For eight years, Krista Zilberg has transformed her 4.25-acre Easton property into a thriving habitat for birds, butterflies and pollinators. Now, as she prepares to move her family to Florida, she faces an unexpected challenge: deciding what to do with the hundreds of plants she has carefully cultivated.
Walking through her yard, Zilberg sees more than flowers and shrubs. She sees years of work creating a refuge for wildlife.
“I have dedicated every ounce of my being to make space for animals,” she said, noting that birds, chipmunks and squirrels love raspberry and blueberry plants. “We have five, maybe seven, hummingbirds in our yard.”
Krista Zilberg declines to call what she does a “plant rescue.” Instead, “it’s more like propagating,” she says. Every spring, the Easton Garden Club, where she is a member, holds a market to sell the plants grown in members’ yards.
“I’m trying to get the house and yard ready. I’m looking forward to getting on the market and finding a family that might love what I’ve done. If they choose to change anything, garden club members could rehome my plants.”
Her realtor, Jocelyn Baum, notes of Zilberg’s effort, “There is no recognition attached to it, no financial incentive. It’s simply patience, nurturing and the quiet belief that living things deserve care and preservation whenever possible.”
Zilberg is moving to Venice, Fla., into a house she and her husband built four years ago. Their son will be starting his freshman year of high school there.
The property is smaller than their 4.25-acre Easton parcel, but there is a raised garden bed. She plans to do whatever she can for the pollinators in their area. “Butterflies and caterpillars eat milkweed to the stem,” she noted. “I just want to have enough for them to be strong and reproduce.”
The family has a home in Westerly, R.I., to which they plan to return during the hottest months because, Zilberg says, “I’m not sure I could do a Florida summer.”
