We're Going In: The Botanical Gardens' Butterfly Experience

Where wings whisper and the chocolate tree grows

The Butterfly Experience enhances the Botanical Gardens’ magical Victorian vibes. Photos by the Author.

When the Botanical Gardens announced its Butterfly Experience, my imagination took flight.

Picture it, thousands of wings — the kind that flutter, not fry!

And I loved this caution I read: “Once you’ve made your way through the space, you will exit through another vestibule to be checked for hitchhiking butterflies.”

As if a trip to the Botanical Gardens weren’t magical enough already.

Just walking through the main entrance lifts your spirits. You feel the genius of Lord and Burnham, the the visionary Buffalo greenhouse architects who created this space, modeling it after London’s legendary Crystal Palace, now long gone. Your eyes rise to the great glass dome, and suddenly you’re gazing into heaven — awestruck by God’s creation.

Looking for the butterflies? A sign points you to the right.

You leave the dome (don’t worry — you’ll return) and enter a lush corridor: first, a koi pond rippling with orange flashes. Then a house of sculptural succulents. Then the tranquil Bonsai House, miniature trees basking in filtered light.

Along the path, signs share the secrets of butterflies — their habits and habitats, their favorite flowers — gently guiding you hither and yon, until...

There they are. The double doors.

The staffers are waiting, smiling.

We’re going in.

The Chocolate Tree

As I emerged from the doors, it was the flora, not the fauna, that first caught my breath.

Warm and tropical, the air was heavy with green. The heat was softened only by an occasional mist, drifting like steam in a dream. Torpid, you could say — in the best way.

There was a chocolate tree! A real one. Cacao pods waiting to become something sweet.

And a coffee tree. And a peanut butter fruit tree!

Where were the butterflies? They aren’t as obvious as the creatures at Canada’s Butterfly Conservatory, where the winged creatures swarm everywhere. At our Butterfly Experience, you have to look for them.

Well, one butterfly announced himself immediately. A Red Admiral poised perfectly on the welcome sign, as if it had been placed there for the photo op.

An Eastern Black Swallowtail lounged on the peanut butter fruit tree. I didn’t see him at first. Then suddenly, I did — and he was magnificent.

I spotted another variety of swallowtail on an ancient-looking windowsill, his wings beating gently.

There were acres of catnip. Butterflies must love it. On one catnip plant, a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) hovered, looking a little tipsy on the scent.

Nearby were two swallowtails, different in pattern. Wings spread wide, they sat motionless as paper cutouts.

You had to hunt for these creatures. It was like an Easter egg hunt, looking for that splash of color.

No eggs allowed

Butterflies fluttered overhead and tapped against the windows, their wings casting flickers of shadow. But mostly, they lingered — quiet, still, nestled on leaves or clinging to flower stems — waiting for you to find them.

A little table holds plastic cards picturing all the species, along with cute little magnifying glasses should you want to take a closer look at the creatures you spot.

Studying the portraits, I made it my mission to spot them all.

I mentioned this goal to a staffer named Madison Parobek.

“Not all the butterflies on the card are in the exhibit,” she said, sparing me a wild goose chase.

“But many of them are.”

As she spoke, a butterfly swooped overhead.

“You can see how the different sizes fly,” Madison added. “The Red Admiral flies zippity-fast.”

I pointed to an Eastern Swallowtail resting on her desk.

“Is he asleep?” I asked.

“He’s actually deceased,” she said, gently. “But we keep him. He’s beautiful.”

She smiled. “I’ve learned a lot on this job.”

I learned a lot, too. I learned that a butterfly’s wings can break as a defense mechanism. It doesn’t hurt them — but the wings don’t grow back.

I learned that caterpillars eat so much, the Botanical Gardens would need a whole new wing just to contain them. “They have to eat a lot to make it through their metamorphosis,” Madison explained.

And I learned that the exhibit runs under a USDA permit — which allows only butterflies, not butterfly eggs. To comply, the Gardens avoids plants that encourage egg-laying.

Still, the Giant Swallowtails don’t always follow the rules.

“They lay eggs in the citrus plants,” Madison said.

She even caught two, ahem, in the act.

“I didn’t know butterflies did that,” I said.

“They, like, put their backsides together,” she told me. “And sometimes they fly away attached to each other. It’s so cute.”

As we talked, Madison inspected a grapefruit tree.

“I actually found some eggs,” she said. They were the size of a pinhead — and she tucked them carefully into a little container she kept just for that purpose.

It’s hot in the Tropical Orchard. The Botanical Gardens tell you to bring a water bottle along with your camera, and they’re right. When I left, my clothes felt damp.

A staffer checked me at the exit. Nope, no hitchhiking butterflies. No meandering Monarchs, no vacationing Viceroys. In a minute, I was back under the great glass dome. Had this all been a dream? It almost felt like it.

However, in a way, the butterflies stay with you.

I find myself watching for them. Recognizing them. Just the other day, in Delaware Park, I spotted a Cloudless Sulphur, a species that had eluded me at the exhibit.

I’m sure I’ve seen this yellow butterfly before.

This time, though, I knew its name.

The Butterfly Experience continues at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens until August 3. The cost of the exhibit is included with your admission. Pre-planning is suggested. Find details here.