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Spring Garden and Butterfly Festival returns to Cuyamaca College


Posted on: Mar 12, 2019 12:00:00 PM

 

Contact: Anne Krueger

 

anne.krueger@gcccd.edu

 

Butterfly releases, thousands of landscape and garden plants for sale, museum tours and more are on tap when the Spring Garden and Butterfly Festival returns to the Cuyamaca College campus for its 26th year on April 27.

 

 Several thousand visitors from throughout the region and beyond are expected to visit the college, which houses The Water Conservation Garden and the Heritage of the Americas Museum, and all three have planned an array of family friendly events. The Cuyamaca College Ornamental Horticulture Department will hold its largest plant sale of the year and Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego will provide free, narrated rides to and from the garden, the museum and the college.

 

 Making this year’s festival especially noteworthy: Cuyamaca College is celebrating its 40th anniversary and The Water Conservation is celebrating its 20th. Both will be hosting displays recalling their histories.

 

 “The Spring Garden and Butterfly Festival is among the most popular events in San Diego’s East County region, and for good reason,” said Cuyamaca College President Julianna Barnes. “Not only is the plant sale a major fundraiser for our award-winning Ornamental Horticulture Department, this festival also allows our college, The Water Conservation Garden and the Heritage of the Americas Museum to showcase an impressive array of innovative programs we offer to the community.”

 

 The annual event has its roots in the annual Spring Garden Festival plant sale benefiting the Ornamental Horticulture program. It combined forces with the annual Butterfly Festival at The Water Conservation Garden in 2017.

 

 Among the festival highlights this year:

 

           At Cuyamaca College:

  1.  The Ornamental Horticulture Department is holding its biggest plant sale of the year at the southwest section of the Grand Lawn.
  2. Tree climbing activities to benefit the Ornamental Horticulture Department’s “Tree Hugger Scholarship,” which is available for students planning a career in arboriculture.
  3. Exhibits and presentations from academic programs and support services.
  4. Information on the Grossmont-Cuyamaca College Promise program that provides a free year of tuition for first-time, full-time students.
  5. Food trucks and vendors.

         

 

At The Water Conservation Garden:

  1.  Butterfly Pavilion tours and butterfly releases.
  2. Story Time with Ms. Metamorphosis.
  3. Docent-led tours of the Garden.
  4. Landscape design consultations – call (619) 660-0154, ext. 10, to register.
  5. A Pollinator Party with Ms. Smarty Plants.

           At the Heritage of the Americas Museum:

  1.  A fine art show.
  2. Docent-led tours of the museum.
  3. A Five Choices Dream Drawing for prizes ranging from framed art to archeology artifacts. Proceeds will benefit the museum’s educational programs that serve more than 5,000 schoolchildren visiting the center annually.
  4. Demonstrations and presentations.
  5. Children’s reading time.
  6.  The Spring Garden and Butterfly Festival is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parking and admission is free.

 Cuyamaca College is at 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway, 92019. For more information, contact the Ornamental Horticulture Department at (619) 660-4262, or The Water Conservation Garden at (619) 660-0614 (ext. 14), or visit the festival website at

 

SpringGardenFestival.com.