Area Girl Scouts, Rose Pest Solutions restore butterfly garden in Naperville

Two hundred Girl Scouts and volunteers with the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana and Rose Pest Solutions came together on Saturday, May 18, to restore the butterfly garden at Camp Greene Wood, 3155 71st St. in Naperville.

They transformed the 1,000-square-foot area into a new pollinator garden to provide nutrition for honeybees, butterflies, moths and even bats.

The project is supported by Rose Pest Solutions which has locations throughout the Chicago area including in Naperville.

“We were thrilled when Rose Pest reached out to help us continue to grow our butterfly garden,” said Lauren Somogyi, Camp Greene Wood director. “We are so thankful they wanted to work with us and donate a variety of native plants to this important pollinator garden so that we can all help provide pollinators the food they need to survive and thrive in our area.”

“Native plants and pollinators are critical to our food chain,” said Janelle Iaccino, a pollinator expert with Rose, also affectionately known as The Bug Girl. “Every three bites of food we eat is possible because of a pollinator. It’s critical to preserve their habitat so that they can continue doing their job. In addition to providing a space for younger people to learn about the symbiotic relationship between plants, nature and pollinators, being a part of the planting gives them a stake in the project. This will provide a nice little oasis in the heart of DuPage County.”

The 1,000-square-foot Camp Greene Wood garden space was originally a butterfly garden with benches and an entryway arch to allow visitors access to a beautiful place where they could learn about all the different species of pollinators that come by that location.

Over the years, the garden became overgrown and in need of TLC. Rose was excited to help revitalize the space, with Iaccino putting her pollinator expertise together with design, plant size consideration and layout which to her surprise, required a lot of math.

“I am so proud of this garden project and can’t wait to see it grow. It’s a huge space to fill. I studied so many species of native flowering plants. It was kind of like a giant crossword puzzle including a lot of math to figure out spacing. We had to figure out how wide and tall various plants get, what soil conditions they require and level of directional sun or shade the plants would need,” Iaccino said.

“I had no idea there was so much math in gardening. But the staff at Midwest Ground Covers in St. Charles was so helpful and friends at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s horticultural department provided helpful tips for our after care plan too,” she said.

Once the garden grows, it will continue to be a magical place for both pollinators and the thousands of Girl Scouts who camp on the grounds and participate in events there for years to come. They will get to see honeybees, butterflies, hummingbirds, beetles, moths, birds and even bats at night.

“With the diversity of plants being used, there will be more pollinators visiting Camp Greene Wood than anyone could have imagined,” Iaccino said.

After feasting on their favorite plants, the pollinators will fly off to pollinate local fruit trees like apple and cherry as well as fruits in gardens like watermelons. The Camp Greene Wood garden is not the first pollinator garden Rose Pest Solutions has designed and installed. There is one at Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview and a public space in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.

“The Camp Greene Wood garden is a sort of spin off of the annual Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum plants for pollinators garden sale that Rose sponsors every year,” Iaccino said.

“We love being a part of the communities we serve and being a local resource is an important factor,” Iaccino said. “The new Naperville pollinator garden is a perfect example of that. It will be the vehicle for education programs for generations to come with symbiotic species that will come back year after year.”

About Rose Pest Solutions Inc.

Since 1860, Rose Pest Solutions has been trusted in the Midwest to keep homes and businesses free from insects, rodents and more. Using cutting-edge technology, environmentally friendly methods, and personalized unique solutions, Rose and its sister company Franklin Pest Solutions are dedicated to creating and maintaining healthier living environments.

Owned by the Dold Family, Rose Pest Solutions proudly serves communities in the Chicago area, the Greater Milwaukee area, the Greater Rockford region and South-Central Wisconsin Franklin Pest Solutions proudly serves Indiana and Kentucky. For more information, see www.rosepestcontrol.com and www.franklinpestsolutions.com or call 800-GOT PESTS

About Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana

Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana impacts the lives of nearly 32,000 girl members, 16,000 adult members, 6,500 volunteers, and generations of alumnae. It serves  245 communities in six Illinois counties (Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kankakee, Lake, and Will) and four Indiana counties (Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter) as the preeminent leadership development organization for girls.