Butterfly House Opens Saturday

This weekend, fireworks will be lighting up the sky throughout Central New Jersey. But, if you are looking for a quieter pursuit this Saturday with your kids, why not head to the Middlesex County’s Master Gardeners’ Butterfly House at the EARTH Center in Davidson’s Mill Pond Park. There, butterflies will fill the sky with a different type of beauty. The Butterfly House will be open for the first time this Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon, and will be open every Saturday between those times in July and August.

The small hoop house includes flowers and plants that attract butterflies, and has Monarch butterflies, Painted Ladies, Black Swallowtails and butterflies that are native to New Jersey. Admission to the butterfly house is free, but donations are encouraged to help support the butterfly house. The house gives children and adults the opportunity to view these beautiful insects up close.

Twenty-four monarch butterflies and 12 painted ladies were released in the house about a week ago, said Dale Duchai, coordinator of the Butterfly House.

Many of the butterflies in the house come from the surrounding Davidson’s Mill Pond Park. Children who visit the butterfly house on Saturdays will be given the opportunity to catch additional butterflies in the park for the butterfly house using nets that are provided for them, Duchai said. The public is also invited to net butterflies for the butterfly house every Friday evening this summer from 5 to 7 p.m. in the park, weather permitting, she said.

This summer will mark the third year in operation for the butterfly house.