpenter bee (Xylocopa sp.) on Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea)

Carpenter bee (Xylocopa sp.), whose population is in decline, sucking nectar from Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea) flowers

Common buckeye (Junonia coenia Hübner) on Texas Lantana (Lantana urticoides)

Giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) on prickly ash tree (Zanthoxylum hirsutum)

Western Honey bee (Apis mellifera) on Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Tiny Yellow Passionflower (Passiflora lutea) flower

Pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor) on Texas Lantana (Lantana urticoides)

Queen butterfly (Danaus gilippus) on Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii) inflorescence

Rock Rose (Pavonia lasiopetala), nectar plant

Sunflower (Helianthus sp.), a volunteer in the garden, attracts lots of honeybees and native bees

Texas Yarrow varieties (Achillea sp.)

WaspFrogfruit.jpg – A wasp pollinator on Frog Fruit (Phyla nodiflora) inflorescence

Support the Project

Cone flowers in bloom — Cone flower, a favorite butterfly flower, growing in the Phase I area south of the Ann Stuart Science Complex

We need your help to make this project happen. Those who Make a Donation to the Pollinator Garden Fund will be recognized on the website.

Supporter levels

Platinum Wing Supporter - Give at least $1000.
Gold Wing Supporter - Give at least $500.
Silver Wing Supporter - Give at least $250.
Bronze Wing Supporter - Give at least $50.

Make a Donation

Volunteer

We need interested students to assist our faculty and staff in planting the gardens and maintaining them after they are established. Read More >>

Need more information?

For more information on fundraising efforts, please contact the Office of University Advancement.

Butterfly garden wins Business Yard of the Month award

5/19/20

The TWU Bettye Myers Butterfly Garden has received the May Business Yard of the Month award from Keep Denton Beautiful. Designated as a Monarch Waystation, the butterfly garden boasts a lovely variety of flowers, including coneflowers (bachelor buttons), poppies, evening primrose, larkspur, phlox, gerbera daisy, and cornflowers. Find Phase II of this garden by the Little Chapel in-the-Woods and enjoy the Carroll Abbott Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary is a section of the garden dedicated to the memory of Carroll Abbott.

Page last updated 3:03 PM, May 23, 2022