Totally Texas -- Butterflies LIVE!

One fall day I looked out the window of my tenth floor office to see a monarch butterfly fluttering through the downtown Dallas canyons. It remains a perfect memory -- tiny, brilliant wings bearing it through the city, bound for a faraway hibernation spot in Mexico. But for a better chance to see butterflies up close, I like the Heard Natural Science Museum’s butterfly house and garden.

The screened house and outdoor garden teem at this time of year with a variety of native butterfly species, not just monarchs, and their caterpillars. The garden of native plants lures swarms of butterflies, and the confines of the screened house make getting closeups of your favorite fliers simple. With a little luck, you can even lure them into perching on yourself or your children.

Admission to the butterfly house and garden is included in the Heard’s general admission price, $9 for adults under age 60, $6 for over 60’s and children aged 3-12. Kids age two and younger get in free. Those prices are good through September 30, but don’t put off a visit too long -- the butterfly house closes September 28.

The Heard is located at 1 Nature Way in McKinney, open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. (opening at 7:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month), and 1-5 p.m. Sundays. See www.heardmuseum.org for directions and additional programs.

After searching through my butterfly pictures from the Heard, though, I ended up deciding to use a snapshot of a butterfly perching perkily on the giant T. rex dinosaur model that gives visitors a thrill during the annual Dinosaurs Live! Exhibit. Butterflies and animatronic dinosaurs overlap when Dinosaurs Live! opens September 16 (running through February 15, 2015).

Did butterflies and living dinosaurs once share the Earth? I’ll try to remember to pose that question to an expert at another favorite site for butterflies, the Texas Discovery Gardens butterfly house at Fair Park in Dallas.

Resident entomologist John Watts gives a guided tour of the Discovery Gardens Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium at 11 a.m. this Saturday, September 6. But he's always available for questions and butterfly lore at the release of newly emerged butterflies each day at noon.

The Discovery Gardens butterfly house is stocked with exotic butterflies from farms around the world. Admission to the butterfly house is included in general admission to the Discovery Gardens, $8 for adults under age 60, $6 for ages 60 and older, $4 for children aged 3-11.

The Discovery Gardens cut admission prices during the State Fair, September 26 - October 19, but you’ll have to pay for fair admission and parking during the fair’s run.

The Discovery Gardens and butterfly house are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. However, to be sure visitors have a satisfactory viewing experience, the last ticket sales are at 4:45 p.m. For tips on viewing the butterflies, including what to wear to lure them to perch on you, see
http://texasdiscoverygardens.org/butterfly_house.php/.

If the sight of all these beautiful fliers inspires you to action, consider helping scientists track the migration of the iconic monarch butterflies, through www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/.

Totally Texas -- Ready to spring up and bloom

It’s spring in Texas--which means the weather is great for getting outside and playing in the dirt. I’m talking about adults playing the dirt. Dirt’s not just for kids anymore, and a slew of local plant sales are here to cater to the down and dirty in all of us.

(Nothing against kids. They’re great excuses for getting that little red Radio Flyer wagon out of the garage. They’re also the right height to save parents and grandparents the trouble of bending over to set small potted plants in that red wagon.)

North Texas has lots of excellent plant nurseries. But what I have in mind are the garden club and nonprofit group sales, offering natives, the unusual, the rare-- plants it’s often not feasible for commercial nurseries to provide. And although I’m providing ending times for these, arrive as early as possible for best results. They go fast.

April 5 -- Daylily Growers of Dallas spring sale, 9 a.m. - noon, North Haven Gardens, 7700 Northaven Road, Dallas. For information, call 972-820-1131.

April 5 -- Keep Flower Mound Beautiful, Trash Off & Environmental/Health Fair, 8:30 a.m. - noon. Registration at Home Depot parking lot, 352 International Parkway, Flower Mound. Participating groups include Trinity Forks Chapter Native Plant Society, with more than 1,000 plants. See www.kfmb.org/home/going_green_matters_fair/.

April 5 -- Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s spring plant sale, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., 3220 Botanic Garden Boulevard, Fort Worth. Annuals, perennials, shrubs, vines, citrus and more. For information see www.fwbg.org/.

