Photos provided by CJ McCartney
Have you ever wondered how to attract butterflies and other pollinators to your yard? Here’s your chance to learn from an expert! In celebration of National Garden Week, June 2-8, Wellington Garden Club is pleased to sponsor a presentation by CJ McCartney, Master Gardener and Environmental Steward, who will help you learn how to enhance your landscaping by using native plants to attract butterflies and other pollinators.
The event will be held on Thursday, June 6, beginning at 5:30 PM at the Wellington Branch Library, 1951 Royal Fern Drive, Wellington. Free native plant seedlings will be given to attendees.
CJ McCartney began her journey to become an Environmental Steward in the late 1990s when she moved to South Florida from Chicago where she owned a public affairs consulting firm. The move prompted a shift in interests. Unfettered from her company, and now living in a subtropical climate, she began cycling and hiking natural habitats, and started noticing all the wildlife that lived in and depended upon those habitats for survival. Thus began her journey to become a knowledgeable and effective Environmental Steward. Along with training to become a Master Gardener, she began taking a variety of botanical and horticulture classes as well as seminars to supplement her formal Harvard education in public policy and urban management. Currently, she vouchers native plants for Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management (ERM), serves on several Boards and committees and works as the Master Gardener in Residence at the Ann Norton Sculpture Garden.
She is passionate about native plants, their benefits to the environment and the pollinators that depend on the plants for survival. When she’s not hiking, gardening, photographing wildlife and giving presentations, she propagates native plants from seed and freely shares the seedlings with gardening enthusiasts who attend her presentations. Wellington Garden Club is delighted that CJ has agreed to help the club celebrate National Garden Week by sharing her knowledge and seedlings with our community on June 6. No reservations are required. All are welcome.
Wellington Garden Club, founded in 1981, is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating its members and the public in the fields of gardening, horticulture, floral design, and landscape design; and to promoting conservation of natural resources, civic beautification and youth education. For more information: www.wellingtongardenclub.org.
National Garden Week, June 2-8, 2024, is a program of National Garden Clubs, Inc. Each year during the first week of June, garden clubs across the country have an opportunity to encourage pride in their communities, interest new members, and work with other groups to be part of those efforts. www.gardenclub.org.
