What was once an empty area filled with rock hard soil in Palm Court now has a thriving butterfly garden. An idea thought of by two students, Amaris Munoz and Matthew Lam, who are sophomores, has been brought to life with the help of Keppel English teacher Ms. Patrice Flores and her family.
Ms. Flores had her two adult children help her with getting the soil ready, which took roughly two weeks. Even then, the soil was still hard. On Friday, October 13, 2023, the garden was able to finally put down its roots.
The garden was filled with solanna golden spheres, salvias, and garuas, all of which are native flora to California. While planting, two worms had managed to dig themselves up from the soil, which helps with providing plants nutrients and improving the soil. They were planted to increase not only the butterfly population and interest in gardening, but to also bring life and color to the school.
“Yeah… I think it would be nice if there’s some interest in it,” Lam said. “It’s very relaxing as art- as much as the work is sort of a lot, it’s therapeutic in a way.”
This garden was all due to a simple conservation during class when the two were freshmen.
“It was mainly (former English teacher) Ms. Parker going out on a nature walk and she basically talked about it,” Munoz said. “We were the most interested class for the nature walk.”
They were asked to fill a grant of $1,000 last year. This year, when it was accepted, Ms. Parker sent out an email asking if anyone was interested. Munoz and Lam were the only two who replied. They got in contact with Mrs. Flores, and that’s when they started working on the garden.
Lam stated, “… I’ve never done much gardening before this but I’m learning as I go.” Munoz added, “I used to garden with my mom, but we moved so [we stopped]. I know [some things], but what Ms. Flores is teaching I haven’t done before.”
Munoz and Lam learned new skills such as taking a plant out of the pot, the importance of a moat and how to properly plant plants. The garden will be cared for throughout the year and will be a flourishing new part of school that anyone can take a look at.