April 5 -- A little further afield, but worth a trip, is Stephen F. Austin State University’s Garden Gala Day plant sale from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. At the SFA Pinewoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St., Nacogdoches. (Hey, you’re on your way to East Texas anyway for Canton Trades Days and Tyler’s Azalea Trails, right?) See plant list at www.sfagardens.sfasu.edu/.

April 11-13 -- Heard Museum plant sale, Hear Natural Science Museum, 1 Nature Place, McKinney. Opens April 11 with pre-sale from 4-7 p.m. for members only, April 12 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., and April 13 from 1-5 p.m. Memberships are available at the sale, for those who want to take advantage of the members’ pre-sale. Information, including plant list, at www.heardmuseum.org/plantsale/.

April 25-27 -- Texas Discovery Gardens plant sale, with adapted and native plants, including butterfly attractors. Members preview sale 4-7 p.m. April 25, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. April 26-27. At Fair Park (tell parking attendants you’re here for the sale to get free parking), turn right past the gate and follow the signs to the back of the greenhouse. For plant list and more information, see http://texasdiscoverygardens.org/plant_sale.php/.

May 3 -- Native Plants & Prairies Day, Bath House Cultural Center at White Rock Lake, 521 E. Lawther Dr., Dallas, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Includes information and plant sale by Dallas Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. See http://ntmn.org/.

And for more native plant sales across the state, visit http://npsot.org/.

(Next Friday -- how are the bluebonnets doing? I visit Ennis, the Official Bluebonnet City of Texas, for news about the blues.)

Totally Texas -- Visit the tropics in Fair Park’s butterfly house

Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium

Texas Discovery Gardens

3601 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Dallas

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Most of the time I’m all about outdoor locations. But after a winter of cold, snow and sleet, I’m ready for a tropical getaway. Especially one so close I can get there and back in time to feed the cat. Something like the Butterfly House at Fair Park’s Discovery Gardens.

Outside, the weather was cold and gray when I visited this week. Inside, the two-story glass-walled conservatory, temperatures were in the 80’s, and the air was brilliant with greenery and tropical flowers. And teeming with butterflies. Because every day at noon, entomologist John Watts arrives to release butterflies newly emerged from the pupae the butterfly house receives from butterfly farmers in Texas and Central America.

The Discovery Gardens maintain the butterfly house to educate the rest of us about the ecological roles insects play. Because these roles aren’t unique to butterflies, the attached insectarium houses a variety of other insects. But as a staff member noted, most people feel happier getting up close with butterflies than, say, with cockroaches. Call it beauty versus the “ick” factor.

Some of the young volunteers present were, in fact, delighted to become perches for the brand new butterflies. The keys to persuading butterflies to alight are persuading them that you’re a plant. Preferably a yummy one, because butterflies, Watts said, taste with their feet.

To look like a plant, stand still as much as possible. And wear green to imitate fresh foliage, or bright colors to imitate a flower. The best clothing for attracting butterflies, Watts said, are tie-dyed or Hawaiian-style shirts, because butterflies have great color vision, in fact seeing colors into ranges of the spectrum invisible to humans.

To attract butterflies, it also helps to smell good. Or at least like fresh bananas, whose attractive powers Watts vouched for. Yes I asked, and no you can’t bring food into the butterfly house. But you may want to consider eating a banana before you enter the butterfly house to get the scent on your hands. Don’t brush your teeth afterward either, and if you’re really lucky, a butterfly may land on your face, searching for the scent.

The outdoor Discovery Gardens and indoor butterfly house are open all week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last entry ticket sold at 4:45 p.m. A staff member called me this morning (February 7) to confirm that the butterfly house is open on this snowy day.  Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors (age 60 and older), $4 for children ages 3-11. Kids under three enter free.

For additional information, including group rates and programs, call 214-428-7476 or visit
http://texasdiscoverygardens.org/.

