HAPPENING!
CHILDREN’S BUTTERFLY GARDEN
RE-EMERGES ON SEPT. 14TH, 1pm

MORE INFO
The community is invited to a dedication event for
the Children’s Butterfly Garden at Silva Creek Botanical Garden, located on Virginia Street, in Silver City. The event is free and co-sponsored by the Gila Native Plant Society and Heart of the Gila.
Families are encouraged to attend the gathering which will include live music provided by Andrew Dahl-Bredine, an interactive butterfly activity for all ages, a puppet show, tours of the Botanical Garden and cake for everyone to celebrate the re-emerging of the Butterfly.
The Children’s Butterfly Garden was originally created by local middle schoolers in 2014 and dedicated to the memory of three teens, Ella Kirk, Ella Myers, and Michael Mahl, after their
untimely deaths in a small aircraft accident in Grant County. The three were all dedicated to protecting the environment.
With larger wings, beautiful new flagstone pathways, and the addition of two stunning tiled benches, the Children’s Butterfly Garden has emerged more beautiful, more accessible and will be a place of learning for many more years to come.

We hope everyone will come and enjoy the Garden and celebrate with us.

Below: Heart of the Gila volunteer, Zinnia, stands in front of our two, newly installed, stunning tile benches (by Zoe Wolfe) honoring Ella Sala Myers (hummingbirds) & Michael Sebastian Mahl (ladybugs).

We’re Spreading Our Wings!
The Children’s Butterfly Garden is Expanding.
Please help us Grow!
Donate to the Effort.

The Children’s Butterfly Garden honors the legacy of Ella Kirk. Ella Meyers, and Michael Mahl by providing a place for contemplation, fun learning, and lasting beauty.  For the last 8 years, Heart of the Gila has provided funding and volunteer labor to keep this little garden vibrant.  We are asking you to join us as we spread our wings!

Under the stewardship of the Gila Native Plant Society (GNPS), The Silva Creek Botanical Garden in Silver City unveiled a new master plan this Summer. The area that includes our “Butterfly” will expand to the west and become a larger, youth oriented, pollinator garden with interactive elements and lots more flowers!  The Children’s Butterfly Garden will continue to serve as the central location for Heart of the Gila’s Monarch Butterfly and Endangered Species programming. Along with the new pollinator garden, our Butterfly will grow to provide an expanded living classroom for local schools, and a self-guided experience available to families visiting the garden. 

You can join this effort by earmarking your donation to Heart of the Gila for the Children’s Butterfly Expansion. Please Donate Today!

Read more about the Silva Creek Botanical Garden Master Plan here:  Garden Plan

  • Heart of the Gila is helping to raise money for the Butterfly expansion, and we need your help. We are hoping to raise $8,000  Here’s how your donations will be used.
  • Planting beds will be enlarged and reshaped to better represent butterfly wings.
  • Rock-lined gravel pathways will be replaced with colored flagstones to create the butterfly shape.
  • We will be digging out invasive grasses, replacing soil, and installing a drip irrigation system.
  • Planting of additional milkweeds and a variety of flowering, pollinator plants.”
  • Two new benches will be created, tiled and installed by local artist, Zoe Wolfe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The project will begin this September with assistance from a local Youth Conservation Garden Crew .  We plan to have it completed in time for a rededication ceremony in the Fall of 2024.  Heart of the Gila board member Naava Koenigsberg is the project manager for the Children’s Butterfly Garden renovation project and is a member of the Silva Creek Botanical Garden Steering Committee and the GNPS Garden Management Team.

Help us Spread our Wings!

DONATE TO THE CHILDREN’S BUTTERFLY GARDEN