Just a stone’s throw from the Oviedo Mall, there’s a natural wonderland tucked away, filled with vibrant plants, exotic birds and hundreds of butterflies.
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Visitors can get up close and personal with the winged insects at the Lukas Nursery’s Butterfly Encounter, a 4,000-square-foot space that houses one of the largest native butterfly conservatories in Florida. A beloved attraction since 2004, the encounter has proven a timeless draw for families, friends and couples alike.
Monarchs, swallowtails, Atala and white peacock butterflies are just a few of the more than two dozen species guests might see while immersed in the encounter. Painted ladies are separated into a refueling station room where visitors can feed them.
“Our job is to bring people back to nature. Everybody is so disconnected from nature,” said Edna Kane, manager of Lukas Nursery & Butterfly Encounter. “There’s families that come through and say how much fun they had. That’s what makes it worth it.”
Natural magic
After entering through an air-conditioned gift shop and paying the $8.95 admission (3 and younger are free), visitors step out into a sunny, enclosed garden with water features and abundant plants meant to nourish the butterflies.
While there are signs describing the role of butterfly breeders and host plants, visitors are encouraged to look closely at leaves to spot butterfly eggs and occasionally see insects mating. There are labels for plants as well, but a lack of signage encourages guests to use all their senses to explore the environment during the encounter.
The space does not allow visitors to touch butterflies, except at the “refueling station,” where cups of nectar are available for feeding painted ladies. These “social butterflies” will land on fingers or even noses when coaxed correctly.
“The painted lady is our most social butterfly. She will sit on your finger, she’ll land on you, she’ll ask you how your day was,” Kane said. “She’s super, super sweet, whereas all the other butterflies could care less about you.”
On one side of the encounter, there’s also a “caterpillar flight school” with chrysalises and various stages of the butterfly life cycle.
A flock of Chinese button quail roams the grounds, feeding on insects and dead butterflies while zebra finches perch up high. An hour should give visitors plenty of time to experience everything in the enclosure.
Butterfly 101
Over millions of years, butterflies co-evolved with host plant species that continue to feed them today. While host plants serve as places for butterflies to lay their eggs and provide food for caterpillars to eat, nectar plants feed adult butterflies. In an ideal butterfly garden, there are three nectar plants for every one host.
Some of the include lantanas, pentas, salvias, porterweed, Mexican sunflower, gaura and firebush. These and many more plants can be purchased during a trip to the nursery.
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As “solar-powered” insects that need a body temperature of over 80 degrees to take flight, peak activity can be witnessed on sunny, warm days April through September.
Fun fact: butterflies “taste” with the bottom of their feet to find good places to lay eggs or locate food. In the refueling station room, painted ladies will land on people’s fingers coated with nectar before using their proboscis, their tube-like “tongue,” to drink.
Past, present and future
The Lukas family’s roots in Central Florida date back to 1912 when Paul and Mary Lukas pioneered the land with their six children. The nursery began humbly in 1973, when the family sold eggs and ornamental plants in recycled coffee cans.
The fourth generation of Lukases — Caleb Lukas, Stanley Lukas II and Cecelia Lukas Waldrop — now operate the nursery and butterfly encounter, continuing the family agricultural practices that began more than a century ago.
As Seminole County prepares to widen Slavia Road, the nursery will undergo their own multimillion-dollar metamorphosis with a new, larger butterfly encounter and a learning center for field trips and classes.
Seeing is believing
Kane, who has helped to establish the butterfly encounter as a Central Florida tourism magnet for the last 20 years, said people are sometimes drawn to the winged insect for spiritual reasons.
On a school field trip, a buckeye butterfly with a chipped wing landed on a child’s chest and stayed with her for multiple rooms. As her teachers and chaperones whispered, Kane then learned that the girl’s mother had just died. Others have had similar visits they shared with Kane.
“Butterflies are not just an insect. Butterflies are almost spiritual to people,” she said. “I’ve had people say that their mom, grandma or dad visits them as a butterfly. There’s deeper meaning to some people.”
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If you go
The Lukas Nursery’s Butterfly Encounter is open from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (last admission at 3:30 p.m.) daily at 1909 Slavia Road in Oviedo. Admission is $8.95 (free for ages 3 and younger). Butterflies for release are also available for purchase. The nursery is open Monday-Saturday 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. More information: lukasnursery.com
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