We went to Granite City restaurant in Fort Wayne for brunch this morning, then drove downtown to the Botanical Conservatory.
Right now, the conservatory has a special exhibit of butterflies. Next to the butterfly tent was a cocoon nursery so that new butterflies keep hatching throughout the several months of the display.
The gauzy tent was entered carefully thru an anteroom and exited through another "room" with mirrors so you could check yourself for stowaway butterflies. They did land on people from time to time. They also sat on the ground so one had to watch where one stepped so as not to crush any butterflies.
The Owl Butterfly thought my husband's tan pants were a swell place to perch.
We finally took the butterfly ID paper and transferred it so we could blow it away.
The common morpho was gorgeous in flight as the top of the wings were blue, but I could only get a photo with the wings folded.
This great Mormon was easy to photograph. The plants and dishes of sponges with something sweet really did attract the creatures.
God created such diverse beauty in these butterflies.
The Clipper
A Scarlet Mormon I think
Great Egg-Fly Butterflies
The separate gardens of the conservatory didn't take long to stroll through. The conservatory is in the middle of downtown.
The Showcase Garden which held the butterfly tent had bug statues in the flower beds around the tent.
The humidity of the Tropical Garden was high. Mostly bromeliads and orchids and bird of paradise and ferns in this room with a waterfall.
It felt good to get outside to the Terrace Garden and the Exploration Garden. The terrace pool had metal grids filled with pieces of colorful glass meandering through the water.
I have never seen such large peony blooms.
The Exploration Garden had nice shady spots to sit on benches. It would be a lovely place for office workers to bring lunch and worth the annual membership fee. A single visit is $5.
Lots of daffodils with spent blooms and currently irises.
Our last garden to visit was the Desert Garden. Plenty warm in this room. It was fun to see vegetation that reminded me of Texas.
Prickly pear starting to bloom.
My own home "garden" has lots of portulaca blooms to enjoy.
Though the day started out gray and overcast, we had some sun at the conservatory. Kind of gloomy at home for awhile, but now in late afternoon we have sunshine.
It has been an upbeat weekend with the butterflies and flowers. I even saw a bit of the royal wedding before heading out to garage sales. I bought "flowers" there, too.
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