Ray Wiegand’s Nursery, north of Detroit, hosts an extensive butterfly program that’s a big hit with kids. From caterpillars to gorgeous butterflies, the garden center nurtures Lepidoptera throughout their life cycles.
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Caterpillar houses
Unlike many who have butterfly houses, Ray Wiegand's has a separate caterpillar houses. To protect the caterpillars (and to keep them from tasty plants in the nursery), the houses are not open for visitors to enter. But they can be seen from a safe distance amid their favorite plants.
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The butterfly house
This simple structure of a wood frame with a poly covering makes it easy to move and set up anywhere in the nursery. Unlike the caterpillar houses, the butterfly house is open to visitors.
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Tasty snacks for the butterflies
Ray Wiegand's offers butterflies plenty of fresh fruit to taste. The trays are also placed out in the open, inviting butterflies to display their colorful wings to visiting children.
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Please feed the butterflies
One of the most popular features of the butterfly house is that kids are invited to feed butterflies by sweeping sugar-water infused brushes on plants.
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Supply the butterfly buffet
To encourage kids to interact with the butterfly house, Ray Wiegand's sets out cups of sugar water and sponge paint brushes and invites customers to brush the liquid nourishment on various surfaces in the butterfly house.
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Signs to educate parents and older kids
Ray Wiegand's positions several easy-to-understand signs around the butterfly house so parents can teach their children more about the creatures they're interacting with.
The garden store’s take on a butterfly and caterpillar house is one that most garden retailers can create within their own stores. Take a look at these images to see how it’s done.
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015Ray Wiegand's Nursery Attracts Kids With Its Butterfly And Caterpillar Houses [Photo Gallery]