By Helen Delavan, founding member of the FCRP

The hillside across the street from the pool, which is now the beloved Butterfly Garden, was a very plain slope for years! My idea was to beautify it, and it evolved into the Butterfly Garden. The timing was right since the 2002 City Administrator’s wife was landscape designer, Maura Yates. She volunteered to design the garden.

Griggs Co. did the concrete ADA ramps with funds from the City. The site plan was done by Jim Temple of TPWD. The rocks were purchased by the City from David Zinsmeister and carefully “placed” by Ernie Ayala on his Bobcat. The new soil was purchased from Landscape Solutions and spread out by the AmeriCorp Team, who were at the Regional Park to help us with damage from the Flood of 2002. They also helped install the sprinkler system.

I purchased the plants from Medina Valley Greenhouse with City funds. Planting them was a group effort. Some were stolen the night they were planted and some were consumed by our resident deer herd, but most survived and thrived. Seven months after the initial work, it was a lush garden. And this was accomplished before the FCRP was even formed in 2007!

Today the FCRP still enjoys gardening by starting the Botanical Trail in 2015 and supporting the Riparian Demonstration Garden in 2026 – created with a grant from TWRI. We continue to watch over the Garden of Roots (started in 1996!) and the Butterfly Garden. With support from City of Castroville Park Staff and volunteers, the Castroville Regional Park has a great tradition of gardening.

So every beautiful trail and garden you see today started with a simple idea and hands willing to dig in. We can’t do it alone, and we’d love for you to be a part of our story.