Pollinator garden plant giveaway to be held this Saturday at Legacy Park
On a mission to save pollinators one garden at a time, Laura Ford, founder and managing director of the Pollinator Protection Fund, has been quietly transforming spaces up and down the California coast. Her latest endeavor — building a butterfly garden at Malibu’s Legacy Park — has not only taken root but thrived, despite the devastating wildfires that recently swept through Malibu.
Ford, who lives in Laguna Beach, began the project in November 2024, just before Thanksgiving. “It was just me and my husband — we would drive up in a U-Haul packed with plants, tools, and soil, working on the weekends to build the garden,” Ford said. “It came together quickly. We probably completed it in about six weeks.”
Now, as the garden flourishes with native plants, vibrant blooms, and the gentle flutter of visiting butterflies, Ford is inviting Malibu residents to bring a bit of that beauty home. This Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Pollinator Protection Fund is hosting a pollinator garden giveaway at Legacy Park. Visitors can pick up pre-planted garden boxes and individual native plants, free of charge, to start or enhance their own butterfly-friendly gardens.
Each garden box — about the size of a small wine crate
— comes already planted with three key pollinator plants: narrowleaf milkweed, native grass, and lilac verbena. Milkweed is especially crucial, as it’s the only plant that monarch butterflies will lay their eggs on. The native grasses provide shelter for insects, including caterpillars, while lilac verbena produces beautiful purple blooms nearly year-round, offering vital nectar for pollinators.
“These are starter gardens, really,” Ford explained. “You can keep the plants in the boxes for a while, or transplant them into your own garden. They’ll do best in full sun and need some extra watering at first to get established.”
For those who prefer individual plants, the giveaway will also include narrow-leaf milkweed, lilac verbena, and white sage — all chosen specifically for their value to native pollinators like bees and butterflies. “We just want to share these plants to help restore biodiversity,” Ford said. “Monarchs, in particular, travel great distances, and by planting more milkweed and nectar plants, we can give them the resources they need wherever they go.”
The event Saturday also marks the unveiling of a bright, colorful educational sign installed at the butterfly garden site. The sign explains the importance of pollinators, highlights the specific plants in the garden, and offers tips for anyone who wants to help support monarchs and native bees.
Ford’s journey into butterfly advocacy began in 2021 after she read about the drastic decline of the Western monarch butterfly population. “I was shocked to learn how their numbers had plummeted at their overwintering sites along the California coast,” she said. “They’re iconic — the national butterfly of the U.S. — and it felt like such a loss to imagine them disappearing.”
Originally from the United Kingdom, Ford was inspired to start creating pollinator gardens as a way of fighting that decline. The Pollinator Protection Fund’s first project was a butterfly garden at Heisler Park in Laguna Beach, followed by two more gardens in that area. Since then, the nonprofit’s work has expanded along the coast from Malibu down to San Diego.
“I’ve always loved the small things — native bees, the incredible diversity of species here in California,” Ford said. “This region is a biodiversity hotspot. There are species here that are found nowhere else on Earth. Helping butterflies, helping native bees — it’s my way of keeping that incredible richness alive.”
For Ford, working in Malibu carries special meaning. “We actually used to live in Malibu,” she shared. “And with the fires that just happened, seeing this garden survive — it really symbolizes hope for me. I hope it can be a source of hope for the community too.”
Her work in Malibu was recently captured in a short documentary titled “Flourish,” created by a documentary filmmaker who followed Ford and her husband during the garden’s creation. The film has since earned a student BAFTA nomination, adding another bright note to the project.
Ford hopes the giveaway this weekend sparks a larger movement of local environmental stewardship. “We’d love volunteers to help maintain and grow the garden,” she said. “And I’d love for people to experience the magic of metamorphosis — the journey from egg to caterpillar to butterfly. Watching that cycle can be uplifting for anyone, no matter their age.”
For more information about the Pollinator Protection Fund or to make a donation, visit pollinatorfund.org.