Butterflies in the Garden, Largest Exhibit of Live Butterflies in North Central Texas, Opens to Large Crowds in Fort Worth Botanic Garden's Conservatory
Fort Worth, Texas (PRWEB) March 03, 2014 -- The Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT®), the Fort Worth Garden Club, the Fort Worth Botanical Society, and Cirro Energy are pleased to announce the opening of “Butterflies in the Garden,” the largest exhibit of live, exotic butterflies in north central Texas in the conservatory of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, 3220 Botanic Garden Boulevard.
During the five-week exhibit, from March 1 through April 6, 2014, approximately 12,000, beautiful, exotic butterflies of every hue and size will be released in the conservatory. People will have a chance to walk among thousands of fluttering butterflies from around the world, watch them land on tropical flowers and lush foliage — maybe even on their finger! — and learn about the amazing life cycle of the butterfly. Both the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and BRIT will offer programs and exhibits during the exhibit days to enhance attendees’ learning experience.
The theme for the 2014 exhibit is “Butterflies of Asia,” since the exhibit features butterflies such as the Archduke (Lexias pardalis), Paper Kite (Idea leoconoe), Scarlet Mormon (Papilio rumanzovia), and Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber),all of which are from Malaysia. Of these, the Paper Kite and the Great Mormon are the most striking. Also included in the exhibit will be butterflies from North, Central and South America as well as Africa. Butterflies from Central America include Small Postman (Heliconius erato), Pink-Spotted Cattleheart (Parides photinus), Malachite (Siproeta stelenes), Tiger Longwing (Heliconius hecale), and Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides). Of these, the Blue Morpho is the most striking and a perennial favorite among visitors.
New for 2014, the organizers received corporate support from Cirro Energy and created a “Butterflies in the Garden” art competition for students from area schools.
The judging committee selected the winning submission from over 200 entries. This year’s winner, Agustin Alvarez, who is in the seventh grade at Rosemont Middle School, submitted his interpretation of this year’s “Butterflies of Asia” theme showing a butterfly landing on a lotus blossom. His design will appear as the main graphic on billboards, banners, and other exhibit communications. The art competition will become an integral part of the biannually-held butterfly exhibit at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
“2014 is a year of firsts for this grand exhibit,” says Erdie Allsup, executive director of the Fort Worth Botanical Society. “Not only does the exhibit benefit from having a great corporate underwriter in Cirro Energy, it also benefits by engaging aspiring artists from area schools.”
“Cirro Energy is proud to be a part of this highly anticipated exhibition of butterflies from several continents, the largest of its kind in North Texas,” said Jim Hayes, managing director for Cirro Energy. “We’re excited to be the first corporate supporter of this event in its history, and Cirro Energy volunteers will also join in to share the wonder of the butterflies with visitors from across the state of Texas.”
The exhibit runs from Saturday, March 1, 2014, through Sunday, April 6, 2014. It is open daily, including Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tickets for timed entrance may be purchased in advance online through a link on the Garden's website at http://www.fwbg.org. Admission will be free for children 2 and under; $6 for ages 3-12; $10 for ages 13-64; and $8 for seniors (65+). School groups of 20 or more may purchase tickets in advance for $5 per person. Tickets can be purchased from: https://www.centralticketoffice.com/index.php?&act=dsp_events&cid=53.
For more information, call the Garden at 817-392-5510, visit the Garden's website, or visit BRIT's website at http://www.brit.org.
Chris Chilton, Botanical Research Institute of Texas, http://www.brit.org, +1 (817) 546-8691, [email protected]
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