Tag Archives: Wings of Fancy

May 30, 2018 · 8:09 am

Giveaway: Win Free Admission for 4 to “Wings of Fancy” at Brookside Gardens!

Discover the whimsical world of butterflies at the annual Wings of Fancy Live Butterfly and Caterpillar Exhibit at Brookside Gardens!

The seasonal display features hundreds of live butterflies from all over the world, as they flutter and glide throughout the conservatory. Witness their amazing metamorphosis on display, from tiny chrysalis to flying beauty. Learn firsthand how these magnificent creatures play an integral role in establishing healthy ecosystems and how to create a healthy environment that supports the butterfly life cycle.

Wings of Fancy will be on display at Brookside Gardens through September 16, 2018. Hours are 9am – 5pm until June 30. From July 1 – August 30, it will be open 9am – 1pm on weekdays, and 9am – 5pm on weekends. From September 1-16, hours will return to 9am – 5pm. Tickets are $8/age 13+, $5/age 3-12, free/2 & under. You can also try to win them through the giveaway below!

Read more about the wonderful exhibit in this KFDC post and view scenes from our visit there last summer.

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Giveaway: For a chance to win a Family 4-Pack of tickets to the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens, simply leave a comment below telling me what activity you and the kids enjoyed most over Memorial Day weekend. Get an extra chance to win by entering on the KidFriendly DC Facebook Page, too! This giveaway will run through Wednesday, June 6, 2018, then a winner will be drawn at random and notified shortly thereafter. Good luck!

This post is sponsored by Montgomery Parks, however, I only promote programs, places, and events that I genuinely believe in and think would appeal to KFDC readers.

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Filed under 2018, All ages, Annual, Educational, Exhibit, Giveaway, Maryland, Nature, Sponsored Post, Summer, Weekdays, Weekend

Tagged as Brookside Gardens, Butterfly Garden, Children's Activities in DC, DC Summer Activities, Fun Things to do with Kids in the Washington DC Area, Kids Activities in Maryland, kids in DC, Montgomery County Parks, Ticket Giveaway, Wings of Fancy

August 2, 2017 · 10:58 am

Scenes from the Wings of Fancy Exhibit at Brookside Gardens

A visit to the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD, has become an annual tradition for us. The exhibit showcasing nearly 20 species of live butterflies and caterpillars from North America, South America, and Asia continues to delight, fascinate, educate, and challenge (more on that one in a sec) year after year.

It always opens in mid-spring and runs through the summer. Sasha, her friend Ingrid, and I finally made our 2017 trip out there a couple of days ago, and it was lovely as ever! The South Conservatory transformed into a beautiful butterfly garden, with the many varieties flitting about the colorful flowers and plants, feels kind of like a fairytale world (save for the heat, which is about 10 degrees warmer than outside). It’s mesmerizing to watch the many varieties fly around, land delicately on a flower, then flutter about again. There are also chrysalises and cocoons on display, and staff are around to offer insight about the butterflies and exhibit.

We all seemed to have some “goals” for our visit (that challenge I mentioned before): The girls were on a mission to have butterflies land on them (Sasha purposely chose her dress for it!) and would stand or sit still as they waited. I loved snapping photos, with an aim to capture their intricate wing patterns, the blue morph proving to be the most elusive.

Looks like the dress worked!

Of course, we spent time wandering around the rest of the grounds, too — Brookside is fantastic to visit any time of year — but the butterflies are just here through September 17. Admission is $8/adult, $5/child, free for 2 and under for the exhibit, and entry to Brookside Gardens is free. You can read more about Wings of Fancy and Brookside in this post about one of our previous experiences there. And you can get a glimpse of it all in these images… enjoy!

Just a couple of tree nymphs, hanging out chatting about life

A perfect spicebush swallowtail

Such gorgeous wing patterns

Easy to see how they got the “owl” name

ID the butterflies!

The best I could get of the blue morph

See the butterfly in the foreground that looks like a leaf?

We “heart” butterflies

Wandering the Brookside grounds

More creatures to see beyond the butterflies

A queen in her palace

How you doin’?

Toe landing!

Enter to Win Tickets to Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens!

Wings of Fancy will be on view through September 25

Wings of Fancy, Brookside Garden’s wonderful butterfly and caterpillar exhibit is back to dazzle visitors this summer. And one lucky KFDC reader can win a four-pack of tickets to experience it — and I can assure you, it’s fantastic.

Studying caterpillars before entering the butterfly garden

Nearly 20 different species of butterflies from North America, Central America, and Asia flutter around the garden full of colorful flowers and plants. There are also cases on display containing cocoons and opportunities for visitors to learn about their amazing metamorphosis. We just visited a couple of weeks ago, and even though we go every year, the exhibition never ceases to amaze.

The glasswinged butterfly – I never even knew these existed before this

And I have to note that Brookside is great beyond the butterflies — the gardens are lovely, there are wildlife sightings galore, and the Children’s Garden will delight little ones. During our visit, we saw chipmunks, tadpoles, frogs, polliwogs, turtles, geese, even snakes!

Gorgeous grounds to roam

Frog sightings guaranteed

Wings of Fancy will be on display through September 25. Hours are 10am – 4pm daily. Tickets are $8/ages 13 and up, $5/ages 3-12, free for 2 and under. Admission to the rest of Brookside is free.

Giveaway: For a chance to win the four-pack of tickets to the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens, simply leave a comment telling me your or your child’s favorite recent exhibit in the area — art, science, nature, anything. To be eligible, you must like KidFriendly DC on Facebook and be a blog subscriber (see the sign-up to the left). This giveaway will run through Friday, June 3, then a winner will be drawn at random and notified shortly thereafter. Good luck!