NEWPORT NEWS — The Virginia Living Museum (VLM) is celebrating the arrival of fall by introducing the Butterfly Haven, a seasonal butterfly and moth exhibit.
In this new exhibit, visitors will be able to experience Virginia’s native species of butterflies and moths along with a variety of their native host plants.
The Butterfly Haven connects visitors to Virginia’s native butterflies and moths to promote their conservation.
This new exhibit is part of the Museum’s butterfly conservation efforts. The Museum, which is located at 524 J. Clyde Morris Blvd. in Newport News, has actively tagged and released Monarchs for over 30 years through a number of programs, including Monarch SAFE, Monarch Watch, the NABA Butterfly Count and more.
The Butterfly Haven is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through early October and is located alongside the Museum’s outdoor Virginia Garden, by the Wason Education Center.
The new Butterfly Haven offers guests up-close experiences, such as seeing a butterfly emerge from the chrysalis inside the Butterfly Haven’s puparium or observing their natural behaviors, like butterflies and caterpillars snacking on nectar and host plants, which will also be on display.
To further support native butterfly, moths and other wildlife, visitors are also encouraged to participate in VLM’s Fall Native Plant Sale in September.
For its thirty-fifth year, the Museum will offer unique plant species for sale, including VLM nursery-propagated perennials, vines, shrubs and trees.
The sale will be both online and on-site at the Museum’s Conservation Garden Lawn. The Onsite Public Sale will be held over two weekends, Sept. 18-19 and 25-26 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The sale is free to the public and admission is not required.
Museum members can participate in online sales beginning Monday, Sept. 13, or get the first pick of plants during the Onsite Member Preview Thursday, Sept. 16 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The general public will have access to online sales beginning Friday, Sept. 17, and all online sales will end at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23.
