Meijer Gardens 4/04

Marian and I went to Grand Rapids to see the Meijer Gardens' annual butterfly exhibit. It runs from March 1^st to April 30^th. This year they had many more butterflies than last year. A staff person told us that they have 400 more butterflies plus it was a very productive week in the hatchery. Also, it wasn't nearly as busy this year (possibly because we went 2 or 3 weeks earlier). We went on Saturday, April 4.

This is the main building.

Here are some of the plants you see in the hothouse on the way to the butterflies.

Sapho (Heliconius Sapho)

Notice the thing that looks like a leaf. By the way, they call this a "rotting food station."

It seems to be opening.

It's a Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides).

This is a Tree Nymph (Idea leuconoe).

Here's a Banded Orange (Dryadula phaetusa).

This a The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia).

I believe this is a Great Mormon (Papilio memnon) .

Clipper (Parthenos sylvia)

Here is a Zebra Longwing.

This is a Hecale (Heliconius hecale).

This is a Emerald Swallowtail.

Here is a Sapho Longwing.

Clipper (Parthenos sylvia)

Banded Orange (Dryadula phaetusa)

Clipper (Parthenos sylvia)

Next, we went outside to see the sculptures. Before viewing the sculptures, you should visit the room inside that explains a lot about them. This is the American Horse and it is 24 feet high.