Three Girl Scouts from South St. Paul earned their Bronze Award last week by creating a colorful butterfly garden at Lawshe Park.

For Piper Schmitz, Karli Darrow and Riza Kremer, all sixth-graders in Troop 52811, sixth months of planning culminated in the release of about 100 butterflies on Monday.

"This was a project they chose," said Deb Griffith, community affairs liaison for South St. Paul. "They thought it would be a nice way to beautify a park."

The girls chose the Lawshe Park location for the 24-by-4-foot flower bed because plants that attract butterflies need plenty of sun, Griffith said. Also, the area was overgrown and needed some attention.

They planted bright flowers, which butterflies prefer, as well as vegetables such as carrots to attract caterpillars. They added rocks — a warm perch for butterflies — and three butterfly houses they painted.

Thirty to 40 people came, from family members and friends to Mayor Beth Baumann and state Rep. Dan Schoen, DFL-St. Paul Park. Many attendees had "adopted" a butterfly and got to unwrap and release it that day.

Adalyn Schoen, 7, posed for a photo while she held a butterfly before releasing it at Lawshe Park in South St. Paul last week.

"Nobody there had ever done this before," Griffith said. "That was kind of neat for the girls to get to share something new with people."

The three Scouts will maintain the garden and are raising more caterpillars to release on their own.

Erin Adler