By definition, an artisan is a person engaged in or occupied by the practice of her craft, who has, through experience and talent, reached the expressive levels of art in her work and what she creates.

Bay Minette Master Gardener and retired high school science teacher Jane Denmark has become an artisan butterfly gardener serendipitously and through years of "minimal gardening" while a career and raising her family were her main focus.

Always fascinated by nature and the challenge of growing beauty in a patch of soil, Jane took a master gardening class after she retired to expand her knowledge and hone her craft.

Her butterfly beds are vividly colored creations that began quite by accident with a few cherished rose bushes Jane relocated from previous homes to her current five-acre garden canvas.

"I now make deliberate choices—plants that will definitely attract and feed butterflies," Jane shares." My very favorite choice is the lovely Echinacea, the purple coneflower."

On a trip to Texas with her son, Jane became entranced when she saw fields of the pink coneflowers swaying in the wind. She was hooked, and so began an odyssey in growing her beloved pink daisy-like coneflowers. She started with seeds and mail-order plants, and she now has a successful profusion of the butterfly-enhancing blooms. Her butterfly garden, which sits over a septic tank, had humble beginnings, but the garden today is a charming potpourri of many varieties of flowering plants that attract and support beneficial and often beautiful insects.

"I didn't really realize I had a butterfly garden until one day a lady phoned and wanted to visit my butterfly garden,” Jane says. “I told her that I don't have one—just several mismatched plantings. But, as I looked around and took note, I realized that the butterflies were everywhere enjoying the pretty flowers. Truly, if you plant it, they will come."

Included throughout Jane's prolific beds are the blue Dew Drop Shrub, several plantings of Mexican petunias, fragrant hybrid lilies, agapanthus, amarillas, canna lilies, four o'clocks, Shasta daisies, verbena, foxglove, salvias, marigolds, coreopsis, dusty miller and the herbs basil and rosemary. Following the advice of friend Doris Wilson, Jane always tries to "choose something with a bloom," and her color-filled, butterfly-flitting garden is strong testament to that wisdom.

In addition to being a busy gardener and community volunteer, Jane, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease several years back, and with her husband, Al, are trained advocates and educators for others who have been diagnosed with this neurological disease.

Jane has not let her diagnosis prevent her from the joy she finds with gardening.

"I take my prescribed medication, work in the early morning or late evening to avoid the heat of the day and rest frequently as I perform my garden chores," Jane shares.

Her engineer husband has designed a soaker hose system that greatly aids Jane with the watering chores. She finds her gardening hobby very rewarding—a peaceful time spent in nature, a place to be in touch with something bigger than she is and a time of contemplation, remembering the dear ones who have passed on as she tends the plants they generously left behind.

Jane advises the would-be butterfly gardener to choose a sunny location—five to six hours of sun per day—as the beginning butterfly-friendly habitat. This location should ideally be sheltered from strong winds. Butterflies need the sun to warm themselves, but they won't fight the wind to stay on plants. Jane has constructed a pebble walkway to help the butterflies stay warm in the cool evenings after a day of feeding on the nectar of the flowers. Butterflies need water, so it is advisable to keep a dish or small puddle damp for them to drink in their sunny location.

"Adult butterflies like to muddle in the puddles," Jane says. Beside the butterfly coaxing plants, Monarch caterpillars feed solely on milkweed.

This has been Jane's first year to try successful vegetable gardening. She and Al enjoyed heirloom tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant and parsley, all planted in a deer-and-bird protected area of the yard.

The couple enjoys the fruits of a persimmon tree, planted by Jane's mother, along with scuppernongs, muscadines, pomegranates and satsumas, in addition to the color-punched butterfly areas.

Jane has kept a gardening journal since 2004, listing what she has planted and evaluating what worked and what didn't. She uses no spray or chemicals in her garden, preferring to try epsom salts or coffee grounds as safe gardening agents.

Earth lover and conservationist Rachel Carson once stated, "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

Jane Denmark, faced with her health challenges, knows and lives this wisdom and notices and encourages the special gifts and beauty that each butterfly and each season brings. Her toil in the garden has created a haven for these beautiful, colorfully winged creatures and solace for the human passers-by. Expressions of her gardening craft, lovingly performed each day, are simple things that bring light into this world.