The Association for Butterflies mini-grant was awarded to Blooms of Blessing, SAND Preschool of Decatur and Trion City School 0f Trion. The grant will create or improve habitat for pollinators and provide for nature and community to come together.

Blooms of Blessing of Concord, North Carolina.

We are a nonprofit greenhouse organization that is super passionate about supporting pollinators in our community. Last fall we had land donated for our use. We would like to plant a pollinator field to support healthy pollinator life cycles with both host and nectar plants for various butterflies in our
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region. We will also use this area to harvest seeds to be able to begin pollinator gardens within the school gardens and community gardens we partner with as well as use these seeds to replant our own pollinator field year after year. We currently partner with 15 locations in our community. We help at each location on various levels. Several locations have already established garden spaces and in those schools/preschools we support them with seeds, plants and regular volunteer days helping with upkeep of their gardens and teacher trainings. We have other locations that have no gardens at all, and we come in and help build raised bed gardens for them and then support planting through supplying seeds, plants and again volunteering our time to the success of their program. We have a couple of elementary schools that simply just need occasional plants, they are well established and harvest their own seeds yearly, and they need man power, a group to come in on a regular basis and just help with upkeep and garden maintenance which we are happy to do. The garden programs we help establish and make seed and plant deliveries to on a regular basis, we have carefully and purposefully thought out the plant combinations we supply to provide excellent and beneficial companion planting while supporting pollinators and giving the students quality garden learning environments. Another aspect of what we do is saving pollinator friendly plants, trees, shrubs, etc. from being thrown into trash compactors when they do not sell (places like Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot). So many plants are simply tossed in the garbage, so we try our hardest to work with managers for donation or special discounted buy-outs of these plants before they are thrown away. We bring these plants back to our organization, nurse them back to health, because often they are not selling because they are not in the best condition due to how long they sit in these garden centers, and then get them donated out into our community.

SAND Preschool of Decatur, Georgia

Our preschool stands on a busy intersection in Decatur, GA. One by one over the last five years, the neighborhoods and urban forest on the three other corners have been bulldozed to make way for apartments, shops, and restaurants. Our acre of forest, garden, and church remains. We started
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dreaming of ways our entire community – old and new neighbors of all ages and abilities – can benefit from our garden space we call The Woods. The preschool met with church leaders, including the Trustees, the Green Team, and church gardeners. We then hired Shades of Green Permaculture to develop the garden plan. The plan includes urban reforestation to beautify our neighborhood, a pollinator garden, a certified butterfly garden, native species, and edible garden plants. The Woods will be completely accessible for individuals with mobility concerns. It will be open to our homeless neighbors to glean food, as they do from our current garden. Our current garden is a vital part of our preschool and community. About 20% of our students live in apartments and have limited access to outdoor recreation. 20% of our students are from immigrant communities, and our number of LGBTQ and minority families is highly representative of Decatur. All of our children live in an urban environment. Here at SAND they are able to spend at least 15 hours a week outside, engaging in nature, and enjoying the therapeutic benefits of outdoor play. Our hope is to extend this education and engagement with nature to the whole community.
As described below, The Woods project will create a natural wetlands area, community gathering space, meditation nooks, a butterfly and pollinator garden, edible garden, and urban forest. Specifically, the butterfly garden will benefit butterflies by providing all of the nectar plants, host plants, water sources, shrubs, and other habitat needs of butterflies. Nectar plants will include azalea, native honeysuckle, cardinal flower, and coneflower. Host plants will include butterfly milkweed, native pawpaws, parsley, dill, fennel, red maples, and swamp milkweed. Water sources will be provided through the water catchment system and our existing garden water feature. Bushes and shrubs will include star anise, beach plum, blueberries, fragrant tea olives, beauty berry, and oakleaf hydrangeas. We are using all native species, untreated plants that will remain untreated in our organic garden, and taking into consideration scent, color, and attracting other pollinators (like bees and ladybugs). We plan to become a Certified Pollinator Garden, a member of the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail, and a Monarch Way Station. We hope to attract Monarchs, Tiger Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Cloudless Sulpher, Gulf Fritillary, Painted Lady, and many more species.

Trion City School of Trion, Georgia

Our project will create a butterfly habitat and expanded, beautiful outdoor classroom in an unplanted location (TrionCit4.jpg) at the center of our school for student learning and community enjoyment during summer 2019. It will become the central feature of a developing garden area using recycled pallets (TrionCit1.jpg) and raised bed planters for planting seasonal fruits and vegetables and edible flowers. It will be flanked by a perennial herb garden (TrionCit3.jpg), “living wall” (designed and created by a student inspired by the Atlanta Botanical Gardens—TrionCit2.jpg), and greenhouse. Incorporating a koi/goldfish pond with water fountain and water plants, the pollinator garden will feature perennial flowers and shrubs—both nectar and host plants (with good pollen and foliage sources), including Georgia native plants, to attract a variety of butterflies. Shrubs to be included are: vitex, butterfly bush, pussy willow, weigela, spirea, and abelia. Climbing shrubs to be planted, to beautify existing HVAC units flanking one side of the area include: wisteria, honeysuckle, and passion flower. Flowering plants to be planted include: lily, violets, black-eye susans, coneflower, marigolds, zinnias, milkweed/butterfly weed, bee balm, sage, salvia, dianthus, columbine, and phlox. No pesticides or chemicals will be used that could potentially harm the butterflies, at any stage of their lifecycles. The entire project is the responsibility of a high school club called the Green Team (created in 2016), assisted by a middle school club called the Green Seeds (created in 2018). Planting soil will include compost sourced from community donors and created as part of the Green Team’s cafeteria scrap recycling project, commenced in January 2019. The butterfly habitat will be used by elementary/middle/high school students as part of life science study, on all related topics such as life-cycles, metamorphosis, cross-pollination and inherited traits. The entire garden will be maintained by students, facilitated by Georgia Master Gardener volunteers, UGA Extension, and community gardeners. Support and donations will be sought from community partners, including the Town of Trion maintenance department (donors of mulch, pea gravel, weed mat) and garden centers. Garden features will be hand made by school students: high school construction will build raised bed planters; elementary/middle school students will paint decorative rocks; middle/high school art students will make signs and decorative stepping stones; and high school art students will create a mosaic mural focal point completing the garden area. The intent is to create a sustainable garden that will provide a unique, beautiful demonstration/learning garden that will bring students together with their community and encourage environmental stewardship for years to come. Total project cost: $2,500, of which we seek $1,250 grant and matching funds to be raised $1,250 per below