Places: South Seas Island Resort Butterfly Garden

Just back from Spring Break with my family in Captiva Island, Florida. What a beautiful place... aqua water, white sand beaches laden with shells, and fresh seafood. Needless to say, it was so hard to leave!

Gulf of Mexico

As part of South Seas' ScoutAbout program, they have a colorful butterfly garden. The weather was cool by South Florida standards, so I didn't see many butterflies flying about. However, the garden was lush and full of blooms.

Tropical Milkweed, Giant Milkweed, Daisies, Lantana, Pentas, Firespike, Salvia, Clusia

I find the Tropical Milkweed more dramatic en masse...

More Tropical Milkweed

Short milkweed in front & tall milkweed towards the back

Each ScoutAbout Point of Discovery provides educational information about local flora and wildlife. My children really enjoyed exploring the resort in search of these and collecting bracelets along the way. It was a big adventure!

Monarch Butterflies Booklet

I picked up this great booklet, Monarch Butterflies, at our recent trip to the Butterfly Rainforest. It is very informative and so pretty to look at! One side provides lots of information about Monarchs and the importance of milkweeds. I especially like how they highlight Florida's native milkweeds. The other side has many photos of caterpillars and their respective host plants.

This is so great... you can download your copy here (side 1) and here (side 2)! Enjoy!

The Owl Butterfly

We saw one of my favorite butterflies, the Owl Butterfly, during our recent visit to the Florida Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Rainforest. It is a large butterfly that grows up to 8 inches and has huge eye spots resembling owls' eyes on its wings.  It is native to Central and South America.

Owl Butterfly by Greaterumbrage via Flickr

I learned some new facts about these butterflies from the lepidopterist at the butterfly rainforest.  There were many Blue Morpho butterflies flying about and the underside of their wings looks quite similar to the Owl Butterfly. The difference is the Owl Butterfly has one "eye" while the Blue Morpho has several "eyes." 

Blue Morpho by Armando Maynez via Flickr

Another fact I learned is there are nocturnal, diurnal, and crepuscular butterflies. The Owl Butterfly is crepuscular, meaning it is most active during twilight. Now there is an SAT word for you!

Places: Florida Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Rainforest

I have visited many butterfly gardens and my all time favorite is one not too far from our home. It is the Florida Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville, Florida. We lived in Gainesville for several years while my husband and I worked at the university there. This garden was and still is one of my favorite places. We took a trip up there this weekend...

Entrance to the Butterfly Rainforest

Lush vegetation, water features, koi, turtles, birds, and LOTS of butterflies!

The Butterfly Rainforest has an amazing variety and number (1000) of butterflies!

My little guy "reading" the butterfly and plant identification guide (yes, it is upside down!)

Blue Morpho

Nymph, Tree in Pentas

Nymph, Tree

This one was tough to identify, maybe a Tiger-Mimic, Queen? 

Malachite -one of my favorites!

Butterfly Feeding Station

Beautiful Bromeliads

More Bromeliads

Angel Trumpet

Butterfly releases everyday

You can watch the lepidopterists care for the chrysalises and butterflies in this laboratory.

Families: I saw a sign stating that students who receive an 'A' or 'E' (i'm assuming 'E' means excellent?) grade in science can receive free admission (with the purchase of a paid adult admission). Just show your most recent report card!

Flight of the Butterflies

We spent Thanksgiving with some dear friends in the Washington DC area and were able to take the kiddos to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  I jumped at the opportunity to see Flight of the Butterflies at the Johnson IMAX theater there. It was AMAZING! It is a stunning and inspiring film about the discovery of the monarch butterflies' epic migration by Dr. Fred Urquhart. I would definitely check it out in a theater near you!

Places: Pollinator Garden, San Diego Zoo

We recently travelled to San Diego for a family wedding. What a beautiful city! I loved seeing the Pacific Ocean, roses in bloom, succulents in lovely containers, and fuchsia bougainvillea.  Yes, the weather is perfect there!

We made our way to the San Diego Zoo and it was amazing!

I was delighted to find this garden there...

Bees, Butterflies, & Hummingbirds (Three of my favorite things)

There were brightly colored nectar plants like butterfly bush, pentas, zinnias, lantana, and coneflowers.

And lots of milkweed growing in the greenhouse and in front of it.

Wow, I would love a greenhouse full of milkweed!

The garden has plenty of winged visitors like this monarch.

For more information about the San Diego Zoo, click here! Happy gardening!

