Kay Pylant of Leesburg has a butterfly garden in her backyard. She also helped create a garden at the Syracuse Public Library called Becky’s Garden. InkFreeNews photo by Phoebe Muthart.

By Phoebe Muthart
InkFreeNews

LEESBURG — Kay Pylant by all accounts is an avid gardener. The Leesburg resident is passionate about using native plants to save pollinators, such as butterflies. Kay’s Native Gardens, as she calls it, is a place to see all kinds of nature, such as bees, butterflies and birds. And the best part is: it is right in her backyard.

She has also been helping with a garden at Syracuse Public Library. It is called Becky’s Garden in honor of the late Becky Brower, a library employee. Pylant has worked as a consultant on the project.

Pylant grew up in Kosciusko County. She graduated from Warsaw Community High School in 1974. She has lived in the county most her life, except for 23 years when she lived in Kansas. She moved back to the area in 2013.

Her grandmother was an avid gardener and canned the fruits of her labor. Her father also gardened.

“It’s in my blood,” she smiled.

She wanted to be a secretary after high school, so she got a job as one at IU Purdue, Fort Wayne. In 1986, she became a stay at home mom.

Pylant had no formal gardening experience when she first began; however, now she is an Indiana Master Naturalist.

“They are amazing,” she said of the classes.

When she moved back to Indiana and after their house was built, she began gardening. She helped other people with their gardens, too. The more she learned, the more she could teach others.

When she first started her butterfly garden, she realized she planted the wrong plants, ones which attract them. It was a lot of trial and error.

“I planted pollinators but they were the wrong ones,” she said.

In 2016, she met a Claypool woman who had a butterfly garden. She learned a lot from the woman and also, she said, “I did a lot of research.”

Today, her garden is registered as a monarch way station. She is also a member of the Wild Life Federation and the North American Butterfly Association, among others.

Saving monarch butterflies is important, said Pylant.

“We need to save pollinators from becoming extinct,” she said. “We need pollinators for food.”

On July 21, 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature announced the monarch butterfly has entered the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Endangered.

Monarchs are threatened by pesticides, climate change, ongoing suburban sprawl, and fragmented and poisoned habitats as they navigate their way across the continent. The good news is the population is getting better. But Pylant warns everyone needs to do their part in preserving monarch butterflies. A good starting point is to create a butterfly garden of their own.

While Syracuse kibrary’s garden is pretty much complete, it will take a few years to see butterflies in the garden and really flourish.

Her own garden, she said, brings her peace.

“I can get lost in the garden,” she said.

She is married to Steve and they have one son.

She also volunteers weekly at Leesburg Elementary School. The school has Blazer Boutique, a place where teachers can get clothing and toiletries for students.

She also volunteers at Living in Transition Effectively in Milford by making meals on Tuesdays and Fridays for participants in the program. She also goes to the Milford Food Bank and gets staples for L.I.T.E. Recovery Cafe.

“I’ve always volunteered,” she said. “I love it.”