Become the 'Wings of Change' in Fallbrook

Wings of Change, a new organization in Fallbrook started by Stephanie Holbrook, seeks to impact the migration direction of various types of butterflies by planting a few California native plants in the gardens around Fallbrook.

Holbrook got her start with Wings of Change after helping her son's kindergarten class raise their own butterfly gardens. Then, after realizing that her housekeeping business could not continue due to the coronavirus pandemic, her clients asked her to create butterfly gardens in their yards instead.

"Now, they call me the butterfly lady and my neighborhood is practically monarch alley," she said. "All of my neighbors love the impact my butterfly garden has had. They come over and thank me for the butterflies coming to their yards."

In 2019, Holbrook had 30 different varieties of butterflies in her garden. Before starting Wings of Change in March, Holbrook had no previous experience working in the environment except working as a manager in the garden department at Lowe's.

Wings of Change has been hired to plant California native plants at homes and businesses to attract butterflies. Not only do they work locally, Holbrook said they are also willing to travel around the county. Their work includes clearing a patch or working around the resident's current garden, beginning the butterfly garden and providing information about how to care for the new garden. Wings of Change is an environmentally friendly project; they never use any pesticides or chemicals when planting. After having a bad reaction to pesticides, Holbrook spent time in the hospital. Now, her family lives an organic lifestyle, and her organization does as well.

The plants that attract butterflies include milkweed, dill, rosemary, buckwheat and many more. One popular plant used to attract butterflies is passionflower, which produces passionfruit.

"Butterflies eat what we eat, so planting these benefits us people as well. And since they're California native species of plants, they're drought tolerant," she said. "These plants require less water than your lawn; they actually save water."

Annuals are plants that must be replanted every year. Holbrook said that by replanting a few seeds every year, it can impact change in the environment.

"I love gardening and nature, but I really have a great time seeing others get so excited about butterflies," Holbrook said. "I'm making money doing what I love, living the dream."

She also loves helping others make a change to the environment and seeing the growth all around her, she said.

One challenge Wings of Change has faced is a lack of suitable plants. Many nurseries don't carry plants that are constantly being eaten by bugs, but that is an integral part of a butterfly garden, allowing the caterpillars to consume the plants in order to grow.

Holbrook has successfully overcome this challenge, she said, and now she's ready to expand and do more. Holbrook has applied to the North American Butterfly Association which raises awareness about conserving butterflies and the benefits of butterfly gardens. Now, Wings of Change has partnered with Fallbrook's chapter of the National FFA Organization and Kellogg Garden Organics. The partnership with FFA will focus on preordering plants specifically for butterfly gardens for the students involved with nursery projects, so the students can start their own butterfly gardens and sell them. The partnership with Kellogg Garden Organics means that Wings of Change will start selling their own organic soil.

"We have to love Mother Earth and improve what we have. The environment will thank us," she said. "My job is very rewarding. We could help be the wings of change."

Wings of Change is looking for more volunteers to help expand their organization and plant more butterfly gardens. For more information, contact Stephanie Holbrook at [email protected] or call 760-908-7454.