Butterfly Festival in Springfield, Missouri

Where you find clusters of white, blue, pink or purple flowers, you�ll find nectar-seeking butterflies fluttering about � and one of those places is the botanical gardens and arboretum at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park in Springfield, Missouri.

This is the natural setting for the second annual Friends of the Garden Butterfly Festival July 24 and 25. The free event, a favorite of children and adults, celebrates all things butterfly-related. It will be open to the public from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. July 24 and 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. July 25. The Festival showcases the Dr. Bill Roston Butterfly House.

�At the Butterfly House, you�ll get an up-close look at native butterflies as they lay eggs and transform from egg to caterpillar, from caterpillar to chrysalis and, finally, from chrysalis to butterfly,� said Friends of the Garden member Cindy Willis.

At the nearby butterfly garden, visitors will be able to view and identify host plants. Children�s activities include crafts and a caterpillar petting zoo. Vendors will set up shop selling a variety of plants and garden-related merchandise. On July 24, a series of free classes and activities are being offered. The schedule is:

- 10 a.m. Butterfly photography � How to take great pictures.
- 11 a.m. Butterfly identification � Know your backyard visitors.
- 1 p.m. Gardening for butterflies � How to attract butterflies to your home landscape.
- 2 p.m. Butterfly photography � Another session of picture-taking tips and tricks.

On July 25, the butterfly identification and photography classes will be repeated at 1 p.m. and the gardening for butterflies classes will be at 2:30 p.m.

For more information about top events in Missouri take a look at the Top Events USA selection of the annual main festivals and events in Missouri.

For more information visit Springfield at www.SpringfieldAdventures.com