In July 2012 my wife Cornelia and I bought our townhouse in Bonnie Brae Street. We moved to Houston from Chico, California because Cornelia had advanced cancer and MD Anderson offered the best treatment. Unfortunately it was too late and Cornelia passed away in February 2013.

In May 2013 I started improving my 25 ft of Esplanade up to the middle of the median because the city of Houston encourages people to take care of an Esplanade. Most of my neighbors liked what I did and asked if I could expand to the full width of the median for the areas in front of their lots

That gradually became 150 ft x 20 ft in the next 2 years and eventually in February 2015 to 500 ft x 20 ft. The tip at Yupon street was already done and is maintained by Susan Green who also made improvements on the Esplanade opposite Mandell Park,

None of this would have been possible without the generous support from my neighbors who gave money for plants and soil improvements, paid for tree removal and maintenance, give access to their water and city alley for composting. They also donated most of the concrete blocks for paths and benches

2014 Article by Katie Oxford on Culturemap Houston City Life (scroll down for the article)

Bonnie Brae Butterfly Garden