In the past two years, Hallmark Channel alum and soap opera star Ryan Paevey has rearranged his life to prioritize joy, including stepping away from acting for over a year to be with family and friends, focus on his jewelry-making business, and get back into nature more often.
After some soul-searching and time away from the spotlight, Paevey returned to acting in September 2025, when the soap where he got his start, “General Hospital,” invited him to return after seven years away. He stepped back into the role of Nathan West, but he has also insisted on balancing that with plenty of time for enjoying nature, including surfing, traveling, and even raising monarch butterflies.
Ryan Paevey Says His Inner 8-Year-Old is ‘Super Happy’ About His Butterfly Garden
For the last several months, Paevey has elevated his presence on YouTube with videos of his outdoor adventures, from San Diego to the Caribbean. But in a social media video posted on February 27, 2026, he revealed one of the ways he enjoys nature right in his own backyard: his beautiful butterfly garden of milkweed plants.
“Fun fact about me….. love nature, and everything in it,” the “Paging Mr. Darcy” star captioned the video. “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been endlessly fascinated by plants and animals, and especially the biodiversity of the insect world…and caterpillars were my favorite. Even now, I can’t go on a hike without checking leaves for bites and poops, haha.”
Paevey continued, “So, I planted a butterfly garden as a sort of rest stop for some of my favs, Monarchs, on their migration south. Now a part of my morning routine includes checking up on my frens in the backyard. 8 year old me is super happy about it.”
“Ever since I was a kid, the holy grail has been monarchs,” he explained in his video, noting that he’s grown plants “just for them” at his Southern California home where they can “recharge, refuel, and maybe lay some eggs so I can have some new friends for, like, two weeks.”
Each spring, millions of monarchs head north from Mexico, making their way to places like Texas and California before continuing on to the northern states, according to CBS8.
Fans Swooning Over Ryan Paevey’s Backyard Butterfly Garden
ABCNaturally, Paevey’s fans swooned over his butterfly garden footage and the fact that he takes such good care of caterpillars that eventually become monarchs, which he called “one of nature’s wildest transformative journeys.”
“That was awesome Ryan,” one wrote. “Thank you for sharing the journey of the butterfly. You are so kind and talented to make a place for them to grow. ❤️it was nice you documented the stages to share with us.”
Another fan gushed, “This is so awesome Ryan! You are such an incredible human! To create a place for such beauty to cultivate and exist and continue! I love this! Thank you so much for sharing! ❤️”
Someone else asked, “Can we get Ryan a nature show to narrate? Using his terms, of course… ‘water balloon full of goo with legs and wings’ 😂 It would be magical 💫✨️💖🦋 Thanks for giving us a little glimpse of your beautiful garden ❤️”
Even Paevey’s girlfriend, Kiley Missere, weighed in, writing “Just one of my very favourite fun facts about ya 😘❤️🤘🏽”
Ryan was not in the movie “Paging Mr. Darcy”. He was in the movie “Unleashing Mr. Darcy”.