Butterflies at Hort Park

If you are not sure what to do this coming Saturday morning, here's a suggestion for you: visit Hort Park and pay a visit to the Butterfly Garden within. The butterfly enclosure is only open on the last Saturday of the month, from 9am to 12pm, so it'll be opening again this weekend.

Cethosia cynae (Leopard lacewing)

That's what we did a few weeks ago during the last opening at the end of June.

A word of warning though -- Hort Park can be pretty hot! I think there's too much concrete and landscaping going on, like too many of Singapore's parks, but in this case, since it is a horticulture park after all, I guess it is justified. Also, the Butterfly Garden is really popular, so it can get pretty crowded with school groups and photographers with big telephoto lenses. I previously wrote a little about it here, when we first stumbled upon it.

Welcome to Hort Park!

Running free!

The butterfly enclosure

Right outside the enclosure, there is a row of bushes with pretty pink flowers, and around them buzz plenty of bees. You can see the bees moving from flower to flower, feeding on nectar and pollen. Noey always likes to stop to watch them and I take the opportunity to explain part of the honey making process.

Can you spot the busy bee?

The real attraction here are the big butterflies you can find flying about in the enclosure. There are plenty of camera-toting folks trying to catch good photos of these:

Idea leuconoe (Tree Nymph)

I'm guessing that this is the Polygonia interrogationis (Question Mark).

I think this is a Battus Polydamas (Gold-rim Swallowtail), though I could be wrong.

Yes, we are part of the camera-toting crew!

There is also a little wire cage with butterfly pupae on two rows of sticks. Interesting for a quick life-cycle lesson, I thought. There were a couple of chrysalises that looked like butterflies might just be emerging, but we weren't able to stay long enough to see that happen.

Pointing out something to Naomi. You can see the cage containing the pupae in the background.

All the chrysalises hanging in a line. Pardon the bad photo, no thanks to the reflection.

After viewing the butterflies, I wanted to show the kids the Fruit and Vegetable Garden, but they only had eyes for the playground! The kids were pretty fascinated with the butterflies, but let's face it, the playground was the top attraction.

Off to play amid a riot of colours.

Going up the slide...

… and down the stairs. My son obviously doesn't understand the concept of a slide.

Sweaty little baby clambering about on the sidelines.

I eventually managed to get Noey to go look at the vegetables, which I thought were pretty interesting. Being such urban folk, it is not everyday that we see the vegetables that are served up on our plate in their natural state. It was the first time for me, seeing some of these plants too.

Asparagus

Lady's Finger

Corn

It was an interesting morning for all of us, and I dare say we all learnt something. 

Now, if only it wasn't so hot!

Sweaty smiles to end the day.