AN AERIAL ACT

AN IPSWICH GARDENER TAKES BUTTERFLIES UNDER HER WING.

- Tovah Martin

KATIE BANKS HONE LOVED HER LOCATION WHEN her family moved into a midcentury Cape on the Ipswich River in 2011. Although the home sits on only one-third of an acre, it boasts 91 feet of scenic river frontage. But what didn’t thrill Hone was the lawn. An ardent gardener who previously spent a dozen years as an aquarist at New England Aquarium before becoming a stay-at-home mom, Hone is keen on all creatures great and small. The limited resources for wildlife in her yard were getting her down.

It didn’t take long for Hone to swing into action and reverse the ratio of grass to other plant life in her yard. The following spring, she applied for and received a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service grant to add rain gardens and create native landscaping. Local regulations required that trees and shrubs could not be removed from the property without special permit, but her workaround was to add to the smorgasbord onsite and beef up the landscape with natives.

Meanwhile, the monarch population was imperiled.. In fact, the 2013 census of monarchs in their Mexican winter migration home tallied the lowest population numbers ever recorded. Experts pointed the finger at the steady decline of fodder in the monarchs’ northern summer habitat as the culprit. Many people blamed agriculture for the situation, but Hone took it personally. Rather than waiting for action from big business, she championed the cause to increase insect habitat. Talk to Hone and she’s quick to point out that solutions start at home.