We may have won the battle with the javelina but are not yet celebrating. If you’ve stopped by the Patagonia Butterfly Garden lately, you may have noticed that it is fully fenced, with a
gate. This javelina deterrent was designed and installed by Abel Murrietta to end years of frustration for the volunteers maintaining the garden. Tender plants which were carefully installed often were found dug up and partially eaten the next day…or worse, just dug up and left to die. And then there’s the poop…
For those unfamiliar with its history, the Butterfly Garden was built and financed in 1996 by civic minded Patagonians whose names can be found on a plaque on the gate post. Every year volunteers have monitored irrigation, planted and maintained butterfly friendly plants, dealt with changing conditions, built and decorated benches and tried to create a shady place for humans and a haven for butterflies. The team of volunteers has a great time doing this. We meet all kinds of people with all kinds of questions when we’re working in the garden – some of which we’re able to answer. Hopefully, the garden will inspire visitors to plant some of the pollinator friendly plants themselves.
We anticipate that the garden will flourish even more with this improvement. Please stop by to visit our garden, the Little Free Library and the butterflies (as soon as they show up). And if you are interested in volunteering, we would be happy to have you dig in the dirt with us!
Your Butterfly Garden Volunteers are Pam Sober, Jerri Waters, Linda Evans, Janie Trafton, Jude Weirman, David Clark, Barb Rodgers, Joyce Sander and Lou Schatz.