Camellias are one of the perfect garden plants in many people's opinion. They flower at Wisley from November (e.g. C . sasanqua hybrids) through to May, offering colour and in some cases fragrance too. And even when not showing off their flambouyant blooms, their evergreen leaves provide a glossy... Read more..

Hi. I'm Cara Smith, a horticulturist in the Glasshouse at RHS Garden Wisley. At this time of year I'm also responsible for care of the butterflies during the Butterflies in the Glasshouse event. January – It is Butterfly time again! My job as a horticulturist, growing and caring for the plants... Read more..

The first weekend of the event went really well with many of the pupae we stuck last week emerging. They have continued to hatch out all week and we have been regularly releasing them into the Tropical Zone of the Glasshouse. I had about 50 newly emerged butterflies to release this morning alone. Each... Read more..

We had our first Malay Lacewing (pictured below) emerge this week, with its beautiful fluted wing edge, and many others followed along with plenty of Tree Nymphs (the balck and white butterfly pictured lower down the page), Blue Morphos and Giant Orange Tips. The snowy weather has been a challenge as... Read more..

At last warmer, brighter weather arrived, albeit temporary. The butterflies certainly enjoyed it and were very active for a few days. When the snowy weather was with us I ordered some extra pupae to bulk up numbers to make sure the butterflies were visible in the Tropical Zone. Stratford Butterfly Farm... Read more..

After working with the butterflies for three years I have definitely decided that butterflies have personalities and noticed that certain species exhibit certain characteristics. Some show off and are very visible flying around and landing on people as they walk around whereas others seem to disappear... Read more..