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AT THE BULVERDE/SPRING BRANCH LIBRARY JUST NORTH OF SAN ANTONIO, PEOPLE ARE CHECKING
OUT MORE THAN BOOKS AND MEDIA. THIS IS NOT JUST A LIBRARY, THIS IS A COMMUNITY
CENTER. WE HAVE PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS, FOR CHILDREN.
BEING SORT OF OUT IN THE COUNTRY HERE, IT'S A PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO COME AND SOCIALIZE.
SO, WHEN THE NEW BUILDING OPENED IN 2008, FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY AND COMAL MASTER GARDENERS
DUG IN TO EXTEND THE COMMUNITY OUTDOORS IN A BUTTERFLY GARDEN.
WHEN WE WERE IN ANOTHER BUILDING BEFORE WE BUILT THIS BEAUTIFUL NEW LIBRARY, I HAD AN
IDEA FOR A BUTTERFLY GARDEN AND I INTENDED THAT IT WOULD BE A LEARNING TOOL FOR ADULTS
AS WELL AS CHILDREN. THEY SITED IT AT THE EDGE OF THE PARKING LOT,
ENCLOSING ITS SANCTUARY FROM A HARSH VIEW TO BUSY HIGHWAYS BELOW.
THEY JUST SAY OKAY, LET'S DO IT. AND THEY DO IT.
THEY DON'T WAIT UNTIL, LET'S THINK ABOUT IT AND PLAN IT.
I MEAN, THEY DO IT. IF IT DOESN'T WORK THEY DON'T DO IT AGAIN.
IF IT DOES WORK, HOW DO WE IMPROVE ON IT. WE INVITED THE MASTER GARDENERS TO COME IN
AND HELP US DESIGN. AND THERE WERE ABOUT TWELVE OF THEM WHO CAME
OVER AND WE WALKED OUT ON THE PROPERTY AND ONE OF THEM BROUGHT HER SPRAY CAN AND SAID,
OKAY HERE'S WHERE WE'RE GOING TO DO THIS BED AND THIS BED.
AND YOU WANT IT SORT OF CURVED. YOU DON'T WANT THE HILL TO BLOCK THE BUTTERFLIES,
YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE OVER THE HILL, BUT YOU NEED TO BLOCK THE WIND, AND SO IT
STARTED FROM THAT AND THEN IT EVOLVED. WE PUT OUT A NOTICE TO LIBRARY PATRONS THAT
WE WOULD LIKE PLANTS DONATED AND WE GOT QUITE A FEW, AND THEN AMONG US WE ALL HAD SOME PLANTS.
WE HAD A COUPLE OF NURSERIES THAT DONATED A FEW PLANTS.
MOSTLY THEY CAME FROM WITHIN OUR COMMITTEE. BOTH CHARLOTTE AND LEE ARE GREAT PROPAGATORS.
WE USED THE FREE MULCH FROM THE COUNTRY AND THEN FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY SET ASIDE SOME
MONEY TO BE SPENT ON THINGS LIKE THE DECOMPOSED GRANITE AND THAT SORT OF THING.
WE HAVE A LOT OF MULCH DOWN. WE HAVE BROUGHT IN NO SOIL, THIS IS ALL NATIVE
SOIL, BUT THE MULCH HAS HELPED TO COMPOST IT.
WE WE PUT NEWSPAPER UNDER THE MULCH, WHICH HOLDS THE MOISTURE IN SOME AND KEEPS THE WEEDS
DOWN. TO SELECT PLANTS, THEY TOOK A CUE FROM THE
ONES NATURE HAD PLANTED ON THE WINDY HILLTOP. WE'VE TRIED TO KEEP THIS GARDEN VERY NATURAL
WITHOUT A LOT OF ALIEN SPECIES AND I THINK WE'VE BEEN TRUE TO THAT.
THEY WENT FOR DEER RESISTANCE, EVERGREEN STRUCTURE, AND PLANTS THAT CYCLE FLOWERS THROUGHOUT THE
YEAR FOR VISUAL PLEASURE AND TO FEED RESIDENT AND MIGRATORY WILDLIFE.
IN THE WINTER TIME, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ROSEMARY, EITHER UPRIGHT OR TRAILING,
WILL BLOOM WITH LITTLE BLUE FLOWERS. THE MORNING IF YOU HAVE A SUNNY MORNING WHERE
IT'S SEVENTY DEGREES AFTER YOU'VE HAD TWENTY FIVE OVERNIGHT, IN THIS PART OF TEXAS YOU'LL
HAVE BLUE FLOWERS ON THERE, AND AMAZINGLY YOU'LL GO OUT AT TEN IN THE MORNING AND THERE'S
SULFUR BUTTERFLIES. THAT'S A GREAT NECTAR SOURCE DURING THE WINTER FOR BUTTERFLIES THAT
BECOME ACTIVE WHEN THE TEMPERATURE GETS ABOVE SEVENTY.
ONE OF MY FAVORITES IS THE
BLUE MIST FLOWER, WHICH IS A FABULOUS PLANT FOR ATTRACTING QUEEN BUTTERFLIES, WHICH RESEMBLE
MONARCHS. THEY'RE VERY CLOSELY RELATED, BUT THEY ARE
HERE ALL SUMMER, WHERE THE MONARCHS COME THROUGH ON MIGRATION IN THE SPRING AND MAKE A GENERATION
AND THEN IN THE FALL THEY'RE GOING BACK TO MEXICO WHERE THEY OVERWINTER.
