This Sensational Los Angeles Garden Was Built for the Pollinators

In drought-plagued Southern California, where government-funded cash rebates are in place to incentivize homeowners to swap thirsty grass for water-wise plants, it might be hard to imagine a thriving garden. But Brandy Williams, founder of Garden Butterfly, creates yards teeming with life. At a cottage in historical South Los Angeles, she combined colorful fleshy succulents with California natives, aromatic lavender, and other drought-tolerant plants. The result is a garden resplendent in textures, colors, and shapes meant not only to be seen, but to be experienced by touch and scent.

"I create spaces for nature therapy. Sensory gardens. You can’t do that with a lawn," says Williams, who is passionately pro-pollinator. She is on a mission to attract bees, butterflies, and birds into our gardens, as well as a sense of wonder—something you don’t get with a monoculture lawn.

"I recently witnessed a hummingbird catching mosquitoes right out of the air! Those are moments you wouldn’t ever notice just running across a strip of grass."