Who doesn't love a butterfly, is there anyone? We went to the Homosassa Butterfly exhibit this past weekend. It's less than 10 miles from our home in an unassuming location, but there was so much to enjoy. Inspiration was everywhere I looked in colors and patterns and flower shapes too.
If you get a chance to visit a butterfly garden or exhibit, please do so, it's well worth a visit. I've been to one at Calloway Gardens in Georgia, Turtle Bay in Redding, California, the International Butterfly Festival at Mount Magazine in Arkansas, and probably others I don't recall.
The monarch chrysalis and caterpillar photos are from my previous gardens. We had fun seeing the eggs of the butterflies, all the chrysalis, and of course the butterflies.
Butterflies love the minerals in rotting fruit, here's one on a rotten banana.
Butterflies are pollinators and are worth protecting and providing for their important food sources. Each plant material needed, or host plant, is specific to the life stage, either adult or caterpillar.
The Dutchman pipevine flower is an important nectar source swallowtail butterflies. If I can just figure out how to get a glaze to make those capillary veins I'd be a millionaire. Maybe not a millionaire, but no money worries, which wouldn't be a bad thing.
Butterflies love mud puddling, obtaining necessary minerals from the mud.
Gary releasing a brand new butterfly freshly emerged from it's chrysalis.
If you look closely you can see the nector tube curled up. Butterflies use this to sip up nectar and when they fly away the nectar tube curls up.
If there's a butterfly garden near you, check it out. If not, you can plant some nectar and host plants in your own yard and wait for the butterflies to come and visit. Thanks for reading my blog and for all your comments.
Just lovely little winged creatures. I did not know we had one at Mt. Magazine. I am planning a couple day trip to that area so I will absolutley check it out. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThere is a nice one in Key West, FL also.
ReplyDeleteLovely pics and interesting narrative! Butterflies are such beautiful creatures and that exhibit sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda
ReplyDeleteI'm catching up on blogs! My show is up and the workshop is over!! We just took our son to the Butterfly Pavillion in Denver on Mother's day. What great fun we had!! Thanks for the post!
wow! those pictures are amazing.
ReplyDeleteHi Patti, thanks, that festival is so much fun, they had little girls dressed up as butterflies and a parade and art fair and more, check it out.
ReplyDeleteHi Lori, thanks, I hope to get down to key west one of these days.
Hi Marguerite, thanks, a very relaxing day to go there and observe them fluttering around.
Hi Connie, thanks, wish I lived closer to take advantage of your workshop, you show looks great, I bet Vander loved that butterfly exhibit.
Hi Michele, thanks so much.
I had a comment here and it was lost and I know there were other comments too, but blogger had a problem, sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteHi Patti, thanks, that festival is worth going to.
Hi Lori, thanks, I hope to get to Key West one of these days.
Hi Marguerite, thanks, it was a great exhibit.