Fly on over to Green Bay Botanical Garden this summer to experience the enchanting sight of hundreds of live butterflies and learn about the important role that butterflies and the plants that feed them play in the ecosystem, locally and globally. The new immersive Butterflies & Blooms exhibit at Green Bay Botanical Garden opens Saturday, June 1 and runs daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Saturday, Aug. 31.
The exhibit includes an 1,800-square-foot mesh butterfly “house” filled with pollinators representing more than 20 species found in Wisconsin and the Midwest, including the Monarch, American Lady and Painted Lay varieties, among others. Up to 300 new butterflies will arrive each week of the Butterflies & Blooms display.
Photo by Amenson Studio
The experience isn’t just for viewing: the Garden is hosting several interactive drop-in activities in the exhibit and in the new butterfly activity station at Fischer Visitor Center. Feed monarchs with a stick dipped in a butterfly treat, look under a microscope to see the beauty of a butterfly’s wing in detail or watch a demonstration of monarch butterfly tagging. Take a class on Butterflies of Wisconsin and other important pollinators, such as bats. This summer, Green Bay Botanical Barden is offering a “Butterfly Biologist” camp for kids ages 6 to 12, where they’ll collect caterpillars and butterflies, learn about their lifecycle and important plants, and participate in butterfly games and crafts.
While at the Garden, stroll through the native pollinator garden to discover plants that attract these and other ecologically-significant creatures. Get ideas on what plants you can add in your own outdoor space to attract butterflies, and feel free to talk to one of the garden’s experts who can share their suggestions.
Butterflies & Blooms is included with daily admission to Green Bay Botanical Garden. To register for classes or for more information on Butterflies & Blooms, visit https://gbbg.org/butterflies.
Butterflies & Blooms is presented by Nature’s Way and sponsored in part by Nicolet National Bank, Green Bay Packers Give Back, Festival Foods, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Applewood Seed Co. and 103.1 WOGB.
Photo by Chad Krause