My Favorite Plant Sale

My favorite plant sale of the year is this weekend at Leu Gardens. Vendors from all over the state bring their plants and garden accessories. There is so much to choose from: herbs, flowers, orchids, succulents, citrus trees, Florida natives, etc. Admission to the gardens is free both days. The sale is March 17th and 18th from 9am-5pm.

This is a popular event so I have some tips for you:

1) Bring a cart or wagon for your purchases!

2) If you have been thinking about becoming a Leu Gardens member, now is the time. Members  shop first from 8am-9am on Saturday, the 17th.

3) Parking is tight so come early or later in the day. I usually park on one of the neighborhood side streets.

This is also an excellent opportunity to visit Leu Gardens' Butterfly Garden - one of my favorites!

Leu Gardens by Ricymar Fine Art Photography via Flickr

The BEST Gardening Gloves

It's time to start your spring gardening and I'd like to share my favorite gardening tool with you. Well, they are not so much a tool like a shovel or clippers but they certainly make gardening an even more pleasant experience...  they are the Atlas Gardening Gloves.

As much as I enjoy working with soil in the garden, I do NOT like the way it looks or feels under my fingernails.  I came across these gloves at a local gardening shop, Apenberry's. At first, I was just drawn to the bright colors they come in: green, pink, purple, and blue (black too).  So I purchased a pair in my favorite shade of Robin's Egg blue and set to work in the garden with them. WOW! They fit really well and stretch easily so that I can accomplish all of my gardening tasks. And you can just throw them in the washing machine when they need a good cleaning. They are quite durable - I have had my current pair for a couple of years now. Did I mention they are inexpensive too? A 4-pack on Amazon is $12.50. I think I paid about $5 for my pair at Apenberry's.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day at the Florida Museum of Natural History

I think this might be my version of a perfect Valentine's Day with my husband- an Italian dinner accompanied by live music followed by a moonlit stroll through the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History! This is one of my all time favorite butterfly gardens. They are hosting a special Valentine's Day event that sounds like so much fun. You can make your reservation here. Here's a glimpse of what you will see...

Photo by fuzzcat on Flickr

Photo by greaterrumbrage on Flickr

Photo by spakattacks on Flickr

Overlook Milkweed

We went to Disney last weekend - my husband ran the Disney Marathon and had an awesome run! As we took a walk around the Wilderness Lodge one evening, we came upon this scenic overlook.

As I looked out over the hotel grounds, I noticed some orange flowers right in front of me: milkweed! What a nice surprise!

That's my son enjoying the view too! Have you ever come across milkweed in any unexpected places?

Landscaping for Wildlife & Butterflies

Our friends at the local extension office will be hosting a presentation on Landscaping for Wildlife & Butterflies on August 3rd. There is a newly installed Butterfly Garden that you can visit before the lecture AND you will receive a butterfly plant and two books - wow!

Places: JW Marriott Orlando Butterfly Garden

During our recent Spring Break, I took the kids to float in the lazy river at the local JW Marriott (lots of fun by the way!) and I was delighted to stumble upon their petite lakeside butterfly garden.

Although small, this butterfly garden has all of the essential elements: host plants, nectar plants, trellises,  sun and shade, and  a water source. I also like the sign that identifies the garden and describes the butterfly life cycle. The extra lighting is a nice touch too.

Trellis covered with passionflower

The Passionflower and Dutchman's Pipe vines were growing vigorously. Passionflower is the host plant for the Gulf Frittilary (in sun) and Zebra Longwing (in shade). The Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars feed on the Dutchman's Pipe.

Dutchman's Pipevine on the trellis and Mexican Milkweed in the front

There is Mexican Milkweed for the Monarch caterpillars and fennel for the Black Swallowtails.

Fennel surrounding the Oak Tree

Nectar plants included Tropical Sage which hummingbirds love as well.

Tropical Sage on the lower right and Passionflower on the trellis

I really love the pink shade of this Passionflower...

Passionflower

Hope this posting gives you some inspiration for a petite butterfly garden!

Places: Butterfly Garden at Disney's Ft. Wilderness

Hello! Just back from the annual Girl Scout camping trip at Disney's Ft. Wilderness. We had a great time  swimming, making smores, trading SWAPS, and spending time with the other Girl Scouts and their families.

At the  Ft. Wilderness'  Reception Outpost, there is a colorful butterfly garden that I enjoy visiting each year...

Ft. Wilderness Reception Outpost

The garden is filled with Snapdragons, Dianthus, Milkweed, Pansies, Nicotiana, and Passionflower.

The Black-Eyed Susans are particularly vibrant.

The Black-Eyed Susans look lovely en masse.

Tiger Swallowtail on Dianthus

Look at the amazing variety of nectar plants.