TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
W ith summer quickly approaching and spring weather turning sunny and warm, parents are looking for fun and educational places to take their kids, and people are looking for inventive ways to spruce up their yards. The Little Country Greenhouse in New Boston, Texas, answers both inquiries perfectly. This quaint, peaceful shop can provide educational opportunities for the whole family while supplying an array of plants, decorations, and other goodies for the hopeful, amateur, or professional gardener. The Little Country Greenhouse not only sells plants but also offers a gift shop, a florist, a produce market with fruits and vegetables from local farmers, and an ice cream shop. The most unique thing about this nursery is its butterfly house. If you want to learn about butterflies and see some of the most beautiful butterflies native to Texas, then you want to visit New Boston and this delightful venue. When Patria and Bruce Pardue, owners of The Little Country Greenhouse, went on their honeymoon six years ago, they started thinking about improving their business. They found a butterfly house near their southern Texas beach destination and decided to visit. That excursion left them wanting more, so they stopped at the Texas Discovery Gardens in Dallas. The Pardues found locations that while the gardens were pretty and there were butterflies at both, neither provided much education about butterflies or why they thrived in these locations. “I was a little disappointed,” Bruce recalled. “I wanted to learn more about butterflies; there were beautiful signs and plants, but we couldn’t find the butterflies that matched those signs while we were looking at them.” Sadly, there was no one to give them more information. “I was told to ‘just read the signs,’” he added. These two visits sparked Bruce’s interest, so he started doing research of his own. He found he could create an ecosystem for butterflies native to Texas. “A lot of the perennials we grow are butterfly friendly. There is nothing exotic in the butterfly house,” he said. Considering the research he found, Bruce created an original design that would be conducive to the survival of butterflies. He had several things to consider in this design. He wanted to ensure the butterflies could thrive during their three weeks in flight. He also had to follow regulatory guidelines for introducing the butterflies into a new environment. “The two main enemies of butterflies, besides a predator eating them, are wind and rain,” Bruce explained. To protect the butterflies, he created a structure that would protect the butterflies from the wind and rain and that would follow regulations. He did his homework and studied state and federal regulations because he raises a species that could be considered invasive if too many are introduced to the area. All but one of the species Bruce raises are native to Texas. He has Swallowtails, Buckeyes, Question Marks, Gulf Fritillaries, and others. The butterfly house also hosts Monarch butterflies. The Monarch, although it is the Texas state butterfly, is migratory and not a Texas native species. Monarchs travel from Canada to Mexico during their life cycles.
Bruce Pardue, owner of Little Country Greenhouse in New Boston, Texas.
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COMMUNITY & CULTURE
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