Karen Nash Memorial Butterfly Garden

How we named our Garden

Mrs. Karen Nash, our Speech Therapist in Washington Boro, helped children learn how to speak and communicate with others. She showed students, one by one, how to open the door to speech, which so many of us take for granted. She "planted seeds" in her students, then watched them grow.

Many of us were deeply touched at Karen's funeral service as we listened to a story "Caterpillar Dreams" written by Karen Nash. The story described a caterpillar who lived in a flower garden and struggled for survival. The caterpillar pushed out her fears as she learned how to be brave. She became a beautiful butterfly. Now she could fly away and protect herself from danger. She spent the rest of her days exploring and discovering, and was no longer imprisoned by her fear. She lived on through generations of caterpillars and butterflies that followed her, and through the beautiful garden that she helped pollinate.

The children of Washington Boro shall network with community members throughout our region to create a quarter-acre Butterfly Garden, one of the largest of its kind in our area developing the first public garden in Washington Boro. It shall be a Children's Garden of Learning and a place that tells a story about the people of our present and past through engraved bricks and plaques. Messages shall celebrate the success of individuals and remember special friends through memorials. We thank Karen Nash for her inspiration which shall bring many people together for the good of children, education, and the environment.

Washington Messenger Garden article

2021 Awards

  • National Plant America Winner
  • National Public Award
    • Gardening Know How $1,000 School/Comunnity Grant
  • National Garden Club Inc. Award
    • 1st Place National Youth Leadership Certificate of Merit Overall Individual Winner; "The Mary Louise Michael Award" - Diana Dove
  • Garden Club of New Jersey State Award
    • Teen Project Conservation, Horticulture & Civic Achievement- Teen Eagle Scout Project