With the rush of the Spring Plant Sale and the 100th Anniversary Gala behind us it is time for the Butterfly Rainforest exhibit staff to do our spring cleaning. This doesn’t mean we are having a clearance sale on plants, so don’t get your hopes up! What I mean is that to keep our plants happy we have to clean out our greenhouse from time to time to ensure it remains a healthy place to grow plants.
I know this isn’t a sexy topic, but many visitors are unaware of the hard work required to make the Butterfly Rainforest the amazing exhibit it is. In this case that means the staff clears the entire greenhouse before scrubbing and pressure washing inside and out. The shade cloth that covers the top is removed and cleaned as well before being replaced, and any hard-to-reach weeds are removed.
It may not sound like much, but this process can take weeks to ensure the greenhouse is as clean and healthy as possible so we can display the best plants in the exhibit and for sale at the weekly Butterfly Plant Sale. I apologize if this entry appears too self-serving, but I wanted to acknowledge how hard the “Butterfly Rainforest” staff works. I could not be more proud of them.
Florida Museum photos by Ryan Fessenden