WELCOME ! OUR ORGANIZATION CAUSE AND MOVEMENT IS GROWING RAPIDLY AND OVER 800,000 MEMBERS STRONG

ATTENTION: garden center owners, and/or managers, open to the public and/or wholesale plant farms, nature centers, public gardens, festivals, events, Facebook group and page members, founders and/or Administrators, etc. 

This program can be adapted and extended to public events and festivals outside the garden center to promote  the garden center. An extra exhibit can easily be put up and taken down as an off site extension of the garden center during the event. 

The portable educational live butterfly sanctuary and plant display shown and talked about in the videos below was set up in Branford, Connecticut and garden centers in North America  in 2023 and 24. 

OUR GOAL WITH THIS EXHIBIT IS DISPLAYED IN THE VIDEOS BELOW.  IT'S EASY AND INEXPENSIVE TO ACCOMPLISH ! IF YOU WILL STUDY THIS PAGE YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO MAKE THIS PROGRAM WORK FOR YOU.  YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR GARDEN CENTER AND/OR VENUE WILL  BE ABLE TO EDUCATE THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS IN YOUR COMMUNITY, HOW TO PLANT FOR MONARCH BUTTERFLIES AND POLLINATORS, AND IMMEDIATELY INCREASE THE ENDANGERED MONARCH MIGRATION POPULATION TOO !!!

Citizens of the town flocked to the FREE exhibit and  around 2000 citizens experienced an up close and personal experience with monarch butterflies over about 3 weeks. We set up the exhibits again in June 2024 for months of education and fun shown here. We had over 10,000 people enjoy a live butterfly experience in under 90 days https://youtu.be/tObZPxsq4l4?si=3hIAeYjVO3UDZiAy

 Children  released some of the butterflies from the exhibit and  we educated our citizens in monarch and pollinator conservation. Some of the children were able to take a milkweed plant with a monarch egg or caterpillar on it home to experience the monarch developing into a butterfly. 

People bought plants to take home and make pollinator gardens !

We had the opportunity to talk with our neighbors about monarch butterfly conservation in general. This educational  live butterfly  exhibit became a gathering place as 

shown in the following short videos. 

https://youtu.be/CeZ5jWhUwHE?si=6FEODJhC5tso8EAF

(A)  https://youtu.be/B96k_HMkYFs   

B) https://youtu.be/Mf1ZX4slD5Y?si=7Q4haBANHsnpplfN   

C) https://youtu.be/n9j_z95l6yU?si=ALnMEK_jDYyAjhPa  

D) https://youtu.be/Q6at5gyJtxE?si=OaEheiB4opqGP0vV

Our YouTube channel has over 300 videos starting with recent videos teaching how to protect monarch eggs from predators until they are adults and released to save and increase the monarch migration population. 

https://www.youtube.com/@craigthebutterflyman4387/videos

You can get your 10' x  25' x 6.6' 

"Educational Live Butterfly Sanctuary Exhibit" 

 for $250 from Quictent with free shipping. 

This exhibit can easily be put up in your garden center, 

out front in the garden center parking lot, or 

other location on the property in a couple hours.  

https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784

 The exhibits will need rope and stake tie downs on all 4 corners and in the middle. Drilling or cinder blocks or water barrels will work on Asphalt or concrete. The exhibit needs to be anchored sufficiently for safety purposes. 

Purchase 2 hatcheries here !

You habitat needs disinfected immediately after rearing monarchs in it by collapsing it and completely submerging it in 1 part unscented bleach and 4 parts water for 12 hours, rinse it thoroughly opening and letting it dry. 

You will need a 6 foot long folding table to put the hatcheries on.

Each garden center will need a yellow banner with red letters 20' long and

18" wide that says 

 LIVE BUTTERFLIES-COME INSIDE.

Each banner will need grommets on each corner and every 2' the length of the banner on the top and bottom. You can suspend the banners with bunges on all  4 corners and hooked to the corner of the ends of the exhibit to hold the banner to the side of the exhibit. 

