My New Portable Butterfly Pavilion

My parents spent two weekends building me a new butterfly pavilion. My old enclosure deteriorated from the sun. My mom designed this butterfly condo to have two floors. The measurements are 7 ft. tall x 4 ft. deep x 5 ft. wide. The lower level houses my milkweed plants and seedlings. The top floor I will use for breeding butterflies and raising caterpillars. For breeding you need a space that measures at least 3 ft. x 3 ft. x 3 ft. The structure is built with 2 x 4’s. Outdoor screening is used for the sides and below each floor. The floor boards are wooden fence slaps with about a one inch gap so the water can run through. To keep the rain from injuring the butterflies in the top of the condo we used a sheet of thick plastic over the screening to make a roof. After the first rain the roof was sinking from the weight of the rain. We took a two inch board that was slightly taller and wedged it in to allow the water to drain of the roof. Another option would be to build your pavilion with a slanted roof. To make the pavilion portable we added large outdoor wheels to the bottom. If a bad storm comes it gives me the option to roll it under the lanai for safety.

Here are photos of my pavilion under construction.

I would like to encourage everyone that you can have your own garden and butterfly conservatory whether you have a large yard or no yard at all. My portable butterfly pavilion and garden box are my contribution to establishing a safe habitat that is pesticide free. Elizabeth’s Secret Garden is the perfect place for my research.