The Pollinator Project was created by a passionate group of gardeners at Garden Center 2 in response to an urgent and heartbreaking reality: our pollinators are disappearing.
Since June 2024, an estimated 82% of honeybees have vanished. Nearly 24% of native bee species are now at risk of extinction. And the majestic Western Monarch butterfly, which winters along the California coast and passes through Laguna Woods each year, has declined by 95% over the past two decades.
This ecological crisis is not random—it is a direct result of human activity. But as the word crisis comes from the Greek for “turning point,” we believe we have the power to turn things around.
🌿 A Garden for Change
In a once-empty 7.5’ x 100’ garden bed near the entrance gate of Garden Center 2, our volunteers saw possibility. With vision and care, they transformed this neglected space into a thriving Pollinator Garden—a sanctuary for bees, butterflies, and other vital pollinators.
Planted with California native flowers, milkweed, and other nectar-rich species, this garden now provides food, habitat, and hope. Monarch caterpillars feed and grow here. Native bees gather pollen. And members of our community pause to witness life in motion—tiny wings fluttering between blooms, quietly reminding us that healing is possible.
💚 Why It Matters
Pollinators are essential to our environment and food supply. They ensure the reproduction of nearly 90% of flowering plants and one in every three bites of food we eat. Without them, ecosystems unravel.
Through the Pollinator Project, the Garden Centers Club is not only supporting biodiversity—we are also educating, inspiring, and calling others to action.
🛠 How You Can Help
- Plant native species in your own plot or patio garden
- Avoid pesticides and herbicides
- Support pollinator habitats and water sources
- Volunteer with the Pollinator Project
Together, we are sowing the seeds of renewal.
And so we begin the change.