Interview with Ann Rolling: EmilyAnn’s Butterfly Festival

EmilyAnn Gardens is busy preparing for its 23rd annual Butterfly Festival, which will be held on April 15.

This year, Emily-Ann’s staff and volunteers raised 5,675 caterpillars which will eventually turn into butterflies — a new record for the festival. The caterpillars are being distributed to 250 classrooms in the area.

The Master Naturalists play a large part in preparing the food to nurture the caterpillars, placing five grams of food and one caterpillar in individual containers. These containers are put into cages, which are distributed to schools in the Wimberley area. Students will observe the caterpillars consuming the food for 10–12 days before the caterpillars start to spin their chrysalis. The caterpillars will remain there until they break out and take their first flight as a butterfly.

Participating schools will return the butterflies to Emily-Ann two days before the festival, and the butterflies will be released at the Butterfly Festival on April 15.

The Painted Lady species of butterfly is used for this project, as they can eat manmade food and can live in different environments. This species is much more resilient than the monarch species because monarchs feed on milkweed — which is becoming harder and harder to find.

Martha Knies, the founder of Keep Wimberley Beautiful, played a big part in inspiring EmilyAnn Gardens. Years ago, Knies spoke to a group of teenagers. According to Ann Rolling, her daughter Emily Ann came home from school and said, “I want to be just like this woman when I grow up.” Knies and Rolling became close friends and great philanthropists to the Wimberley community.

Land was acquired years ago and cleared to make room for what would eventually become the Emily-Ann Gardens. Rolling said that, initially, it seemed like an impossible task to turn the piece of rocky terrain into something beautiful.

Knies reassured her: “Don’t worry, it’s going to be more than I ever imagined.”

Ultimately, the EmilyAnn was founded in 1998 to celebrate the life of Emily Ann, who died in a car accident in 1996 at the age of 16.

“No matter where your path or journey in life takes you, there is nothing like the butterfly for peace and healing,” Rollings said.

The gardens are now in their 25th year and have grown to become a scenic space where many local families, businesses and organizations keep their specific gardens beautiful and manicured.

To help Wimberley celebrate the Butterfly Festival, Keep Wimberley Beautiful has decorated the bridge and some of the parks with butterflies and flowers.