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Mayor’s Garden and Mariposa Alley

Between 9th and 10th street by the courthouse, Downtown Riverside, CA

I was walking through downtown Riverside and admiring the historic architecture when suddenly I stumbled onto a strip that had a park like setting. Nestled in between brick, government buildings, and parking structures, is a small stretch of greenery and alleyway celebrating the Monarch butterfly. Together, this area is known as Mayor’s Monarch Garden and Mariposa Alley established in 2019.

The Mayor’s Monarch Garden has plants including roses, lantana, pestamons, buddleia bushes, and milkweed. It is a mixture of native and non-native plants. Though they probably could have attracted more butterflies if they had all native plantings, I thought the inclusion of the traditional plants was in keeping with Riverside’s historical roots.

The plantings were not kept in an overly structured pattern.
Signs gave scientific information on the life cycle of monarchs and their behavior in Southern California.
A particularly beautiful spot with interplantings of lantana and penstamons.

Walking down the garden and down towards the brick alleyway is a bounty of butterflies. The artist for Mariposa Alley is Martin Sanchez who also is the artist for nearby Tio’s Tacos. He creates his sculptures from recycled items and in this case, he uses can bottoms to create butterflies which echo the scaling often found on butterfly wings.

You can pose and become a butterfly.
Butterflies in all sizes and types are mounted on the brick, giving a 3D effect.
Describing the transformative nature of the monarch caterpillar is a chrysalis made from tin can pieces. The monarch shows mobility through its layers of tin can lids.
Opposite side of the butterfly wall are colorfully painted murals with a flower background and images of insects including butteflies. Words are written which reflect strength and preservance. Spanish translation of these words are transposed on front of the English ones.
Even the lighting is decrated to match the surrounds. Using recycled tin cans, the floweresque light covers whimsically string across the two buildings.

Riverside’s Mayor’s Garden and Mariposa Alley show a wonderful imaginative creation of bringing a pollinator garden to a small space and beautifying a drab area with Nature. It shows how even a small space can be enhanced with recycled materials and a few plants. From planting a small pollinator garden to beautifying a wall or space with recycled materials or paint, you can liven your home garden space with a few creative touches.

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