I went to both places today with my son. The UF exhibit was very nice, they had alot of native butterflies as well as the tropical ones. They said that at one time they have 60 -65 species out but that they vary from time to time whiich ones they have. Like today they had tons of Julias and ZLW's but no Sulphurs. Many were torn and tattered,especially the natives.

The place is not nearly as big as Butterfly World and when we first got there it was not crowded (10;30) but within a half hour or so it was packed. There were school groups there and a Red Hat Group. There were LOTS of Volunteers and employees there to answer and identify plants and butterflies.

I guess I would try to go early and hope that you have an off day, maybe Spring Break week for the elementary schools nearby.

Afterwards we drove about 15 miles east to Greathouse. They had an introductory presentation about the life cycle etc. Then we went out to look at the "gardens". They ahd a pretty hard freeze for two nights there about three weeks ago so their "gardens' were very sparse. But the lady talked aobut how to plant the host and nectars to get the best results. Then we went in to feed the butterflies in the flying area. EAch one of us got a q-tip with Fruit Punch Gatorade on it and we were instructed on how to place it under the feet and slowly roll it to get the butterfly on it. It works! Now they had plenty of nectar plants in there but the butterflies went for the liquid. She showed us the milkweed plant area and the area where they keep tons of nectar plants for those that are going to be shipped to exhibits or for releases. I know that is a touchy subject so I won't get into that but they make sure they are well nourished beforehand. She said they place one host plant in there for each type of butterfly and the females will lay on it. That is how they collect eggs to raise the caterpillars in their "lab."

We couldn't go in there cause of health reasons etc but she said they follow strict guidelines on making sure the cats they are raising are healthy and do not carry diseases.

Then we saw the cats that are ready to make their chrysalis and some which had just emerged.

So it was a nice day. Both places were worthwhile. it would have been better to wait a month to go to Greathouse's though so that the plants would have been in better shape. They weren't selling any yet either. I had hoped to get a couple but didn't.

We made a third stop at Gingerland in Anthony, FL on the way home. I wanted to get some info on those plants for as shady area. The lady was really nice and gave me the info I needed. I hope to get some from her at one of the Plant Festivals around here sometime.