Featured image: A tree nymph dines on nectar from a flower at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (photo credit: Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park)

See more than 7,000 tropical butterflies representing 50 species in the Tropical Conservatory at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The annual Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming event is the largest temporary tropical butterfly exhibition in the country, and it’s back through Monday, April 30.

The butterflies fly freely in the Meijer Gardens’ Tropical Conservatory, so you’re experiencing the world with them. Look for them on flowers, at feeding stations with honey-water solutions and overripe fruit.

When they’re resting, they’ll likely be high above you or blending into their surroundings.

You can also see free-roaming caterpillars in the greenhouse, which eventually will transform into beautiful butterflies.

Entry to the exhibition is included in the admission price of $14 adults ages 14-64, $11 seniors 65 and older, $11 students with student ID, $7 ages 5-13, $4 ages 3-4, and free ages 2 and younger.

Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is located at 1000 East Beltline Avenue NE in Grand Rapids. Visit the Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming webpage for more information or call (888) 957-1580.