The Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail Board of Directors is saddened to share the news of the passing of Rosalynn Carter. She touched millions of people through her work with The Carter Center and the Rosalynn Carter Institute. Her love for nature was the inspiration behind the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail.
The Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail was created February 2013. It began as one garden at President and Mrs. Carter’s home in Plains, Georgia. She had read an article in a local magazine about the decline in Monarch butterflies. As a child she remembered playing outside with butterflies fluttering around her mother’s flowerbeds and native tuberosa milkweed growing behind their home. These fond memories led to a phone call to Annette Wise. After sharing the article and expressing her desire to have a pollinator garden, Annette was asked to help her. The location for the pollinator garden was selected and work began.
During this time Mrs. Carter met with Dr. Jaap de Roode to learn about Emory University’s Monarch lab and research. President and Mrs. Carter also traveled to Mexico to one of the Monarch overwintering sites. The more she learned about Monarchs, the more she wanted to do. People began contacting us and asking what they needed for a pollinator friendly garden. Annette suggested having public gardens at historic places around Plains for visitors to enjoy and naming it the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. Mrs. Carter agreed to this. As the gardens were established around Plains, word spread and people outside of Plains wanted to join the trail. Today there are over 3000 gardens registered on the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. Rosalynn Carter will continue to be our inspiration as we work to establish more habitat for Monarchs. If you have a pollinator garden, you are invited to join the trail.
