Pollinator Pathway
San Leandro
The San Leandro Pollinator Pathway brings together residents, faith communities, schools, nonprofits, and local organizations to create healthier habitat for pollinators throughout the city. By transforming parks, church campuses, schools, and other shared spaces with California native plants, these community-led projects provide food, shelter, and nesting habitat for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other beneficial wildlife.
From demonstration gardens and rain gardens to butterfly habitats, community vegetable gardens, and educational landscapes, each site showcases practical ways to support biodiversity, conserve water, and create more resilient neighborhoods. Together, these gardens are building a connected network of habitat that benefits both people and nature while inspiring others to join the Pollinator Pathway.
Resources:
Town Gardens
The Great Migration of the Monarch Butterflies
1314 San Leandro Blvd, San Leandro, CA 94577, USA
The San Leandro Butterfly Garden is a vibrant pollinator habitat and an important stop for migrating western monarch butterflies. Located beneath the striking Great Migration of the Monarch Butterflies mural on the rear wall of St. Leander School's gymnasium, the garden features native milkweed, bush monkeyflower, coyote mint, and other nectar-rich plants that provide essential food and habitat for monarchs and a variety of other pollinators. Maintained by dedicated community volunteers, this beautiful demonstration garden inspires visitors to support butterfly conservation by planting native species and creating habitat in their own neighborhoods.
Bethel Community Presbyterian Church
14235 Bancroft Ave, San Leandro, CA 94578
Bethel Community Presbyterian Church showcases how thoughtful landscape design can conserve water while creating beautiful habitat for pollinators. The campus features both more and less water-efficient demonstration gardens, allowing visitors to see firsthand how plant selection and design influence water use, biodiversity, and landscape resilience. The grounds also include a community vegetable garden, a peaceful labyrinth, and a former flood-prone lawn transformed into a native rain garden that captures stormwater, reduces runoff, and provides habitat for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial wildlife. Together, these gardens demonstrate how faith communities can create welcoming spaces that nourish both people and nature while inspiring others to adopt more sustainable, water-wise landscapes.