Totally Texas -- A butterfly obsession

Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House

Texas Discovery Gardens

Dallas Fair Park, Gate 6

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After a series of overcast days, I headed for the Butterfly House at the Texas Discovery Gardens in Fair Park. Bright-winged little creatures flitting among tropical flowers -- a perfect prescription to chase away the blues. If the sun doesn’t shine on your visit, don’t worry. Butterflies are less active on overcast days, which actually makes them easier to photograph. If possible, clear your schedule, as I did, to arrive for the midday release of butterflies newly emerged from their pupae. (Not from cocoons, on-site entomologist John Watts informed us. Cocoons are for moths, not butterflies.)

The Butterfly House’s USDA educational permit does not allow it to breed butterflies, but it receives pupae from butterfly farms around the world, including North Texas butterfly breeder Dale Clark’s Butterflies Unlimited farm. Butterflies arrive in in pupal form, and Watts chats with visitors daily as he releases a dozen or so newly-emerged insects into the Butterfly House.

On my visit, butterflies from at least half a dozen species climbed over the edge of their large net over a thirty-minute period. As they took to their wings in search of food and freedom, Watts let us pick his brain about all things lepidopteron.

What do butterflies eat? Only liquid food, chiefly nectar, but also fluids from various other sources, including the trays of rotting fruit tucked discreetly around the Butterfly House’s conservatory.

Why are they so colorful, anyway? Contrary to common wisdom, the dust-fine scales that give the wings their color don’t help butterflies fly. But don’t scrape the scales off -- they serve other essential purposes, warning off potential predators or allowing butterflies to identify members of their own species -- either as competitors or mates.

The last discussion brought up the question of how to tell male butterflies from females. Butterflies often do so by smell -- some male butterflies can distinguish the pheromones of females for miles. For human observers, Watts said, the best clues are behavioral. Female butterflies “taste” plant leaves for their suitability as host plants for caterpillars -- touching leaves with their feet, where butterfly taste organs are located. Males circle other males in flight to determine dominance.

The big Central American blue morpho patrolling the Butterfly House’s aisle, Watts said, was most likely a territorial male. He landed on the shoe of a Butterfly House volunteer, another sign of dominance.

So how do you encourage a butterfly to alight on you? Although it depends on the time of day, wearing white or light blue clothing -- even having white hair -- helps. As does your scent. In lieu of slathering yourself with butterfly pheromones, try a splash of Obsession perfume or the Avon’s Skin So Soft lotion you wear to repel mosquitoes. Butterflies love it!

The Butterfly House is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Last admission at 4:45 p.m.) Tickets are $8 for adults, $4 for children ages 3-11. For more about Texas Discovery Gardens and its programs, see www.texasdiscoverygardens.org/.

Want to see butterflies on the west side of the metroplex? Fort Worth Botanic Gardens hosts conservatory butterflies this year from March 3 to April 8. See http://fwbg.org/.

Totally Texas -- Butterflies all a-flutter

Texas Discovery Gardens Butterfly House

Dallas Fair Park, Gate 6

3601 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

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The outdoor plantings at Fair Park’s Texas Discovery Gardens are in full bloom, but an even more dazzling show is inside -- in the glass-walled butterfly house where exotic butterflies roam a duplicate of their rainforest habitats.

I returned recently for the magic of being surrounded by clouds of elfin fliers. The butterfly house -- officially the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium -- is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at this time of the year. Its admission charge ($8 adults, $4 children) includes entry to the gardens, but Tuesday admission is half-price for the butterfly house, or free for the outdoor gardens only.

(Outdoors, check the water features for tadpoles and mosquito fish. The gardens are maintained organically, so there’s wildlife.)

The butterfly house imports farm-raised butterflies in their pupal (chrysalis) form for educational purposes only. Especially if visiting with children, consider arriving by noon for a daily talk and release of newly emerged butterflies.

Bring your camera and check http://texasdiscoverygardens.org/butterfly_house.php/ for photo tips. Watch your step -- and your back. Butterflies perch on the walkways and on their human admirers, as if inviting pictures. And for the non-squeamish, take a look at the caged arthropods outside of the butterfly house. The little boys in my life love the likes of spiders and tarantulas.

Dallas isn’t the only metroplex site with butterfly fever. At the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, the Butterflies in the Garden exhibit continues through Sunday, April 8, in the conservatory at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd., off University Drive. Admission to the gardens is free, but there is a charge for tickets to the conservancy. See www.fwbg.org/ for details.