Rope needs to be strung over the top of the exhibit every 4' and connected to the banner grommets on each side to support the length of the banner.      Anyway that works for you to have the banner visible to the public is great !     

PLEASE CONTINUE READING THIS PAGE TO LEARN IMPORTANT DETAILS OF THE PROGRAM

Be sure you have a water hose to the exhibit so you can water the plants and spray the sides and top inside regularly to keep the plants watered and the monarch butterflies hydrated. Avoid spraying  the hatcheries where the monarchs are developing. 

After carefully studying this website page and the information below and above let me know if the instructions above and  below are clear to you and if you have questions 

       email me at CraigTheButterflyman@gmail.com  

I will reply to the email as soon as possible with the answer.

This portable educational live butterfly sanctuary exhibit with at least a couple dozen up to 100 monarchs flying around inside and 2 hatchery habitats on a folding table with monarchs developing inside them is the best way to educate people and  get monarch and pollinator plants out of the garden center or wherever you are set up,  in the ground to help monarch butterflies and pollinators thrive. 

Make some hanging sponge and tray 9 to 1 sugar water or orange Gatorade butterfly feeders to supplement flowering plants butterflies nectar on in the exhibit as shown in this video

https://youtu.be/n9j_z95l6yU?si=xhDOjTe8DyuoM-Lz

Garden centers and other venues across the country are excited  about placing  this beautiful educational and marketing tool out front to draw customers into their garden centers who have never been there before and most importantly late in the season.  

You will also need to disinfect your  2' x 2' x 3' hatcheries before and/or after every batch of monarchs you rear by collapsing it into a circle  and completely submerging it in a 1 part unscented household bleach solution mixed with 4 parts water for 12 hours and then remove it and rinse it thoroughly, open it, and let it dry. 

Learn how to rear up to 100 monarchs on this website at this link and read on to find monarch conservationists in your area to 

help you raise Monarchs free of charge.  

https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1

Monarchs will be in the exhibit developing in the hatcheries in June and flying around and laying eggs in July and August and you can have multiple monarch releases in July through September extending the time families will be coming to the garden center and buying perennial

plants available to take home and plant in their gardens  

Monarchs will be in the exhibit and there will be monarch releases into September. 

You will need to be checking monarch butterflies for OE before allowing them in the exhibit and before you release them to keep the monarch migration population healthy.  If you're going to put a monarch in your hatchery to lay eggs you will also need to check her for OE like the Butterfly Lady teaches here: http://butterfly-lady.com/what-is-oe/     

The fall is a great time to plant perennial native monarch host plants  and nectar sources and you can provide them to your customers. Plants will establish themselves over the winter and they will bloom the next spring and summer.

You will see towns people you've never seen before when you place this exhibit in a highly visible location  on the property of your garden center in the Midwest, Northeast, Canada, or almost anywhere in North America, and it's explained how to accomplish that below. 

THE MEDIA WILL WRITE ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING AT YOUR GARDEN CENTER.  Below there are links to  local media stories about what we are doing in Branford, Ct. with our exhibit and we received many positive responses.  The monarchs and plants attracted hundreds of  families.   We put a banner down both sides of the live butterfly sanctuary exhibit that says 'LIVE BUTTERFLIES COME INSIDE' Adults and children love to get up close and personal with butterflies, watch them nectar, and have them land on them instead of flying away like they do outside. People love them and want to be part of conserving them and seeing more of them and we teach them how by providing the plants they thrive and reproduce on, https://www.ctinsider.com/shoreline/article/branford-ct-monarch-butterfly-sanctuary-18388004.php

Here's another great article written recently about what we do. https://www.zip06.com/person-of-the-week/20240508/craig-the-butterfly-man-on-a-journey-to-save-a-species/