THE QUEEN IS HERE ALL SUMMER LONG. THEY BOOKMARK EACH PLANT.
IF IT'S WORKING HERE I CAN DO IT AT HOME BECAUSE THE CONDITIONS THE CLIMATE THE SOIL IS THE
SAME. AND WHAT THE HECK'S THE NAME OF THIS PLANT
YOU KNOW? AND SO GETTING THOSE TAGS ON IS I THINK KEY
TO THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF SEEING THE PLANTS, SO TO SPEAK, IN THE FLESH.
TO EDUCATE PATRONS ABOUT THE GARDEN'S BUTTERFLIES, FRIENDS' PHOTOGRAPHER CHARLOTTE TRUSSELL DOCUMENTS
THEM AND THEIR LIFE CYCLE FOR A LIBRARY DISPLAY. BACK OUTSIDE, PATRONS GO ON A DISCOVERY HUNT
TO FIND THE EGGS AND LARVA THEY'VE COME TO RECOGNIZE.
IT'S SORT OF LIKE THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG, WHICH CAME FIRST THE BUTTERFLY, THE EGG OR
THE LARVA. YOU HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL DIFFERENT STAGES.
AND WE HAVE PLANTS HERE THAT DO DRAW THE BUTTERFLIES FOR LARVA AND THEN WE HAVE OTHER PLANTS THAT
PROVIDE NECTAR FOR THEM ONCE THEY TURN INTO BUTTERFLIES.
WE ALSO HAVE PLANTS THAT PROVIDE NEITHER, BUT ARE SHELTER DURING BAD WEATHER.
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY LISA REID FOUND A NEW PASSION, DOCUMENTING WILDLIFE WITH HER CAMERA.
LEE AND HIS SON MICHAEL ARE WELL ATTUNED TO THE GARDEN'S VISITORS.
TO SUPPLEMENT BUTTERFLY FOOD, ESPECIALLY IN DORMANT SEASONS, PAT ROBERTSON PAINTS A PLANK
WITH A CONCOCTION OF BEER, BROWN SUGAR, AND OVERRIPE BANANAS.
THERE'S ALWAYS FRESH WATER. ALTHOUGH THE PLANTS DON'T NEED MUCH TENDING,
MASTER GARDENERS LIKE BILL PUCKETT AND PEGGY HAMM TIDY THINGS UP AND WATER NEW PLANTS UNTIL
THEY'RE ESTABLISHED. THANKS TO A GRANT, A 40,000 GALLON RAINWATER
TANK FEEDS THE DRIP SYSTEM FOR ESTABLISHED PLANTS.
AND WHAT'S A GARDEN, ESPECIALLY A LIBRARY GARDEN, WITHOUT A COMFY PLACE TO READ?
WITH MOSAIC ARTISTRY, THE MASTER GARDENERS STYLED UP AN ORDINARY BENCH.
THANKS TO COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS, THE BULVERDE/SPRING BRANCH LIBRARY BRIDGES KNOWLEDGE FROM INSIDE
OUT. AND PART OF THE KNOWLEDGE WE TRY TO IMPART
AT THIS LIBRARY, AS WELL AS THE TWO OTHERS IN COMAL COUNTY, ARE TO HAVE IT BE AN EXAMPLE
OF WHAT WILL WORK HERE. THEY COME OUT AND LOOK AT PLANTS AND THEY
SAY IF THEY GROW IT HERE, I GUESS I CAN GROW IT AT HOME.
IN THE SUMMER THEY TEACH CLASSES TO THE LITTLE KIDS AND THEY BRING THEM OUT HERE AND THEY
WALK THEM THROUGH AND THEY TEACH THEM HOW TO GROW THINGS.
AND SO THE FRIENDS THAT ARE DOING THIS, THEY REALLY HAVE DONE SO MUCH TO HELP THE PATRONS,
BUT THE PATRONS LOVE IT. I MEAN, YOU SEE THEM OUT HERE ALL THE TIME.
YOU KNOW, THEY'VE BEEN ADDING THINGS LIKE THE PICNIC TABLE AND THE BENCHES, BUT YOU
SEE FAMILIES WITH THEIR KIDS OUT HERE READING A BOOK AND THE KIDS JUST LOVE THE BUTTERFLIES.
AND THEY'LL FIND CATERPILLARS AND WE HAVE TO PUT IT BACK, YOU KNOW, SO THEY IT'S REALLY
AMAZING. IT'S JUST BEEN WONDERFUL. A COUPLE OF TIMES I'VE COME OUT AND THERE
HAVE BEEN CHILDREN OUT HERE THAT THE MOTHER HAS BEEN SAYING, WE CAME TO GET BOOKS, AND
THEY HAVE SAID, WE HAVE TO DO THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN FIRST.
WE HAVE HAD PEOPLE HERE FROM OUT OF STATE WHO COME AND TAKE PICTURES AND SAY THEY'RE
GOING BACK AND THEY'RE GOING TO BUILD A GARDEN IN THEIR AREA.