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Churchville Nature Center
The Janet V. Mackiewicz
Native Butterfly House
&
Churchville Botanical Gardens
Here you will learn all about our native butterfly house and the budding botanical gardens that surround it. These are passion projects for the nature center as they combine both conservation and education together into one, exciting exhibit. It is our hope that we can highlight the beauty and benefit that our pollinators have to offer us, and encourage at-home conservation by demonstrating the diversity of vital flora they depend on. Through it all, we hope you learn something new, gain a better understanding & appreciation for our ecosystems, and have fun while doing it. 🦋
The Butterfly House at Churchville
Always changing, always improving, the Butterfly House at Churchville is one of the special facets of CNC that make it such a wonderful and unique place to visit in Bucks County. Run from July through mid-September, the butterfly house showcases various native butterflies at the different stages of their life cycle.
This educational exhibit is supported and maintained by a passionate base of volunteers who work to cultivate the internal gardens & educate visitors as docents. Staff and seasonal interns manage the day to day and rear our butterflies.
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Beauty Comes Alive!
In the Butterfly House we ONLY breed native butterflies (and occasionally moths) and showcase them through the different stage of their life cycle. From egg to adult, we teach about the wonders of insect metamorphosis and the importance of both butterflies and host plant diversity.
A big part of the house's function is a Catch-Breed-Release Program. We begin each season by collecting caterpillars, eggs, or butterflies of species, that we did not overwinter, to start our populations. As we rear butterflies for the house, we are able to release back into the wild 75-95% of everything we rear. Through this, we seek to increase wild populations by raising our butterflies in a safe and secure environment.
As a nature center, we hope each visitor leaves our butterfly house with a new found love of butterflies and a smile on their face.
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Check Back in Spring for the 2024 Schedule!
The house is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm through most of the summer. Docents will be on hand to answer questions and provide a small tour of the house if requested. Visitors can stay as long as they want in the house and surrounding enclosure, during operating hours. The house is open air so tours may be effected by the weather.
The structure is located in the Churchville Botanical Gardens. To get there, visitors must go through the Marlin D. Corn Wildlife Gardens. Tickets must be purchased at the front desk for admittance. Trails through the Wildlife Gardens and in the Butterfly House are brick and allow for wheelchairs and strollers.
As a native butterfly exhibit, the occupants of the house are always changing. To fully enjoy all that the house has to offer, we suggest returning throughout the season to see what's new as the summer progresses. Luckily, return visits are easier as admittance to the butterfly house is now included in all levels of membership.
For more information on becoming a member check out our Membership Brochure.
We do offer options for school and organizational tours of the house. These private tours are usually done outside of normal hours and are best to book in advance. Rates are discounted for large groups. Please contact the visitor center at 215-357-4005 for more information.
Hours of Operation for 2023
  • Opening, July 8th through September 16th
  • Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
  • Mondays CLOSED
General Admission Prices for 2023
Friends of CNC MEMBERS ARE FREE!
  • Adult = $8.00
  • Senior = $6.00
  • Children (4-13 years old) = $5.00
  • Under 4 = Free
  • Active Military Personnel = Free
Annual Butterfly House Special Events
The Butterfly House at Churchville offers several fun activities outside of the main exhibit itself. Some programs change year to year, but several are annual such as:
Arthropalooza!
August 5th & 6th
Held the second weekend in August, the big butterfly house event is Arthropalooza! its a fun filled weekend for both families and invertebrate lovers alike that includes activities such as cockroach races, live arthropod demonstrations, a honey and beekeeping display, an Eat-A-Bug Station, dozens of live tarantulas and other live invertebrates. New activities and fun will be added each year so check it out!
Monarch Tag & Release Party
September 17th
This is our annual monarch tagging event with a little extra. Each individual gets to tag their own butterfly to journey south for the winter while learning about the great migration, the butterfly life cycle and their importance to the environment. We have refreshments, activities for the kids and sampling of pawpaw from our grove.
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Become a Docent or Gardener
Do you have a passion for butterflies, native wildlife and/or gardening? Well then consider joining our dedicated group of volunteers who keep the butterfly house running. From rearing to leading the educational tours, the butterfly house needs all the help it can get. Training will be provided for those interested in working with us. You can choose to be a docent and lead tours or be an attendant only and provide the needed support with rearing and garden maintenance. We consider this to be a very important volunteer position that takes a bit of training so we only take on individuals ages 16 and up who are willing to commit a minimum of one day a week through the season.
To set up an interview, please contact Director of Education, Peg Mongillo at:
215-357-4005 ext 5036
pamongillo@buckscounty.org
Donate or Sponsor
In order to continue to grow and expand our program, support outside of our paid programming is fundamental. Through monetary donations, sponsorships, and donations of supplies, we are able to make needed repairs, pay for internships, and increase our breeding program efficacy.
A Special Thanks to the
2023 Butterfly House T-Shirt Sponsors
Gasper Landscape Design & Construction
Munz Construction
Richboro Veterinary Hospital
Spring Mill Country Club
Purchase your fundraiser T-Shirt at our Dragonfly Niche Gift Shop!
The Churchville Botanical Gardens
Beginning in the Fall of 2022, CNC staff and volunteers begun an endeavor to reimagine the area surrounding the butterfly house as a cohesive experience for visitors. That reimagining has become the Churchville Botanical Gardens, a formally maintained area where we can showcase the biodiversity of our region.
Through these gardens, visitors will be able to see native trees, shrubs, perennials, ferns, grasses, and sedges as they can fully grow in a garden at home or in your yard. We strive to to have a beautiful garden that both educates about native flora, and demonstrates how anyone can utilize that flora at home in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and promotes suburban conservation.
The Churchville Botanical Gardens will be open seasonally as part of the overall Butterfly House experience. We are currently working on completing Phase 1 of the project. Keep an eye out for updates and progress as we move onto Phase 2 in 2024!
Phase 1 was generously funded through the Bucks County Tourism Grant Program and Foundations Community Partnership.
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Calling out to Future Botanical Gardeners!
As we build our botanical gardens, the need for volunteers to help us maintain and complete the various sections becomes more and more important. It is our goal to have an organized team of passionate volunteers to work with us in managing this project.
Gardening experience is not required, just an interest in learning to cultivate native flora. If you are interested in "Growing into a Botanical Gardener," please review the Fact Sheet below to see if its right for you.
Please contact us for questions pertaining to the butterfly house or botanical gardens.