Writing these columns for the last couple of years has brought me so much joy that I have decided to celebrate by changing the name of my writings to The Joyful Botanist. And nothing says launching a new name than launching a revolution while you’re at it. So, let’s start a revolution! 

The Mountain Monarch Festival will return to Gorges State Park in Transylvania County for its second year 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, celebrating the monarch butterfly during its migration season.

Join in for the sixth annual Pollinator Field Day 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River.

In the lull between summer’s peak and fall’s color arrival, things are on the quiet side at the Highlands Biological Station as the gardens make their transition from summer blooms to autumn vibrancy. But for those who know where to look, a world of change and color waits ripe for discovery.

That’s the world of pollinators — the army of butterflies, bees, moths, flies and wasps whose diet of nectar keeps flowers flowering.

It’s one of those summer days that’s so hot and humid it’s impossible to walk even two steps without sweating, and inside the butterfly house the air is even heavier, thick as a tropical rainforest.

But, for the butterflies, it’s perfect.

The monarch butterfly is known for its amazing annual spring and fall migration — from wintering grounds in Mexico in the spring northward across North America then reversing in fall and returning to Mexico, a trip of more than 2,000 miles (one way) for many of these hardy bugs. This migration is a biological mystery.