The Blog of Papillon

A friend told me he was reading the book Papillon by Henri Charrière. Papillon is French for butterfly and refers to the tattoo and nickname that Charrière had and the book tells the story of his incarceration by the French penal system in French Guiana in 1933. This past spring I read the book myself and seriously thought about getting a butterfly tattoo. I’m not sure I’ll ever follow through on this.

A couple years ago I started to volunteer at Norfolk Botanical Garden in the Butterfly House. I have limited knowledge of the butterfly, although I’m learning more every day and can now identify a couple different species other than the Monarch and Black Swallowtail. I can sit and watch these flying gossamer wisps of color for hours while I meditate on the meaning of life.

I have a background in science and took classes – long ago – in botany and biology so the study of plants and insects is not completely foreign to me. Gardening, on the other hand, is. My gardening experience consists of setting out tomato and jalapeño plants and hoping they take care of themselves. For a while, this worked reasonably well – well enough for someone who knew nothing about gardening. But this past year was a disaster. Nothing grew.

Since I recently retired and am constantly trying to find things to occupy my time, my neighbor, a Norfolk Master Gardener (NMG) of many years, suggested I join the group. It intrigued me for two reasons: the first and most obvious was to learn to garden, but the second was to connect with smart and like-minded Norfolkians. I have not been disappointed on either count. I’ve already learned a great deal – and forgotten a fair bit too – since it’s all new to me. It has also given me ways to keep busy and to embrace one of the things that have always been part of my life... to keep learning new things.

I have a number of goals for becoming a NMG: one is to grow orchids; another, as part of the speakers bureau, is to teach and share; and then I just enjoy getting my hands dirty, and; of course I want to expand on my knowledge of butterflies and other beneficial insects. I hope to get to know the stories of other NMGs and to share the knowledge learned during this project. Enough of the background. Watch this space for the next installment of my journey in building a butterfly garden.