Welcome to the Butterfly Garden Project!
Butterflies, birds, and bees are God’s creatures…a cause for springtime hope... a sign of a healthy ecosystem, and natural signs of the transformation and new life to which God calls each of us.
They are also the answer to our prayer about how best to steward our land.
Sister Rose Marie Riley, prioress at Sacred Heart Convent, is pleased to invite your participation in the Siena Hall property Butterfly Garden Project.
“Everyone who lives and works at Sacred Heart Convent is excited about this project,” Sister Rose Marie says.
“Building a pollinator garden will bring new life to the former Siena Hall property, contribute to the health of our ecosystem, and create an accessible natural space for the delight and healing of our elder sisters.
“We’ve built a team of sisters, coworkers, and donors who are plotting together how to live out our prayer for the life of the world and our care for our common home.
“It’s a delight to gift Earth with a place for prayer to flow in a sanctuary for the creatures who look after us.”
Needs include:
- Benches or pavers
- Privacy hedge along Washington Street
- Pollinator-attracting shrub or a flat of perennial flowers
Will you help us expand our mission?
Butterfly Garden 3-year plan
2025
- Planning and research. Check!
- Tree planting. 25 trees added to provide an overstory for the bushes and flowers to come.
- Pavers to create accessibility and add a prayerful focal point. Donors can choose to remember a loved one with a memorial paver.
- Swales and berms. Soil excavated in the tree planting will help prevent water and soil from running off the land.
2026
- Meandering pathway. We’ll add an eco-friendly mulch trail to encourage wandering and contemplation
- Pollinator beds. will attract the beneficial insects that produce beauty and nourishment.
- Focal point. We’ll add welcoming entrance using architectural elements, perhaps a sculpture, pergola, and benches.
2027
- Refining the garden through plantings and design.
- Educational components for sisters, students, and guests.
Visit often for new stories about the Butterfly Garden Project
How your gift will make an impact
- $35 purchases a pollinator-attracting shrub or a flat of perennial flowers.
- $100 plants a section of privacy hedge along Washington Street.
- $300 allows you to engrave a paver stone in the sustainable walkway.
- $400 will put your name or a memorial name on a bench.
A prayer for creation
God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, for not one of them is forgotten in your sight. Enlighten those who possess power and money that they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they may love the common good, advance the weak, and care for this world in which we live. The poor and the earth are crying out. O Lord, seize us with your power and light, help us to protect all life, to prepare for a better future, for the coming of your Kingdom of justice, peace, love and beauty.
Praise be to you!
From Pope Francis’ prayer at the end of Laudato Si., 2015.
Thank you for the many ways you have partnered with us through the years. We are grateful for your continued support!
Learn more about the mission
Enjoy these stories about ways we are preaching the Gospel!
Week one: Watch Tony Rothering speaking about the garden and the impact it will have on birds Take a video tour of the new Dominican Literacy Center in Springfield
Week two: Listen to Sister Rose Marie using Meister Eckhart quote and how it relates to the sisters Listen to our F.L.O.W.cast episode on the DLC
Week three: Social wellbeing: Impact of the garden on life in the neighborhood
Week four: Your gift can memorialize your loved one with a brick paver
