Butterfly Rainforest

While I was in Florida, my daughter Mary took me to Gainesville to see the Butterfly Rainforest at the Museum of Natural History.

This beautiful garden is chock-full of lush foliage and colorful butterflies. Visitors follow a trail through the garden which could be walked in two minutes, if you completely ignored your surroundings, but Mary and I enjoyed the garden for the better part of an hour. Between the two of us, we snapped nearly 500 photos. This blog post contains a few of my favorites.

[Click on images to enlarge them.]

Two varieties of finches also share the space; the little birds darted amongst the flowers and bathed in the fountain. 

Food trays for the birds and butterflies were tucked into the foliage.

Outside the garden, we could look into the hatching lab where the cocoons are kept. Periodically, new hatches are released into the garden.

Drawings and mounted specimens lined the hallway.

For those who might feel claustrophobic, there was an outdoor sitting area, near a wall covered with sculpted frogs.

All in all, a beautiful and informative part of the museum. If you're ever in Gainesville, don't miss it! Or, you can visit the Butterfly Rainforest's website at  http://www.visitgainesville.com/attractions/item.aspx?id=14