This is the first blog in a new series that I will be doing in an attempt to showcase some of the interesting aspects around the city. My hope is that this will provide as a guide to those that live in the city, plan to visit, or even if you’re just bored and want to read about what I’m exploring lately! It also serves as an excuse for me to get out of the house and engage in some interesting activities whenever I can. Hoorah for multi-purpose projects!

When Brett and I woke up this morning, we were greeted with the lovely humidity that Columbusians are more than familiar with: 89 degrees with 95% humidity and scattered rain showers. Having lived here my entire life, you’d really think that I’d be use to it by now…but I’m not. But, as they say here, if you don’t like the weather you really don’t have to worry about it too much because it will be different in a few hours! Anyway, we decided to go to something that would mimic a beautiful day with nice weather, lots of flowers and plants, and even butterflies! The only option was to go to the Blooms and Butterflies exhibit at the Franklin Park Conservatory.

Unfortunately… I forgot that going to the conservatory during the summertime on a weekend will typically call for a lot of people that are there not just for the exhibit, but also because it happens to be a desirable location for many wedding ceremonies. Today wasn’t much different; I overheard an employee of the conservatory saying that there were three weddings on the premises going on at the same time! Luckily, only one of the exhibit rooms was closed off for a reception and everything else was open. The conservatory is set up so that you have separate rooms with different climates which feature the plants you would naturally see in the given environment; you have the rain forest, the desert, and a tropical palm room. The conservatory also features different exhibits such as the Dale Chihuly glass installations (as you can see on the right), The Enchanted Express (a model train track around Christmas), and the current exhibit of Blooms and Butterflies.

Now, like most girls, you would think that I would be pretty excited about being able to wander through a beautiful greenhouse filled with orchids, lilies, and hundreds of butterflies floating around…but this was not the case. For some reason, every time a butterfly would float around me and try to land on me I would freak out! It’s not that I find them repulsive like I do most other bugs, I actually think that they are beautiful. But these were not your average relaxed butterflies that float around and land on a flower and chill…these were of a chaotic persuasion. One breed of butterfly in particular kept swooping around my face and I would, of course, squirm and shriek a little bit and my boyfriend (equipped with the camera) would laugh and document the event. I didn’t see these butterflies bombarding any other guest and there was a group of kids that kept trying to get the butterflies to land on them and there I was being surrounded by the damn things!

All in all, the exhibit really was beautiful…I personally think that it would’ve been a lot better had they been playing some classical music throughout the room, but then again I would probably have a soundtrack to my life if given the opportunity. The exhibit was especially nice because an installment from the previous showing of Chihuly glass still remains within the green house as a gift from artist. He donated the big orange and yellow piece that I have posted above, and also these whimsical glass balls that float in the Koi Pond. The combination of the blown glass and the coloring of the koi fish made for a charming sight and every once in awhile you would get a butterfly that would land on one of the glass balls and make for a perfect photo opportunity.

After wandering through the exhibit, and fighting our way through the mass of photographers that were patiently waiting for a butterfly to form into a perfect photograph, we stopped into the adorable gift shop. It is a great end to the tour because they have a wide selection of bonsai trees and orchids for sale, as well as other exotic plants. The plants are very reasonably priced and so are the other gifts which include gardening tools and accessories, candles, and of course some touristy merchandise about the conservatory (postcards, pens, and books). I found these really neat wax candles that look like wine bottle corks– on sale, wahoo! They also had some random stuff that I had seen on Fred Flare such as these rose rings and also these Jill Bliss flower journals. I also scoped out some really cute gardening stuff and checked out the products websites, so be sure to check the Shoutouts for those updates.

The great thing about the Franklin Park Conservatory is that they truly make good use of their surroundings and have special events such as the Blooms and Butterflies exhibit, an orchid exhibit, and also a holiday wine tasting event around Christmas with a HUGE poinsettia tree. Their gift shop is also fantastic for your favorite green thumb, your personal garden, or even for just all around good gifts to give. The admission price is also really affordable and their hours are easy to work with; you can get all of that information on their website: fpconservatory.org.

While we were able to only trick ourselves for a couple of hours into believing we were in an exotic forest complete with orchids and crazy butterflies, we had to leave and go back out into the humidity. We are definitely going to try and go back during a weekday night when it won’t be so busy with weddings, rude photographers, and tour groups confined into one secluded area which just so happens to be the BEST spot in the room (no I am not bitter…well, maybe a little). At any rate, it was time well spent.

Here’s to snapping pictures of natural beauty while realizing a possible fear of butterflies!

-M.