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Ladybug Day draws crowd at Lewes Children’s Learning Garden

Maeva Colona, 5, of Lewes, left, and her mom Beth check out the Children’s Learning Garden in Stango Park. Maeva and dozens of other children later released 3,000 ladybugs into the garden. NICK ROTH PHOTOS
Nick Roth
July 24, 2018

The Lewes Children’s Learning Garden held its annual Ladybug Day July 20, drawing dozens of eager and curious kids hoping to see a ladybug up close. 

After painting rocks to look like ladybugs and crafting ladybug-themed crowns, the children had their chance to place live ladybugs on vegetables in the garden. Lewes in Bloom provided 3,000 ladybugs for the children to spread. Ladybugs consume plant-eating insects, making them very helpful to gardens.

The garden was filled with signs featuring facts about ladybugs. Some include:

• A ladybug is called a ladybird in Great Britain

• A ladybug tastes and smells with its antennae 

• A ladybug’s jaw chews side to side rather than up and down

• Ladybugs come out of eggs as larvae, resembling tiny black alligators 

• Ladybugs are both male and female 

• Ladybugs play dead to defend themselves 

• A ladybug can consume up to 75 aphids a day 

• There are about 5,000 different species of ladybugs. 

The Children’s Learning Garden offers programs every Monday and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Every Monday is Garden Story Hour with children’s librarian Jennifer Noonan. Friday activities vary each week. Upcoming programs include The Wonder of Seed with Abbott’s Mill Nature Center on July 27, Makin’ Music with Nancy Curry on Aug. 3 and Cooking with Dianne Stevens on Aug. 10. 

Maeva Colona, 5, of Lewes, left, and her mom Beth check out the Children’s Learning Garden in Stango Park. Maeva and dozens of other children later released 3,000 ladybugs into the garden. NICK ROTH PHOTOS
Callie Arnold, 4, of Baltimore takes a closer look at a ladybug crawling up her arm. She’s aided by her grandfather Lou Greenfeld.
A ladybug creeps up a leafy green.
Freed ladybugs scamper anywhere they can go.
Elena Bogan, 3, of Lewes tries to put a ladybug in the garden, but it instead crawls up her arm.
Marcus Van Norman, 2, of Milton patiently waits to go into the garden.
Dax Lerer, 5, of Brooklyn, N.Y., works on a crown with his sister.
A ladybird-themed rock dries in the sun.
Elsie Hart, 5, of Connecticut diligently works on her crown.
A ladybug enjoys its newfound freedom in the garden.

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Nick Roth is the news editor. He has been with the Cape Gazette since 2012, previously covering town beats in Milton and Lewes. In addition to serving on the editorial board and handling page layout, Nick is responsible for the weekly Delaware History in Photographs feature and enjoys writing stories about the Cape Region’s history. Prior to the Cape Gazette, Nick worked for the Delmarva Media Group, including the Delaware Wave, Delaware Coast Press and Salisbury Daily Times. He also contributed to The News Journal. Originally from Boyertown, Pa., Nick attended Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania, graduating in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He’s won several MDDC awards during his career for both writing and photography. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, going to the beach with his family and cheering for Philadelphia sports teams. 

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