Posted on 07/10/2009 8:49:21 PM PDT by Steelfish
A blaze of blooms to send your spirits floating like a butterfly
By FIONA MACRAE
10th July 2009.
Just a few yards from the noise and fumes of one of the nation's busiest motorways stands an oasis of dazzling natural colour.
Twenty acres of grassland have been transformed by an explosion of summer blooms into Britain's biggest and brightest wildflower meadow.
Designed to attract butterflies and naturelovers alike, it was created in only 12 weeks and boasts 65 different species of flower from around the world.
[Pic in URL] Dazzling: Sunflowers form the centrepiece of the massive wildflower meadow that will become the home to Butterfly World
These include poppies, lupins and Californian bluebells, all chosen to prove irresistible to butterflies and their hungry caterpillars. At the centre of the 20-acre meadow, a quarter of a million sunflowers nod in the wind.
The wildlife haven lies just off the M25, near St Albans in Hertfordshire, and is the first phase of a £27million conservation project called Butter-
fly World which is designed to help arrest the decline in Britain's native species.
Supporters include naturalist David Bellamy. He said: 'This is just an incredible place. You can be in the middle of a quarter of a million sunflowers and feel like you are in a different world.
'This hugely exciting conservation project will get everyone thinking about how they can make a luscious habitat for a variety of creatures including butterflies and bees.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Beautiful!
Wow! Thanks
Thanks
The beauty of God’s creation.
That’s the way to do it and to help save butterflies.
My granddaughter was given a Butterfly Kit with 5 cocoons to watch morph into Painted Ladies. One didn’t open, while 4 did, with three being able to fly away. The fourth died because its wings were too damaged for it to fly.
We have a Buddleia Buttefly bush in our yard, plus another dozen types of flowers, roses, Rose of Sharons, Hydrangeas and 8 fantastic/nice smelling Milkweed plants for the Monards.
It’s gonna be a beautiful summer.
In the early fall, take her out to the countryside or anywhere else you may find stands of milkweeds. Search the milkweeds for monarch caterpillers then take them home and put them in a jar with the weeds to feed on. They'll soon morph into their chrysalis then hatch into the monarch....
A couple years ago I built a small butterfly cage then did the same thing and gave it to my niece's daughter.........she thought it was pretty cool.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.