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Foremost's Butterflies Are Blooming
Foremost's Butterflies Are Blooming is Meijer Gardens most popular annual exhibit and the largest temporary tropical butterfly exhibit in the nation. March 1–April 30, visitors can escape the Michigan winter and mingle with more than 6,000 tropical butterflies flying free in the 15,000-square-foot Lena Meijer Conservatory.
The exhibit boasts more than 40 different species from the Far East and Central America. Each week hundreds of chrysalises arrive at the Gardens and are painstakingly sorted, inspected, labeled, and pinned in our sealed, Butterfly Bungalow. The chrysalises are then placed in a special emergence area of the Bungalow where visitors can witness through a window their magical transformation into butterflies!
Once ready to be released into the Conservatory, the butterflies are placed on the Butterfly Rest Stop where they acclimate to the environment and gain strength before taking to the air. It's a wonderful place for photos and just one of the opportunities for visitors to observe the butterflies up-close and personal. Throughout the tropical environment, butterflies can be viewed drinking nectar from the flowering plants and feeding stations, lighting on the odd nose or shoulder, and congregating along the stream beds, as well as in flight all around.
During the exhibit, the Lena Meijer Children's Garden offers special activities. Additionally, interactive displays are featured throughout the exhibit.
Our butterfly exhibit sponsor, Foremost Insurance Group, hosts a special butterfly Web site for families where visitors can learn about butterfly gardening, take a virtual tour of the Lena Meijer Conservatory, view photos from previous year's exhibits, and do word games and puzzles.
Exhibit hours: Monday, Wednesday–Sunday, 9 am–5 pm; Tuesday, 9 am-9 pm
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