The butterflies are once again blooming at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and & Sculpture Park annual exhibition. More than 7,000 tropical butterflies have arrived from Africa, Asia, South and Central America. These fluttering beauties await your arrival.
Approximately 60 colorful species of butterflies fly around the five-story Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory, sipping sweet nectar and searching for a landing place. One just might take a siesta on your arm!
This year's winged beauties include the blue Common Morph, brushfoot varieties such as the Clearwing, Lacewing and Zebra Mosaic, and Gliders such as the Emperor, Ruby-spotted and Tropical Swallowtails.
The exhibition's more than 900 nectar plants add additional color to an already vibrant visual playground.
More than 800 pupae arrive weekly at Meijer Gardens. Visitors look on as the delicate chrysalides and cocoons are placed in the Butterfly Bungalow, where adult butterflies and moths emerge and spread their wings for the very first time. Monarch caterpillars are featured in the Caterpillar Room, where visitors watch them feed on tropical milkweed plants.
During daylight hours, the exhibition features children's activities held in the Lena Meijer's Children's Garden. Kids could "fly" like a butterfly while donning a lifecycle costume, perform imaginative butterfly puppet shows, search for butterfly and moth lifecycle stages in a special Treehouse Village hunt, and navigate a butterfly maze.
On Tuesday nights, bring your flashlight and see what the butterflies do when the sun sets.
More than 170,000 visitors come from all over the country to experience the Zen-like atmosphere of this tropical conservatory. You have until April 30, 2016, to join them for Butterflies are Blooming! Click here for more information.
Written by Lisa Stickler, staff writer for West Michigan Woman magazine.
