Amy Van Norman

Review of Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Beautiful outdoor gardens, but I was troubled to f...

Beautiful outdoor gardens, but I was troubled to find out that the butterflies in the Conservatory, during their annual Blooming Butterflies event, are not allowed to procreate. I noticed during a visit, last year, that there were no larval host plants for the butterflies to lay their eggs on. When I asked a staff member about this, I was told that the Botanical Gardens have to get a permit from the USDA and WI Dept of Agriculture in order to host the exhibit and that the permit requires that them to remove any potential larval host plants from the Conservatory so that the butterflies do not reproduce. I personally, think it is sad that a place promoting and educating about butterfly conservation would support such a practice. I am sure this must be a stressful situation for the female monarchs and other butterflies in the Conservatory as they search desperately for plants to lay their eggs on.