Virginia tourist attraction: Butterflies LIVE! returns to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

This Mama Llama scored major brownie points with my son Forrest and daughter Jenavieve. My pride and joys gleefully accepted my invitation to spend an afternoon at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, one of Virginia's precious gems.

The popular Henrico attraction just outside of Richmond has over 50 acres of spectacular gardens to explore and admire. My favorite feature is the Conservatory, a fancy word for greenhouse, hothouse or glasshouse.

In 2019, USA Today voted Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden as the fourth “Best Botanical Garden” in the Nation out of 20 nominees. That same year, Better Homes & Garden Magazine recognized it as one of "8 Most Instagram-Worthy Botanical Gardens in the U.S."

I livened our bonding moment up a bit by donning butterfly wings. Isn't it every mom's job to embarrass their offspring? Ha!

As I fluttered across the parking lot, a gentleman said, "Bonita mariposa." Jenna quickly translated, "Pretty butterfly."

Butterflies LIVE!

Butterflies and moths mesmerize me with their majestic elegance and beauty.

I went snap-happy in the M&T Bank Butterflies LIVE! exhibition housed in the Conservatory's North Wing. It truly is magnificent! People of all ages loved to watch the colorful insects feed and flutter.

Visiting Butterflies LIVE! for the first time with his family, Buddy Small of Colonial Heights approached me and said, "Why am I not surprised to see The Progress-Index Social Butterfly in the butterfly exhibit."

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According to Beth Rilee Monroe, Chief Marketing Officer, most of the 3,516 total Garden guests on April 16 and 17 visited Butterflies LIVE!'s opening weekend. The first butterfly exhibit featuring tropical species was in 2009 as part of the Garden’s celebration of its 25th anniversary.

"We were able to bring the exhibit back in 2012, and it ran annually through 2019. During the height of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, the exhibit was closed," Monroe said. "Everyone is so excited to have the butterflies back this year."

Being the Social Butterfly that I am, I picked Mary Lincoln's brain about the impressive exhibit. The Exhibitions Coordinator happily shared her knowledge.

Many times, I had to step over a butterfly. It made me wonder how often they expire on the underside of a shoe.

"As we greet our guests, we tell them about the butterflies and remind them to please keep an eye out for butterflies on the floor," Lincoln said. "Being proactive in this way helps minimize incidences of butterflies being stepped on."

Butterflies LIVE! guests enter and exit in small numbers via a vestibule. It is mainly used to watch for winged escapees.

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"The vestibule is important because most of our butterflies are non-native species, and we must ensure they do not escape into our local ecosystem," Lincoln said. Because the butterflies like to 'hitchhike' on items such as clothes and bags, we have to make sure we check guests before they leave. This can happen a handful of times each day."

As Grace Huntoon of Williamsburg waited in line to exit the exhibit, she stated, "Every time I step on a rock, I feel like I'm crunching a butterfly."

I observed a butterfly curator capture a "hitchhiker" in the vestibule. Then, he patiently waited for the wanderer to take flight from the net at its own pace.

Chesterfield County Public School teacher Cathy Kunkel of Midlothian could not depart Butterflies LIVE! until a butterfly finished resting on her back.

"Years ago we brought our Thelma Crenshaw Elementary first graders here," Kunkel said. "Every spring, we raise butterflies in our class. It's 'never' not amazing to them."

"It is really cool to see different butterfly species from around the world. I've witnessed interesting things while working with them," Lincoln said. "One time we had a butterfly emerge that had male markings on one side and female markings on the other. This is somewhat rare and is the result of a minor chromosomal anomaly. The technical term for it is bilateral gynandromorphy."

Ninety different species will be represented throughout the duration of the exhibit which runs through Oct. 10. Guests will more than likely see different varieties of butterflies with each visit.

The exhibit includes a butterfly nursery. Guests may see butterflies emerge from one of the many chrysalides inside the wooden display.

Years ago, I discovered a caterpillar dressed in a black, green, yellow and white-striped suit feasting on my bronze fennel. I placed the herb thief in an aquarium. It stopped eating, hung upside down from a twig, molted into a chrysalis, and weeks later emerged as a gorgeous Black Swallowtail.

Butterflies LIVE! also includes enormous Atlas moths [Attacus atlas], one of the largest moths in the world found in the forests of Asia. Butterfly Educator Nathan Kristofik pointed out how the markings on the upper corner of their wings resemble the head of a snake. Predators get confused, and they get to live another day.

As I exited the Conservatory, I noticed a man keeping watch over two strollers while seated on a butterfly-shaped bench.

"We brought our grandkids here for Easter to see the butterflies," Angel Gonzalez of Chester said.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

"It's been really fun. There's been a lot of flowers, plants and butterflies that I've never seen before," Mai-Londen Edwards of Mechanicsville said. "I've had three butterflies land on me so far."

Seven-year-old Charlotte Coillot while crouching down low to get a good look at a butterfly said. "I love seeing the butterflies. I like blue ones the best."

With my lens, I captured Jeffrey Coogle while he looked keenly upon a variety of butterflies in a release box aka net cage.

"I've been here numerous times, but this is my first visit to the butterfly exhibit. It's well done and worth the cost of admission," Coogle of Richmond said. "The butterfly on my daughter has been there for over five minutes."

Experience the magic

Visit by Oct. 10 before the butterflies get rounded up to dazzle guests at the Butterfly Magic exhibit at Tucson Botanical Gardens in Arizona.

Conservatory exhibits are included in the regular daily admission: $17 for adults, $14 for seniors, $8 for children, and under age three are free.

If tourists get hungry or thirsty, they can stop by the Garden Café located in the Visitor Center daily between 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Between May 1 and June 26, the Robins Tea House with a picturesque view of the West Island Garden is another option on Saturdays and Sundays between 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

The must-see destination has a dozen themed gardens, a library, a café, and an enormous gift shop.

I'm not exaggerating; their Garden Shop is massive with a variety of merchandise to wear, eat, read, experience and plant.

My sweet Jenavieve Rose purchased me a butterfly charm in the Garden Shop. The card it came with contained the following poem by A.S. Waldrop:

A butterfly is so beautiful, graceful and elegant we see; symbolizing life's quick changes there are parallels to you and me.

It also symbolizes faith and embraces the journey along the way; may you be inspired by the butterfly as you go about your day.

Kristofik gave us an added thrill. It was tight, but the four of us squeezed into the closet-like Emergence Room. My mini-social butterflies asked great questions.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is located at 1800 Lakeside Avenue in Henrico. It is open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Nov. 25 and Dec. 24-25. Visit lewisginter.org for more information.

— Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly columnist is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at khiggins@progress-index.com, follow @KHiggins_PI on Twitter @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram, and subscribe to us at progress-index.com.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Butterflies LIVE! 2022 in Henrico County