People have to bundle up to go outside on most of Colorado’s winter days, but inside the Butterfly House, the weather is always “tropical”! Leave your jackets at the door and enjoy the colorful vegetation, flowers, and fluttering butterflies.

Admission from December thru February is HALF PRICE! (only $5.50 Adult) Click Here for more information and directions.

The Gardens on Spring Creek

The Gardens on Spring Creek 2145 Centre Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80526 – 970.416.2486  
Also, check out ‘Tis the Sesson of Twinkle Lights to see my photos of the Botanical Gardens lit up at night. 

There are plenty of beautiful plants and flowers in the building, but the butterflies are the star of the show! On overcast days, the butterflies hunker down and seldom fly. On sunny days, you’ll find plenty of them fluttering around.

This display chamber contains Crysalides and Pupae, waiting to emerge. The facility gets shipments regularly throughout the year, so the “cast of characters” is constantly changing. It might be difficult to see in the photo, but there are roughly three dozen Malachite about ready to emerge.

These Zebra Longwings emerged the day I was there. Their soft wings were straightening and drying before being released into the conservatory. The web site says there are usually 300+ butterflies. Currently, all of the butterflies are North American species, but I was told they are expecting shipments of butterfly Crysalides from Costa Rica. 

On the day I was there, Zebra Longwings were the most plentiful and active of the butterflies. The previous photos shows three more about ready to join their friends. Many of the Longwings were attracted to these red flowers.

I was shooting at my minimum focusing distance most of the time. They might flutter off a flower as you walk by, but I am not sure if the presence of a human has anything to do with it! They change flowers regularly, but often stayed parked long enough for several photos.  The wing position of the butterfly in the upper right reminds me of some of the hummingbirds I’ve photographed. At 1/2500th second. I am able to stop the action to reveal flight details you simply can’t see in real time.

There were numerous Julia Longwings in the building. Two or more humidifiers pumped warm, moist air into the building. They didn’t come on while I was in the building, but I would bet there are overhead misters to water all of the plants when visitors re not present.

The Butterfly House is not “spacious”, but it’s plenty workable! At least one volunteer keeps an eye on things. They answer questions and watch to make sure people don’t accidentally step on a butterfly resting on the walkway. Occasionally, a butterfly lands on a tourist’s back, so they look for “hitchhikers” as visitors exit through a middle chamber.

Whether you are an anthophile (a person who loves flowers), an entomologist (a person that loves insects), or someone who just loves nature, you will enjoy the facility!

I spent the first half of my visit photographing “perched” butterflies! That’s relatively easy. The rest of my time was spent trying to photograph some of them fluttering around. That’s harder! 

At such close range, depth of field is extremely shallow! I took a lot of photos and deleted most of them back in Lightroom. Most of the keepers, espeically the photos with two or three butterflies in a single shot, were the ones where the second butterfly flew into the focal plane of the butterfly I was already photographing.

Photography Info:
Without knowing what I was getting into, I carried in a tripod, strobe, and remote commander for the strobe. I was pleasantly surprised to find there was plenty of light coming in through the glass walls and ceiling. I was able to hand hold my camera and lens. I had a couple of longer lenses in the vehicle, but only used a Tamron 35-150mm lens on my Sony A1 mirrorless camera. Most of the flight shots were taken at 1/2500th second. I took some of the still shots at speeds down to around 1/200th second.. 

The staff at The Gardens on Spring Creek was extremely friendly and accomodating. On busy summer days, traffic is “one way”. I was there on an off season day so I could roam around with my camera in either direction. Thanks to Bill and Luke, both friendly volunteers! After my last shots, I retrieved my down-filled jacket and headed towards my vehicle. I stopped long enough for a few shots of the outside of the building then drove home with a digital card full of images to document my visit.  Check out The Gardens on Spring Creek if you get a chance! >> MJ