Welcome to our butterfly page. Flying Flowers have long been the name given to butterflies in the gardens. As such we have decided to call our new venture Flying Flowers.  We have erected a walk through butterfly house   ( if you scroll down you will see what we started last fall before this never ending snow arrived) and you will be able to stroll amongst the butterflies and even enjoy a Butterfly Tea.

For those of you who have visited the gardens before you know how many butterflies we have living here with us. We have specialized in butterfly plantings using both native and non native plants and have identified 32 different butterflies. By having a huge number of both host and nectar plantings we have attracted butterflies in their adult stage which then lay their eggs in the garden and the cycle begins again.

Flying Flowers  will house native butterflies which include the specfic plants they will need to spend their life cycle with us. The structure was erected in Oct. and it has now been completed with paths, seating areas and even some plantings. Watch our progress as we get ready for opening it to the public next May. Be the first group to enjoy "Tea with the Butterflies". We are now  scheduling groups for visits in late May.

Here are just two visitors to the gardens last summer;

Althougth non native Butterfly bush does attract many butterflies. We have tried to be vigilant to keep them from spreading but we still find volunteers on the gardens. This variety is black knight and the butterfly is a comma.

Here is a Diana, on a Purple Cone Flower, a native which many of you may have in your perennial border. A favorite with many butterflies as well as birds if you leave the seed heads standing in the winter.

For more information on attracting butterflies to your garden please visit our butterfly page under gardening tips.

Here is a picture of the Flying Flowers house. As you can see it looks pretty "naked", it was late October at this time., However the paths are in and we had planted about a dozen plants before frost. We put in several of the necessary host plants so they will be established by spring. The bulk of the planting will take place in the spring.

This winter has really put the new house to the test. Check out the shots below- YES we had more snow than normal- over 50" this winter and more since this shot.

Notice how the snow just coated the mesh and almost none entered the house. Yes this is a fine shade cloth to keep our butterflies in and predatory insects out.This was the first heavy snow we had, a total of just over a foot when it was over. Subsequent snows were much lighter and they did coat the ground.

Just to give you a perspective of the house and our lavender. By the way, the lavender is now under almost 14" of snow and is not even visible and the recent fine falling snow is over a foot deep "inside" the house, see below.

Check back to see our progress around the end of March.

I will continue to add pictures so please check back often.

Thanks for your interest and I hope to see you at Flying Flowers in May 2010.