Fall butterfly exhibit opens at Desert Botanical Garden

Butterfly exhibit opens at Desert Botanical Garden

The exhibit, which runs until November, gives visitors a chance to see many species of butterflies that are native to the Southwest. FOX 10's Desiree Fluellen reports.

PHOENIX - The Desert Botanical Garden is celebrating the opening of its fall butterfly exhibit.

"We are open for the fall exhibit. this is our mighty minor exhibit, so we feature the monarch butterfly, which is really iconic in the Southwest region of course," said Desert Botanical Garden Director of Exhibits Lauren Warren.

Visitors will also also see 12 other species of butterflies native to the region inside the exhibit.

"We have about 1,500 or more in the space at any given time. We also have our host plant just play with us. The caterpillars potentially butterflies laying eggs, as well as a chrysalis display," said Warren.

Researchers at the garden work year round to protect the butterfly, making sure their environment is rich with plants they can survive on.

"We have a great program at the garden called 'army milkweed growout.' That's all that's really helping to emphasize the need for the environment to help maintain the monarch butterfly, and also the queen butterfly," said Warren.

Milkweed is crucial in helping the butterfly species thrive.

"Milkweed is the specific plant that butterflies can lay their eggs on and the caterpillars can eat, so it is really vital for them to continue on as a species to have this plant," said Warren.

After visiting the exhibit, people can head to the garden shop and purchase milkweed to plant at home.

"You're going to want to put it in your home garden. Going to want to have it be in a relatively shady spot, a spot where it's going to be really interesting and helpful for a butterfly," said Warren.