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Since buying a little more than 6 acres of land in Harvard in 2005 and transforming it from a cornfield into a home for native plants, grasses and wildflowers, Terrie and William Warzecha said they still are surprised by the monarch butterfly-loving common milkweed that just one day naturally began to grow.
This small wonder is just part of what the couple said they love about their property that over time they returned to its original landscape, and where in 2016 they opened Natives Haven Nursery, 13809 Durkee Road.
Acre by acre – one per year – over the first few years, William Warzecha, 70, said they took the land back to what it once was.
“It was a lot of fun – a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun,” he said.
When you put a native plant into the ground, you are healing something.”
— Sarah Michehl, community ecologist with the Land Conservancy of McHenry County
In addition to a business, they have created a wildflower prairie and a safe and thriving year-round home for all pollinators and creatures native to the area, including endangered honey bees, butterflies, rabbits and other insects necessary in a healthy and prosperous ecosystem.
They also have created a place for people to visit, spend an afternoon, have a picnic lunch, read and walk through winding paths or sit on chairs and benches near the fountain or pond.
“It is an experience,” said Terrie Warzecha, 65.
When it was a cornfield, the couple – who moved from McHenry to the property, where they also built their home in 2007 – said there were no birds or insects.
Now, William Warzecha said, they are out there in abundance and “they are reproducing babies. It’s so fun to watch.”
Terrie Warzecha said they call their property a “botanic nursery.”
“We don’t just sell plants,” she said. “We have it landscaped, and we have people who come from two hours away who come to see us. There are not a lot of places that sell true native plants.”
With little more than water, the couple lets nature take its course.
“There is no need to do anything with the soil,” said William Warzecha, who retired in 2015 after 31 years from Northrop Grumman. “We discourage fertilizer because it will distort the plant. ... Put it in the right environment, and they will prosper. Just remember in the first year to water, but after then, you won’t need to.”
And where some may see weeds, the couple said, just be patient, and the native plants and wildflowers – those that existed when the Native American Indians lived here – will naturally grow and choke them out.
William Warzecha said he has been “so impressed” with how many endangered bees and butterflies he now sees on his property. This tells him that he is growing the right native plants to attract them.
“It is an ecosystem, a chain reaction,” said Terrie Warzecha, who retired from the pharmaceutical industry in March.
Some flowers, such as the milkweed, have appeared naturally. This happens when nearby farmers stop tilling the soil and working the land. The native flowers and plants that once grew naturally begin to grow again because their seeds are still in the soil, the couple said.
For those embarking on planting wildflowers and native plants in their yards – which proponents say is doable on any property – the Warzechas encourage people to bring layouts of their property to the nursery and walk around to see the different options.
Sarah Michehl is a community ecologist with the Land Conservancy of McHenry County, a nonprofit land trust that supports private landowners who want to protect and preserve natural landscapes.
“When you put a native plant into the ground, you are healing something,” Michehl said. “I think it is inspiration for the person who is doing that in their home, like in their place, and they are healing the soil, and they are providing a really valuable source of food. It’s a kind of connection to our history and what their county once was.”
Michehl, 44, of Crystal Lake offers site consultations through the conservancy for $75 for those planning to plant native flowers. The fee also gives people lifelong membership to the conservancy.
“When we put those plants back in our yards, we are able to support all different types of wildlife,” Michehl said. “It’s important. Native plants just don’t support pollinators, they also help improve the health of soil, hold the soil in place through the root systems ... [that] act like sponges to help soil from running off.”
Preserving such land and cultivating new wildflowers and plants is important to the ecology because “local wildlife [and] birds have come to develop a relationship with those plants for food sources and shelter,” she said.
Back at the nursery, the Warzechas said that to continue offering shelter and food during the winter, they leave their plants alone and do not burn or cut them down. This provides insects and small animals such as rabbits and birds a place to hibernate.
The couple also said the native plants look “pretty” during the winter underneath the snow.
The couple does not do anything with their plants until mid-March, when they burn them, “then just leave it and it all pops up again,” William Warzecha said.
For those growing native plants, grasses and wildflowers within city limits, where burning is not allowed, the Warzechas said to chop them down about a foot above the ground in mid-March.
The Warzechas offered a few specific tips for planting wildflowers and natural plants.
To attract bunnies and keep them from eating the flowers, plant clover or do not kill the clover that may be naturally present.
To attract monarch butterflies, plant Asclepius, commonly known as orange butterfly weed, common milkweed or rose milkweed.
“Give it a full year after planting, and you will see monarchs,” William Warzecha said.
He also recommended planting meadow blazing star plants that will start blooming in late July/August because it is a high nectar plant that draws monarchs.
To draw butterflies, especially monarchs, later in the season, William Warzecha recommended planting New England astor.
Be sure to plant different host plants to attract different species throughout the year, such as planting golden alexanders to attract black swallow tail butterflies, one of many species that will be drawn to the plant, which blooms in May or June.
To attract hummingbirds, the couple recommends planting royal catchfly, a scarlet-colored flower on the Illinois Endangered and Threatened Species List that blooms in July.
If battling plant-eating insects called aphids, which the Warzechas said they do not have on their property, plant rattlesnake master and other plants known to draw aphids’ predators.