A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream Craft Party ✨

July 17th

Step into an enchanted evening of crafting in the garden, inspired by the magic of A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream.

We invite you to dress in your favorite fae, fairy, or woodland-inspired attire and let your imagination run wild! (Costumes are optional!) We'll even have a glitter freckle tattoo bar available for craft attendees!

✨ Book your crafting session for either 5:00–6:00pm or 6:00–7:00pm. We’ll have two whimsical walk-up craft stations—and your $25 ticket includes both crafts, plus drinks and light refreshments.

At the first station, blend your own Forest Fairy Aromatherapy Roller by selecting a carrier oil and creating your unique scent profile. Choose from:

• Midsummer Clarity – lemon, rosemary, eucalyptus
• Enchanted Slumber – lavender, chamomile, sweet orange
• Moonlit Meadow – lavender, peppermint, lemon

Then, at the second station, mix curated dried botanicals to craft your own floral facial steam blend, perfect for a soothing self-care ritual. (Last call for crafts is 7:00pm.)

Wander through our shade garden, connect with fellow plant lovers and makers, and soak in the summer night magic.

Not crafting? You’re still welcome to come by and shop! The nursery and gift shop will be open until 7:30pm, with 15% off houseplants and gift shop items during the event.

Registration fee of $25 includes all materials and instruction needed to create both the 10 ml aromatherapy roller and the facial steamer blend, good for up to 4-5 facials. Anyone is welcome to join the fun, but crafts must be registered for ahead of the event. All attendees can enjoy 15% off houseplants and gift shop items.

🌿✨ Butterfly Fest at The Secret Garden ✨🦋
September 13–14 & 20–21 | Event Hours: 10am–2pm
(Our shop remains open 10am–5pm)

Join us for one of our favorite traditions—Butterfly Fest! This family-friendly event celebrates the magic of the Gulf Fritillary butterflies that call The Secret Garden home. These beautiful orange-winged pollinators return each year to lay their eggs on our thriving passionvine, their host plant, and we invite you to witness the wonder up close!

🦋 Don’t miss our Life Cycle Tours at 11am each day—
Take a guided walk through the garden and experience every stage of the butterfly’s transformation: from tiny eggs to hungry caterpillars, camouflage chrysalises, and finally graceful adult butterflies dancing in the garden.

🌸 Want to start your own butterfly garden?
We’ll share what to plant to host your own butterfly population or simply attract adult butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. It’s the perfect time to plant—with 15% off all perennials during the event!

🎨 Extras for the whole family:

• Face painting each day
• A local coffee cart serving drinks & treats
• Plenty of photo-worthy garden moments

Come celebrate the beauty of butterflies, learn something new, and stock up on pollinator plants to bring the magic home.

No RSVP needed—just come and enjoy the day with us!

🌿 The butterflies are waiting. 🦋

Butterfly Fest FAQ

1. Is the event free to attend?
2. Yes! This event is free to attend. 
3. Will you be releasing butterflies? 
4. No, we do not release butterflies at Butterfly Fest. Instead, we’ve created an environment that sustains an entire population of Gulf Fritillary butterflies by growing the host plant (passiflora) in multiple spots throughout the nursery. With the proper host plant as well as lots of nectar options for the adults, the butterflies naturally migrate to The Secret Garden to lay their eggs, and hatch their babies. By creating the optimal environment we end up with hundreds, if not thousands, of butterflies every summer! 
5. When is the best time to come to see the butterflies? 
6. The butterflies are seen around the nursery from June through December, not only during the event dates in September. However we time our Butterfly Fest to be held during the period when they are the most active. 
7. Butterflies prefer a certain temperature to be active and they don’t like the extreme heat or cold. This means they tend to come out in the late morning and go back into hiding in the afternoon if the heat gets intense, which is why we have the event times set from 10am-2pm. The Secret Garden is open from 10am to 5pm daily, even on event days, and if the weather happens to be optimal those days, the butterflies may stay out later in the day. It’s all up to Mother Nature! We start the tours at 11am because that seems to be when they are most active.
8. If for any reason you would rather avoid the busy weekend event days, you can visit the nursery during the weeks of the event and take a self-guided tour using event signage. We still suggest you visit between 11am and 2pm for best viewing.
9. Is there a sale during the event?
10. Yes, since we’re hoping to encourage you to plant perennials to invite pollinators into your own gardens, we will offer 15% off all perennials including CA native milkweed, passiflora, and other perennials on each date of the event. We’ll even have curated Plant Packs available to take the guesswork out of choosing the perfect plants for inviting hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden!
11. What are the Life Cycle Tours like?
12. We will be leading Life Cycle Tours on each day of the event starting at 11am. The tours are done in a large group and are led by one of our team members with a microphone. She leads the group through the nursery pointing out butterfly eggs, chrysalis, caterpillars, and adult butterflies and teaches attendees all about the life cycle of the butterflies. She’ll address which plants to grow to attract them to your garden, and how to support the butterfly population. The tour takes approx 15-20 minutes to complete. 
13. What else does the event entail?
14. Kids’ Activities: 
15. Face Painting: 10-2pm each day
16. Free Coloring Table and Scavenger Hunts each day 10-2pm
17. Butterfly enclosures so kids can get an up-close look
18. Butterfly headbands, wands and pins available for purchase
19. Food/Drink:
20. Local Coffee Vendors - 10-2pm each day
21. Snack Bar - snack & drink offerings TBD - 10-2pm each day
22. Parking: 
23. Parking is limited in our small parking lot. We recommend carpooling! Be prepared to park on the street and walk if the parking lot is full. 
24. Bathrooms:
25. We will have an outhouse available during the event for guest use.