Establishing a Pollinator Garden at the San Antonio Zoo

January 27, 2022

Alamo Heights - Terrell Hills GC Continues Support for Pollinator Habitats

In February, 2021, San Antonio, Texas suffered an historic freeze. The freeze resulted in a devastating loss of vegetation at the San Antonio Zoo. In May, the Alamo Heights - Terrell Hills Garden Club provided the financial means to help the zoo create the zoo’s first pollinator garden complete with specific nectar and pollen producing plants designed to attract pollinators from early spring into late fall.

Last fall, the zoo’s horticulture department, under director Bob Waterman, began construction with the implementation of raised beds and berms for the planting. Plans also include the construction of a fountain and an arbor covered circle to allow visitors to relax in shade as they view the garden.

The club is no stranger to the needs of this project, having made the Monarch butterfly population and habitats a club priority. It is proud to have had its own butterfly garden at Hondondo Creek Trail in Alamo Heights recognized as a Monarch Way Station by Monarch Watch, a program dedicated to sustaining Monarch butterfly habitats. Each year, the club hosts local elementary school students to a butterfly release at the garden where students, families, and community members release butterflies that they have hatched from larva kits then watch with jubilation as they fly. Watching an egg grow from a caterpillar into a butterfly has been exciting for both the garden club families and the children. The importance of taking care of pollinators is spreading through the learning tool of the Alamo Heights – Terrell Hills Garden Club butterfly garden and with their help, soon the San Antonio Zoo.

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