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Hallberg Butterfly Gardens
Categories: Local Flavor, Botanical Gardens, Active Life [Edit]
8687 Oak Grove AveSebastopol, CA 95472
(707) 823-3420
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
3 reviews for Hallberg Butterfly Gardens
Louise Hallberg is amazing and makes a side trek to Hallberg Butterfly Gardens worth it if you are in the area. Louise took a group of 10 ladies this past weekend meandering, telling us about the different types of butterflies that frequent her sanctuary and the impact of global warming. Louise older than 90 (according to the brochure and website), and despite her arthritic hands and slow pace, she's engaging and much more spry that you would think. She pointed to small monarch eggs (the size of a period) on the back of some milkweed.
That said, it's not the gardens you would imagine from a story book, with butterflies floating everywhere. The reality a lot of the plants that the various species of butterflies prefer are not so beautiful. It's not huge, but I can imagine in the spring it's much more full of life.
You can do a self-guided tour, but it was much more pleasurable to have Louise guide us. We did call in advance for our group of 10 and she was quite flexible with our ever changing schedule.
Be aware that because it's set up for butterflies other pollinators (such as bees) are plentiful. If you have allergies to either bees or pollen, you might want to be forewarned.
I imagine this would be great for kids, it was a nice place to sit and look around and Louise can tell stories of the wild turkeys that have come onto the property as well as the Anise butterfly that wouldn't nest in the fennel plants some professor planted.
A review of the website shows that there are no prices - as it is entirely up to you to make a donation. For our group, the suggested donation was $25. A bargain, considering this gem of a lady and a place.
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This place is a total gem. I wont give it a 5 star because although it is lovely, it is small and type of side trip, not a all day or even half day adventure. 1 hour tour is nice,but limiting. Nothing like going some place you can spend endless hours at enjoying what sparks your fancy. So now that we have that out of the way.
Took a tour with a group of homeschoolers recently. It was delightful and the weather was perfect. We identified 9 types of butterflies and observed eggs on the pipevines. Was a delightful time had by all I do believe. Our group was too large and the age range too vast. That made the discussions a bit juvinile for my already out of the little kid mode and onto the teen mode.
We will go back before winter though. Nice.. One note, even though we did not have Louise as our docent, she is still there giving tours at 92 she stated she was. Very cool indeed.
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The Hallberg Butterfly Gardens were started years ago, and Louise Hallberg, 88, takes care of the gardens today, much as she has for the past 25 years.
These gardens are wonderful. They span a few acres, with thousands of plants and dozens of species of butterflies. The insects thrive on the garden plants, and one of the oldest resident species of the gardens is the Pipevine Swallowtail, which lives off of pipevine planted over 70 years ago.
You have to make an appointment to get in, but the tour of the garden is well worth it. Louise guides you through the garden, explaining all of the plants and the butterflies that rely on them.
A very nice place to visit if you want to enjoy nature and all the beauty it provides.
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