You probably already know people who raise monarch butterflies in your area and/or you may have employees who already know how or want to learn.  They will raise and put monarchs in your exhibit. We teach you and them the correct way to easily raise dozens of healthy monarch butterflies to put in your exhibit on this website at this link: 

https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1

If you don't know anyone or can't find anyone to provide you with monarchs, our organization has over 300,000 members in North America. We  have educated monarch butterfly conservationists in your area that will raise and bring monarchs to your exhibit or you can learn how here: https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1

These volunteers will enjoy  spending their own time without pay in and around your educational butterfly and plant exhibit during your business hours educating your customers about monarch conservation and point out the plants in the exhibit that monarchs lay eggs on, as well as the plants they nectar on and pollinate.  These customers will buy plants to plant their own pollinator garden at home to attract monarchs and pollinators. 

If you don't know anyone rearing monarchs in your area and you know or have someone who knows how to post to a Facebook group, you can go to our groups page on this website linked below and put the link to your garden center website in a post and write you have an educational live monarch butterfly exhibit at you garden center and you're looking for someone in your area to raise monarchs for the exhibit and spend time there to help you inform the public about monarch butterfly conservation .Ask them to private message you on Facebook. 

https://craigthebutterflyman.com/groups%2Fgallery

GARDEN CENTER OWNERS

Please read and study this entire page so you will know how to educate your neighbors about monarchs and pollinators and add a profit center to your business . You will attract many new customers to buy plants and garden supplies late into the season.

If you're the garden center owner reading this and you don't raise your own native plants, don't have a local grower where you get your native plants, order at wholesale from American Beauties Native Plants www.ABNativePlants.com

American Beauties has the largest selection of monarch and pollinator plants in the country and delivers wholesale by truck through out the MIDWEST AND NORTHEAST   Have them delivered to put inside the educational live butterfly exhibit shown above 

If you're viewing this as an individual monarch conservationist leader, and/or native plant organization. check out the garden center locator map   to get your plants. https://abnativeplants.com/pages/store-locator

GOOGLE: "American Beauties Native Plants Amazon"  and have them delivered to your door in a full size one gallon pot or larger for about the same price you would pay at a garden center. 

Here's  our beautiful  botanical garden in downtown Branford, Connecticut we planted with American Beauties Native Plants. 

https://youtu.be/sI8GgCHv_HY?si=sjyvOeOFuJYzP03K

Please continue reading this page to find out more important details of this program. 

Many monarch butterfly enthusiasts want to take it to a different level and  become a monarch conservation leader and build an organization of family, friends, and other members of their community to expand and multiply their monarch conservation efforts.  

If you have a privately owned garden center near you team up with them, put  one of the portable educational live butterfly exhibits at the garden center and spread the word about monarch conservation throughout your area. Buy here $250

https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784

THIS PROGRAM WILL ALSO WORK VERY WELL ON AN ACRE OR A FARM OF ANY SIZE OR LOTS IN THE COUNTRY OF ANY SIZE OR AT EVENTS AND FESTIVALS AS LONG AS YOU HAVE PARKING FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WILL COME TO SEE YOUR EXHIBIT AND GARDENS

YOU CAN SELL PLANTS YOU GROW, ETC.

First, on this page,  we will introduce you to a few people involved in monarch conservation efforts that have built large International, National, and local monarch conservation groups and followings below.  You can view and join their FREE organizations if you like. 

Their members are posting and teaching monarch conservation right now. Post the link to this website page on the timeline of these groups. 

https://craigthebutterflyman.com/leaders-program

None of these groups charge anything to join or charge for any of the education you receive or try to sell you anything. 

We do this because we love monarchs and want to see more of them.

There is 100's of 1000's of monarch conservationists in North America and we're bringing  more conservationists into our noble and necessary cause and movement everyday and we hope you will help us help monarchs and pollinators in general.  

After meeting and reviewing these leaders accomplishments below we will explain more about how you can increase monarch conservation awareness and, if you like,  build an organization in your community. If there's  a privately owned garden center in your area you're all set to make a big difference. Please read on.