If you want to watch native Texas butterflies outdoors but close to home, check out the
pocket-sized but lovely butterfly garden in front of the Bath House Cultural Center, 521 East Lawther Drive in Dallas. Created and maintained by the Dallas County Master Gardeners organization, it includes a variety of water wise plantings. The blue-purple blooms of scabious (pincushion plants) were recent butterfly favorites.

And for tips on planning and planting your own butterfly garden, get tips from the Dallas County Lepidopterists’ Society, www.dallasbutterflies.com/. These guys actually like the sight of chewed leaves. It means there are caterpillars around.  

Totally Texas -- Rains bring spring flowers

I write this on a day of continuous rain, trying to cheer myself with the reminder: in Texas, winter rains bring spring flowers. Substantial rain combined with this season’s mild weather could bring us a bumper crop of spring blooms and wildflowers. To help you with spring chores and show you where to enjoy the beauty of flowers like the cherry blossoms now gracing the Dallas Arboretum, today’s blog is dedicated to spring flowers in North Texas.

(Remember, flowers don’t always bloom on schedule. For events involving outdoor flowers, contact the websites to verify best bloom times.)

On-going -- Texas Discovery Gardens releases newly emerged butterflies daily at noon (because flowers need butterflies)! Entry to butterfly house included in admission, $8 for adults, $4 for children 3-11. At Fair Park, 3601 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Dallas, 75201. See www.TexasDiscoveryGardens.org/

Mid-February - March --Mrs. Lee’s Daffodil Garden in East Texas, Highway 271 North, south of Gladewater. Open 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. daily, weather permitting. Free. For bloom times and road conditions, see www.daffodilgarden.com

February 25 -- Calloway’s Nurseries’ Gardenfest program of speakers and workshops, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at its Arlington South, Flower Mound, Hurst and North Plano stores. Topics include bulbs, roses, color in the garden and more. Free. See www.calloways.com/gardenfest-calloways for complete schedule.

February 25 -- North Haven Gardens, 7700 Northaven Road in Dallas holds classes on winter-planted vegetables, drought-hardy gardening and roses as edible herbs. Free. See http://nhg.com/Events.htm for details.

February 25 -- Texas Discovery Gardens offers a new class on butterfly biology, 10 a.m. - noon. Cost: $15; $10 for TDG members. Register at www.TexasDiscoveryGardens.org/

March 3 -- Texas Discovery Gardens’ tour of butterfly house (repeats on first Saturdays); 11 a.m. through 5 p.m. (last ticket sold at 4:45 p.m.). Included with admission price. See www.TexasDiscoveryGardens.org/

March 3-April 8 -- Fort Worth Botanic Garden, 3200 Botanic Garden Blvd., joins the butterfly fun with Butterflies in the Garden in its Conservatory, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tickets $10 for ages 13 and over, $6 for children. See http://fwbg.org/ for details and discounts.

March 3-April 8 -- Dallas Blooms, at Dallas Arboretum, 8617 Garland Road, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily. See www.dallasarboretum.org for pricing and special events during the festival MSN called one of the top places in the world to see spring flowers.

March 11 -- Japanese cherry-blossom viewing (hanami) -- Dallas Arboretum, including music and family activities. (Although the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens does not have a festival coinciding with cherry-blossoming, it updates bloom times on its Facebook page.  See link at http://fwbg.org/)

March 23-25, March 30-31 & April 1 & 6-8 -- Palestine Dogwood Trails Celebration. Festival in downtown Palestine March 24, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Complete calendar available at www.palestinechamber.org/

March 23-April 8 -- Tyler Azalea and Spring Flower Trail. Azalea Trails Arts & Crafts Fair March 24-25; Saturday (24^th) 9 a.m. -6 p.m.; Sunday (25^th) 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. For complete calendar of events, see www.tylerazaleatrail.com/

April 1-30 -- Ennis Bluebonnet Trails. Bluebonnet Trails Festival April 21-22, 9 a.m. -5 p.m. See www.visitennis.org/