Association for Butterflies is pleased to announce the butterfly habitat mini-grant awarded for 2023!

Coldwater Community Center, Coldwater, MI – $400

Each grant awarded is a matching-fund grant and applicants raise funds to meet that match.

Four garden areas were planted with native plants that attract butterflies.

1.  A rain garden adjacent to the building

2.  A brick planter with a small serviceberry tree underplanted with native groundcover.  (Note: the photo shows both the native plants and some annual impatiens we planted to fill in this year until the perennials take hold.)

3.  A small respite garden along the path leading from Coldwater’s Four Corners Park into the Community Center grounds.

4.  A focal point garden in the center of the enclosed brick patio area.

As per our plan, we put up a large butterfly wind chime providing a visual sign of the garden’s purpose.  Our initial plan called for metal wall art depicting butterflies on the side of the building, but ongoing restoration efforts in this area caused us to rethink that plan and add a butterfly themed wind chime instead.  This also helps solve another problem we have in the area, a lot of loud street noise.  It sits directly over the garden on a shepherd’s crook, so we think it’s actually better than adjacent wall art on the building.

We also added a sign identifying AFB as the donor for the garden plants. We were assisted all spring, summer and fall by a dedicated cadre of volunteers, including two volunteers pictured in the photo of the finished garden, from the Coldwater High School Multicultural Club who volunteered six hours EVERY WEEK throughout the whole process and did the bulk of the work along with board members and the Landscape Committee Chair.