Embedded Files
Our Story
Our Story
It started on July 4, 2022, with five women and a question.
On July 4, 2022, five of us from the Sierra Club's Santa Margarita Group had just finished touring the new Butterfly Garden at Temecula Creek Golf Course.
Brett Wininger, the manager there, had applied to Audubon for their Monarchs in the Rough program. He designed a garden in the shape of a butterfly and planted the five pounds of native seed they sent him.
The moment I heard the Monarch butterfly was going extinct, I felt a sense of urgency. What can we do? What can I do? I went home and started a Facebook group called the Temecula Valley Native Plant Network.
The basic idea was to build something local, nonpartisan, and relational — a community of friends who cared about nature and about saving the Monarch.
Earth Day Festival at Vail Headquarters
Earth Day Festival at Vail Headquarters
Eve Cannella was our lead organizer. It brought together an enormous number of groups and individuals, and we're already looking forward to the next one.
The 3rd Annual Butterfly Expo
The 3rd Annual Butterfly Expo
Held at the French Valley Library, with ten lightning talks, about thirty educational vendors, and music. We gave our Environmental Champion award to Caren Hanson.
We Keep Trying New Things
We Keep Trying New Things
These all happened for the first time in 2025:
Adopt-a-Park, City of Temecula — native plant gardens and a Butterfly Trail at the Temecula Public Library.
Bat Walk — Steve Lusky organized this at the Wildomar 20-Acre Nature Park and brought in Rob Sheppard of Rotary Murrieta and Cindy Myers of Project Wildlife to share their bat knowledge.
Earth Day Festival — our biggest event yet, at Vail Headquarters.
Home Garden Tours — Anne Sullivan Preschool in Wildomar, Thamar and Martyn Draper's in French Valley, and Jan and Mike's in Temecula.
Patio Parties — one at Jan and Mike's in Temecula, one at Lori Smith's in Tenaja.
Second Saturday Adventure — a weekend field trip to a botanical garden, museum, event, or activity.
Taco Tuesday — fourth Tuesday of every month at Rosa's Cafe in Temecula, so people who work during the day can join us too.
Little Free Library — at the Vail Headquarters Butterfly Garden.
And the unglamorous milestones — a logo, business cards, stickers, our first Eventbrite invitation, and a brochure that's still a work in progress.
Field Trip to the Huntington Library 2025
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse