I still have not finished my post on my trip to Ohio and the new jewelry I made recently, but I am going to skip ahead and share with you the adventure my husband and I went on this last weekend. I discovered a butterfly garden open house and decided it would be fun to check it out. The butterfly gardens are located at a residence in Palm Bay, FL. They have a website and blog. We weren't sure what to expect, but we were very impressed with the layout and couldn't believe how much there was to look at. Judi, who lives at the residence, was our tour guide and was incredibly knowledgeable about butterflies and their life cycle. In fact, we were overwhelmed with all the information. Here are some photos I took:
This is the butterfly room, which is full of butterflies.
One of the gardens with nectar plants that butterflies (and bees and wasps) love.
A newly added pond with water plants that are a host for butterflies.
The side yard and nursery area.
Inside the beautiful screened porch. We took a break and enjoyed some cake and lemonade in here. I love the pebble tile on the floor.
Mesh cubes that house freshly hatched butterflies to keep them calm and safe while their wings harden, then they are released.
A box containing chrysalises, which are the pupa of butterflies, similar to the cocoons of moths.
The view from the enclosed patio.
Inside the butterfly room.
A Buckeye butterfly inside the butterfly room.
A Julia Butterfly in the butterfly room.
A Cloudless Sulfur on pretty flowers in the butterfly room.
Judi had host plants for sale, so I picked a plant that is a host for Buckeye butterflies, and she gave me 4 Buckeye caterpillars to go with it! The photo below shows 3 of the caterpillars - they sure do eat and poop a lot! The fourth caterpillar climbed up the wall and made a chrysalis already - see last photo.
Hungry caterpillar
Check out Judi's Butterflies for more information and lots of photos!
4 comments:
Beautiful!
Zack and I went into a butterfly room at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and it was other-worldly. A great experience.
What a wonderful day and story. Fancy a little butterfly room attached to a house like that! Sweet! I love that you got your own caterpillars and can watch the process at home. Love that big yellow one.
Jenni
This is Fantastic! I love that there are so many ways to learn about butterflies and to see them… And just think - if that plant survives the current caterpillars, there is a chance that the adults will lay eggs on it and you may have another generation to watch…
Thanks for sharing!
Oh I LOVE butterfly farms!!! I went with my youngest to a huge one in NY. It was the best feild trip ever! All the kids got Q-Tips dipped in Gatorade and the butterflies would land on them and drink! Completely magical!I would love to have my own butterfly porch!
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