25-05-2025
'Monarch mother' Ellen Reid reflects on 50 years of butterfly breeding
If you spot a small orange butterfly fluttering around St Arnaud there is a good chance it was raised by Ellen Reid.
The 82-year-old retired pharmacist has been breeding butterflies from her verdant green garden in western Victoria for more than 50 years.
It is a passion that took flight in the early 1970s sparked by a chance encounter with famed TV naturalist Harry Butler.
"I just think they're wonderful little creatures," Ms Reid said with a laugh.
Every year she contributes thousands of butterflies of different varieties to St Arnaud's local population, delighting as they slowly make their way from her home to the town's botanic gardens.
"This year alone I've done about 1,500 [Queen] monarchs, as well as several hundred jezebels," she said.
"It's lovely. We send them off and hope they'll go and multiply, and that they bring joy to people."
Ms Reid has raised queen monarchs, jezabels and yellow admirals for decades.
Once fully grown she sets them free to flutter wherever wind and wing carry them.
But this year, with dry conditions dragging on, most have stayed closer to home, clustering in large numbers throughout the gardens.
Ms Reid says watching the butterfly's transformation — from egg to caterpillar, then to butterfly — is part of the joy of the job.
"In about 10 to 14 days it transforms from a leaf-processing creature to a nectar-drinking butterfly," she said.
It is not something she keeps to herself.
She gives away cocoons to community members and zoos keen to assist with butterfly conservation.
The butterflies feast on nectar-rich plants called buddlejas that Ms Reid grows especially for them.
"We've got 40 different buddlejas so that we've got nectar all year," she said.
Her daughter, Jean Reid, said butterflies had been a constant throughout her life.
She said it was all she had ever known since the age of four.
"I grew up thinking everybody bred butterflies and I used to take them to school. It's just something that we do.
"You never ever get used to seeing a butterfly being born.
"It's something that everybody should watch once in their lifetime and I'm so very blessed to have it just about every day."
Ellen Reid said butterfly gardening, simply put, was a beautiful thing to do.
"It adds magic to the garden."
Ellen and Jean Reid are not alone in their efforts.
They have shared cocoons with several businesses around town helping to spark joy, colour and biodiversity at the same time.
Local gardener Barry Robertson is in awe of Ms Reid's dedication.
"I just think Ellen's a remarkable woman because of what she's done here," he said.
"Over the years they've been through a bit of trial and error, and a bit of hardship with the different seasons.
"But I think it's got to a stage now where she's very happy with what she's doing."
Mr Robertson said her passion has sparked special moments of joy around town.
Ms Reid is not eyeing retirement from the caper just yet.
It is something that brings too much joy.
The Reids dream of establishing a butterfly education centre in St Arnaud — a place to inspire others and share what they have learned.
But until then, Ellen Reid will keep filling her garden, and her town, with quiet flashes of colour, one butterfly at a time.
