I think the importance of this grant is to reconnect my neighbors back into it. To make it more a communal space.
Like many throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Mission native Logan Dovalina found something to occupy his time. For him, that something was tending to a local butterfly garden in Mission.
Now as COVID restrictions have lifted that hobby has turned into a grant that he hopes to use to restore the garden and its community efforts in maintaining the garden.
The 21-year-old began studying lepidoptery, or the study of butterflies, in high school and has since participated in various grant-funded butterfly count projects has now taken it upon himself to help restore the Shary Heights Butterfly Garden in Mission.
“The Valley has an extraordinary and unique ecosystem … our ecosystem is really vital and important on a national level and it is my duty and my job to bring that beauty into everywhere which I go,” Dovalina said.
With the help of the Native Plant Society of Texas, Bring Back the Monarch to Texas Garden grant, Dovalina will be able to use that money to bring back not only the garden but also bring back community involvement in the garden.
The garden, which was established in 2007, began as a neighborhood garden that was maintained and cared for by the locals in the area. However, as time went on, Dovalina carried the responsibility on his own.
“I think the importance of this grant is to reconnect my neighbors back into it,” Dovalina said. “To make it more a communal space.”
According to Dovalina, 100 people throughout the state applied for the grant and Dovalina was among 46 to receive the grant which provided him with $180 to purchase the necessary plants for the garden.
He plans to use that money to purchase native milkweed and other native nectar plants that will help improve and create a safe environment for monarch butterflies.
In order to rekindle the community aspect of the garden, Dovalina will be hosting a restoration event in which community members can help him plant the newly purchased plants in the garden.
The event will be held Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Shary Heights Butterfly Garden. The garden is located off the Shary Municipal Golf Course which is located at 2201 N. Mayberry St. in Mission.
