慈濟傳播人文志業基金會
A Butterfly Garden
Eros Peres works hard to make his front yard an ideal habitat for butterflies.

"Hello, K.P., this is Eros. I’d like to invite you and your wife to my place for breakfast on Sunday.” Eros Peres, an immigrant from Cuba, is one of my neighbors in Miami. Becoming acquainted with him has been one of the most delightful experiences since my wife, Jeanny, and I moved here in January 2013.

Jeanny and I have tremendously enjoyed taking daily walks throughout our neighborhood. Our neighbors are exceptionally friendly, and their front yards, with neatly mowed lawns and beautiful flowers, are a sight for sore eyes…with only one exception. When I laid eyes on one particular yard a year ago, I was shocked by how “spontaneously”—to be euphemistic—all the bushes, ivies and trees seemed to grow in it. “It’s a jungle in the city,” I mused.

But in several subsequent walks, we noticed a lot of beautiful butterflies, dragonflies, bees, and even hummingbirds flitting through it. I gradually realized the garden was actually quite ecologically balanced. I commented to Jeanny that the owner of the house must be a friend of nature.

One morning I saw a man watering the plants in the “jungle.” “Your garden looks like a jungle,” I called.

“Yeah, my mom says the same thing,” he replied with an embarrassed smile.

“It’s quite special since it attracts so many beautiful butterflies, which you don’t see in other yards,” I continued.

“Oh, so you like it?” I could see his eyes sparkling as I nodded my head.

He told me his name was Eros Peres. He was studying for his Ph.D. in psychology at Carlos Albizu University. He and his friend, Vern Decato, who is associated with the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, shared the house. He said it was Vern’s idea to turn their front yard into a butterfly garden, and they’d been working hard to do that. Eros then enthusiastically showed us various kinds of plants and herbs—food for butterflies—that they were cultivating in the yard. He explained that the butterflies would naturally go where food was abundant.

I was amazed at their passion for nurturing butterflies in a healthy, pesticide-free environment, which is so hard to come by nowadays. I asked if I could interview both of them so that I could learn more. Eros consented, but my request was not fulfilled until a year later, when he invited us for breakfast.

When Jeanny and I arrived, Eros and Vern received us warmly. Before we sat down to enjoy the food, they zealously showed us around their huge back yard, which turned out to be their nursery for special plants. We saw milkweed, rue, dill, passionflower, and Dutchman’s pipe, to name just a few. The plants would be transplanted to the front yard once their growth had stabilized. Vern, a gentle, amiable man of French descent, explained that these plants were food for butterflies, including Queen, Monarch, Giant Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Julia Heliconian, etc. There were eight species of butterflies in their garden, and the creatures would be more active and agile when the temperature got warmer.

I said that I had noticed during my evening walks that their house lights were turned down before 7:30, and I asked why. Eros replied that they were worried the lights might disturb the sleep of the butterflies, lizards and mockingbirds nesting in the yard. When I praised him for being so compassionate, he shyly denied it and said that he needed to spread alcohol on aphids, transmitters of plant diseases, in hopes of wiping them out.

When asked what kind of pleasure the butterfly garden had brought to them, Vern remarked, “Our garden has created a ‘channel of social connection’ for us.” He elaborated that he had provided a British and a Brazilian lady in the neighborhood with some baby passionflowers and rue, and they in turn invited him and Eros over to watch the butterflies that had been lured to their gardens. “Likewise, we wouldn’t have gotten to know you two without the garden!” Vern’s words brought big smiles to our faces.

After finishing breakfast, we stepped out of their house and saw dozens of butterflies joyfully dancing in the balmy Miami sunshine. We felt just as joyful as those gorgeous creatures as we bid goodbye to our two new friends!

Fall 2014