Gibsons Garden Club will hold its February speaker event on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Heritage Playhouse Theatre in Gibsons.
The event will feature Joshua Yu, expert butterfly breeder, and the title of the presentation is Butterflies and Pollinators: Welcoming Them into the Urban Garden.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for a silent auction and light refreshments.
Joshua Yu’s backyard is anything but ordinary. In any given moment, there may be several hundred butterflies nursing in metamorphic farms. Yu’s online business has grown quickly as word spread about his breeding butterflies in his average-sized backyard in East Vancouver.
The farm sells butterflies in every stage of their growth (except for the egg). Products include larvae kits, butterfly raising supplies and butterflies for release. The store’s products and butterflies are popular among teachers and non-profits and for weddings. These will be for sale at the event.
Yu’s interest in butterflies skyrocketed when he was six as a result of his mother’s nurturing. While visiting an exhibit during a vacation in the Caribbean, she placed a large butterfly on his nose and such close encounters fuelled his passion for butterflies.
Yu has created a flight house or mini ecosystem populated with seven native species, including cabbage white and red admiral, with nectar and host plants where the butterflies eat and lay eggs. During the summer, his backyard nurses up to 5,000 butterflies.
Tickets ($15) can be purchased at Quality Garden and Pet and B&K Nursery or reserved by phoning 604-886-2446 with payment and pick-up at the door.
