Butterflies Are Blooming!

I received an email from my Aunt Cecile wondering, “Are you available for lunch? It has been a while .…” We usually try to get together every other month or so, but gosh … I think the last time we did that was before the holidays. We were definitely overdue.

I picked her up at the appointed time and asked where we were headed. “I have an idea,” she told me. Now you have to realize that when we become partners in crime, anything can happen. Like last September when we headed to Grand Haven for lunch. Six hours later we not only had dined, but also accomplished thrifting, an art walk and a lighthouse photo shoot as well. (I’ve really got to get caught up on those last few posts from 2010; that was a fabulous day!) This time her proposed adventure kept us closer to home, but nonetheless was another wonderful idea.

She has a Frederik Meijer Gardens membership. We could lunch at the Taste of Gardens Café and then check out both Jim Dine’s sculptures in the gallery and the Butterflies Are Blooming exhibition in the conservatory. Perfect!

She treated me to lunch (many thanks!) of a Caprese Salad reminiscent of those I enjoyed while touring Italy and Six Onion Soup, the latter of which was accompanied by my warning that she probably shouldn’t walk downwind of me for the rest of the afternoon. Let’s just say that I love onion soup, but it doesn’t always love me. ‘nuff said. The food was delish and lunch afforded us an opportunity to catch up. Aunt Cecile and Uncle Norm have just returned from six weeks of vacationing that took them to Florida, through the Panama Canal, to the City of Angels, back to the Sunshine State and home again. Me? Homebound, boring and insanely jealous!

I’ll save my take on Dine for the next post, but allow me to gush on and on about the butterflies. Love, love, love ‘em! The annual exhibit is in its 16th year and again features hundreds of tropical butterflies in various stages of the lifecycle, including adults freely flying among their guests. While we certainly didn’t have the conservatory to ourselves, it was mid-afternoon mid-week and not overly crowded. And it was sun, sun, sunny … which means the butterflies were soaring! We couldn’t have picked a better day.

They are beautiful and fascinating at the same time. Here are some interesting lifecycle facts that were detailed in the Gardens’ brochure:

In her short lifetime of two to four weeks, a female butterfly can lay hundreds of tiny eggs—about the size of the head of a pin. Some species lay eggs in clusters of a dozen or more while others lay them singly. Though hundreds may be laid, typically only one or two will complete the lifecycle to adulthood. 

Caterpillars may be best described as “picky eating machines” (kind of like kids, huh?) as over the next two to three weeks they spend most of their time eating specifically from a host plant. Their rapid growth requires them to shed their skin five times. If only my weight loss efforts could be so easy!

Inside the chrysalis a caterpillar changes into an adult butterfly. This typically takes about two weeks to occur. If you carefully examine chrysalides, you can see wings, heads and even eyes of developing butterflies.

After an adult butterfly takes it first flight, it feeds on flower nectar, finds a mate and lays eggs. Monarch butterflies from the Midwest and Canada make an incredible journey in the fall, flying more than 1,900 miles to the mountains in central Mexico where they spend the winter. What a life!

There were butterflies—and people with cameras!—everywhere. Most of the Lepidopteron were difficult to photograph since they just wouldn’t stand still. They weren’t flying, they were flitting! But we were content to grab a bench and watch them with wonder. So darn cool!

Thanks to Aunt Cecile for sharing another great afternoon.  Good times!  If you haven’t yet seen Butterflies Are Blooming, go! The exhibit runs until April 30.