Stoneco of Michigan has made a strong commitment to environmental excellence at our facilities across Michigan. As part of this environmental push, many of our facilities have installed butterfly gardens.
These gardens are filled with Michigan native flowering plants whose blooms attract butterflies and hummingbirds, and whose root systems preserve soil from topsoil erosion. The garden won Maybee a conservation certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council.
This year, Maybee Superintendent Joshua Markgraff went a step forward with his commitment to the environment and brought his daughters in to help. Markgraff’s daughters, Makayla age ten and Madilynn age seven, raised butterflies in specially prepared containers and were able to observe their growth process from caterpillar, through the chrysalis phase, into the butterfly’s adulthood.
“The butterflies that my two children chose to hatch were Painted Ladies,” said Markgraff. The kids kept an observation journal of their experience.
In all, the children released 21 Painted Ladies into the Maybee Butterfly Garden.Painted Lady butterflies are found worldwide. These butterflies migrate to Michigan and other parts of the Northern United States each summer, then fly thousands of miles to winter in equatorial regions.
