This Year, Celebrate the Butterfly Festival With Us Online
Save the date Saturday September 18th!
The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s 6th Annual Butterfly Festival will be available online Saturday, September 18th. This year’s Butterfly Festival will again be virtual with outstanding lectures and special video programs for children. The Festival will go live online at 10:00 a.m. and remain available for you to watch at your convenience. Please register here to receive the links for the presentations when they become available. We will email you the recording links on or before September 18.
Co-sponsored by the UT Institute of Agriculture, this event has become one of the most popular events annually with over 2,000 people attending in 2019. Due to the uncertain nature of COVID-19 precautions, this year’s festival has been filmed in advance to be presented online. This will be a different festival than in the past as there are no on-site activities, but we are excited to bring the public some great online options.
Special talks for children will be presented by Dr. Jerome Grant and students from the University of Tennessee Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology.
Our presentations for adults are:
“Of Biodiversity and Butterflies: Planting Design and Conservation for Pollinators” will be presented by Michael Ross.As more productive butterfly habitats are converted to residential, agricultural, and commercial sprawl the need for well-designed landscapes that support the full lifecycle of Lepidoptera species is increasingly important. This presentation will discuss key considerations, design, and planning goals for successful pollinator habitat implementation. Michael Ross, SITES AP, ASLA, is an assistant professor in the University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences’ Sustainable Landscape Design concentration and in the School of Landscape Architecture.
“Principles of Butterfly Garden Design and Management: A Case Study in Pollinator Habitat Garden Management,” will be presented by Olivia Sievers Ross. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s approach to pollinator habitat provides an enlightening case study into best practices for butterfly garden implementation on a residential site. Prior to her training as a landscape architect Olivia was the Horticulturist and Lepidoptera specialist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Ann and O.J. Weber Pollinator Garden and helped install the Luci and Ian Family Garden.
We are very grateful to this year’s corporate sponsors: Northshore Pellissippi Storage and Pinnacle Financial Partners
Past Butterfly Festival presentations are available online at the links below. 2020 Butterfly Festival Presentations: