Houstonia’s The Must List tells you about something going on in Houston that you absolutely cannot miss.

Let’s stop lying to ourselves. There’s pretty much nothing to love about Houston summers. Anything we claim we appreciate, like ice cream and patios, is just a coping mechanism to distract us from the annual misery parade of mosquitoes and swamp ass. But we can enjoy at least one redeeming quality to the sweltering subtropical season, something that adds an oh-so-welcome dance of color and life during this least wonderful time of the year: butterflies.

Now through November, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center (HANC) hosts local sculptor Michelle Matthews’s pollinator-friendly art installation Monarch Story. Slap on some sunscreen, pull on a wide-brimmed hat, and grab the biggest water bottle on hand to take in the lepidopteran glory.

Monarch Story spans 5,000 square feet, featuring over 600 different species of plants indigenous to the Gulf Coast. Monarchs, who reside here in the spring and summer before migrating to Central Mexico come fall, are especially partial to the plentiful varieties of local milkweed,* hibiscus, daisies, and other nectar-rich treats. So, too, are their similarly orange-and-black cousins, the Gulf fritillaries. But the space Matthews and a team of volunteers created this past February is much more than a paradise for pollinators: It’s an entire ecosystem in and of itself. Bright yellow aphids congregate on the stems of the milkweed, nutritious food for the ladybugs, who then get consumed by nearby tree frogs and anoles. And on up from there to the Cooper’s hawks gliding through the oaks overhead—apex predators signifying a completed food chain.  

The only nonorganic additions to this wild and wonderful tableau are Matthews’s 3D-printed polycarbonate sculptures of monarchs. Blown up to 200 times larger than the average butterfly, these figures offer viewers a meditation on the interdependence between plants, animals, and humans.

“My goal was to have an interactive educational site where you would walk along, see the butterflies. They would be posted near the native plants, the milkweed, and the pollinator plants,” Matthews says. A QR code links to the website of the University of Houston Coastal Center (UHCC) with more information about the plants, the butterflies, and their migration.

Matthews first envisioned this piece while working on her MFA at University of Houston, which she completed in 2023. As the project developed, she consulted with UHCC program director Evelyn L. Merz and butterfly expert Chris Anastas to design the most succulent dining experience for monarchs and their closest kin. (It may be working too well: On a recent visit, one monarch dive-bombed another onto the ground for a sip of sweet nectar from a singular flower, despite the generous buffet available.) The first iteration of Monarch Story ran from May through November 2024 at Buffalo Bayou Park, backed by a grant from the City of Houston.

Green Mountain Energy Sun Club donated $200,000 to UHCC to expand its greenhouse operations, concentrating on native plants; many of these ultimately made their way to the HANC incarnation. The organization even provided volunteers, and, alongside members of the Galveston chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Program, arboretum staffers, docents, and other helping hands, it only took a day to get Monarch Story tilled, piled, and planted to start welcoming the butterflies.

Much of the work’s appeal is in its dynamism. While the statues remain the same, the landscape shifts and changes based on the weather and season. Matthews and some volunteers visit the space every week to take care of watering and weeding. Other than that, Monarch Story submits itself to nature’s whims. What it will look like in November may prove vastly different than when it was first set up in February. “It's going to change,” Matthews says. “If you come out here, things will bloom, and then things will die back. Then, a lot of the milkweed becomes dormant in the fall [and] in the wintertime.”

If visitors happen to find inspiration in the dramatic views and wondrous wildlife, HANC employees make themselves available to answer questions on how to encourage butterflies to visit their own backyards. The arboretum holds native plant sales twice a year, in spring and fall, to help Houstonians design pollinator-friendly home gardens—even if it’s nothing more than a small potted milkweed placed outside the front door. “We at the arboretum like to tell people that, no matter the amount of space, whether it is a patio or a full acre of land, every little bit helps,” says Christine Mansfield, HANC senior marketing manager. “And it does help—not just the monarchs, but other species as well.”

HANC intends to maintain the garden even after Monarch Story concludes, and Mansfield says the only changes might be enhancing the plantings and adding more as things evolve. The installation sits right next to the arboretum’s Butterfly Bungalow, a small greenhouse space used to teach visitors about the life cycle of the titular insect.

As for the sculptures, Matthews is mulling over a few new ideas for the next Monarch Story installation. She’s keeping quiet about where, but mentions a partnership with Redbud Gallery in the Heights come October. The artist hopes to experiment with adding light fixtures to the monarchs, using recycled printing materials, and customizing decals for the wings to make each butterfly unique. Still, the core message of the work remains: finding joy in preserving and observing the natural world.

“I wanted people to really understand that everyone can do something. It's just not the monarchs, it's pollinators, the whole system,” Matthews says—a system that includes us all.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to note that the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center only plants milkweed that is local and native to Texas.