The flowers mingle beautifully in a late-summer breeze along the west patio of the Iowa Memorial Union, the dark crimson petals of bee balm providing a perfect contrast to the golden blossom of the black-eyed Susan and the orange glow of the blanket flower.

It’s a lovely sight, but the purpose of these plants isn’t simply to please the eyes of passersby. The blooms have had two important jobs this season: to provide pollen for bees and to nurture new generations of monarch butterflies.

Mission accomplished, says Mike Rhinehart, landscape construction supervisor in Facilities Management. At one point over the summer, he counted some 50 chrysalises, the pupa stage in the metamorphosis of a butterfly.

“I didn’t expect to see monarch caterpillars the very first year,” says Rhinehart, who has raised butterfly eggs at home with his kids and released about a dozen. “This garden came about faster and turned out better than I could have imagined. It blew me out of the water.”

The life cycle of a monarch

Egg: An adult butterfly lays an egg on a milkweed plant.

Larva (caterpillar): The egg hatches into a baby caterpillar.

Pupa (chrysalis): The caterpillar attaches itself to a surface, often a leaf, to begin metamorphosis and transform into a chrysalis.

Adult: A butterfly emerges and flies away.

The IMU garden—the only one on campus planted specifically to attract bees and butterflies—is the result of a student initiative. Tony Kirrish, Luke Kottemann, and Jon Smith, all electrical engineering students who graduated in May 2018, were enrolled in Sustainable Systems during the spring semester and had to complete a sustainability project in lieu of a final exam.

“In class we talked about the environment and the importance of pollinators,” says Kirrish, an Illinois native now working for Schneider Electric in Nashville, Tennessee. “We knew there was a crisis with the declining bee population and that steps should be taken to address it, so the three of us chose to create a pollinator garden on campus to help boost the numbers. Working to make the environment more sustainable seemed like a perfect project for the class.”

The students reached out to Facilities Management, and Rhinehart and his staff worked with them on a garden plan. Rhinehart knew the perfect place: the IMU patio had been renovated following the 2008 floods and had two narrow beds that still needed planting. Once the group had decided on a list of plants, they created a timeline for installation.

“We met the grounds crew at the site as the sun was rising one morning in April. They gave us shovels, and we got to work,” Kirrish says.

A few hours later, some 400 plants, including milkweed, were in the ground and mulched. “It was a great group effort,” Kirrish says, “and I love the connections I made during the project. I became good friends with my partners and we are still in contact.”

Sustainable Systems, a course based in the College of Engineering but open to students across campus, has been taught by Jerry Schnoor, Allen S. Henry Chair in Engineering, for 10 years. Along with studying the sustainable production and use of energy, water, materials, and food, his students learn about preserving ecosystems.

“Without ecosystems, we wouldn’t have agriculture,” Schnoor says, noting that nearly all fruits and vegetables are pollinated by bees. “Healthy ecosystems are necessary for healthy humans.”

Schnoor says his students have pursued a range of projects over the years, from replacing light bulbs in campus buildings to composting food waste in the residence halls, and he has noticed growing student interest in ecology.

Facilities Management fields requests from students and student groups every year, Rhinehart says. Projects range from planting trees to pulling invasive weeds and usually coincide with Arbor Day and Earth Day in the spring. Before fall classes begin, Shaun Vecera, professor of psychological and brain sciences, has Rhinehart’s staff lead a tree-identification tour of campus for incoming first-year honors students.

“The student interactions are great—and I love an excuse to get out of the office,” says Rhinehart, who was an engineering student at Iowa before leaving to complete the horticulture program at Kirkwood Community College, then serving as UI campus arborist until 2016.

Student requests are always welcome, Rhinehart says, adding that Facilities Management staff will also answer questions from faculty and staff about plants that thrive in the University of Iowa area.

Although Kirrish has yet to see his garden blooms in person—Rhinehart periodically shares photos with him via email—he has tentative plans to visit campus for Homecoming, and he says a stop at the IMU will be a must. He says he hopes student groups will be inspired to plant more pollinator gardens on campus.

“It’s a small effort that can make a big impact,” Kirrish says. “And it looks pretty, too.”