Explore: Victoria Butterfly Gardens

When Sunshine was about the age that Lily is, my mother and I took her to the Butterfly Conservatory in Ontario.  She was fascinated by the butterflies sitting still and oblivious to those winging past her.  So when I saw a coupon for the Butterfly Gardens here, I grabbed it.

We took the girls and their grandparents for Sunshine's birthday.  Lily was engrossed by the koi and flamingos; she would have sat watching them for the whole visit (or rather, not "sat"—I had to hold her back from climbing over the railing to see them).  Sunshine enjoyed seeing the butterflies and following the path around the hothouse.

I found it interesting that the butterflies are imported from "Eco-friendly" farms in Mexico.  I guess with their short lifespan, it's hard for such a small place to raise enough butterflies for the tourists to watch.  It was neat to see the butterflies in various stages of their development, though without the guided tour I wouldn't have noticed most of the eggs dotting the plants.

This morning, we went with my aunt to the gardens.  My aunt has an annual pass for escaping to the tropics when Victoria has too many dreary grey days.  It was neat to see what had changed in the month since our last visit.  What had been a patch of dirt before was now full of spiky, colourful plants.  An orchid was in full bloom.  A patch of white flowers now had red centers.  There seemed to be fewer butterflies, however, and my aunt said their population seems to fluctuate (these pictures are from our first visit; on this visit, I mostly saw blue morpho butterflies, and none of these two).

We bought our own annual pass this visit.  Perhaps next time we go, we'll see more butterflies again.  Or maybe the turtle will have arrived in his new home.  Either way, it's a fun way to spend an hour with Sunshine and Lily.