Greensburg Garden Center’s annual butterfly releases will be extra special this year, with a song written especially for the event.
Member J.D. Peterson of Greensburg will perform her composition, “The Life Cycle of the Butterfly,” as part of a brief, fun educational program she will present during releases at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Aug. 6 in the center’s LeFevre Butterfly Garden, behind Greensburg Garden & Civic Center, 951 Old Salem Road.
The song begins with the lines, “Butterfly is starting as a very tiny egg, growing on the leaf of a milkweed twig.”
The verses continue through the caterpillar and chrysalis stages, until the day when the butterfly “with wings so bright” emerges and takes to its silent flight.
A Western Pennsylvania native, Peterson is a singer/songwriter who performed original material with her band for many years in California, opening for musicians such as Jim Messina, Martha Davis and Karla Bonoff. Her song, “Fly,” recently was nominated for a World Songwriting Award.
She also is the author of the novel trilogy, “American Gilt.”
While researching appropriate songs for the butterfly release, she said, she decided it would just be easier to write her own.
“I’m going to talk about how butterflies pollinate plants in the garden, the life cycle of the butterfly and myths about butterflies,” she said. “The Native Americans have a myth that if you catch a butterfly and tell it your wish, it will grant your wish.”
The butterfly releases will feature educational displays, including books on butterflies and Monarch butterfly larva feeding on milkweed plants. A limited number of milkweed plants will be available for purchase.
Novelty butterfly-themed items will be offered for sale, including temporary tattoos and flower wands to entice the released butterflies to land. A garden bench will be available for photo opportunities.
Hot dogs and toppings and butterfly-shaped cookies will be sold, and McFeely’s Ice Cream truck will be on site. Turner Dairy Farms will provide free lemonade.
Reservations are being taken for butterflies to be released during the sessions. There is a reservation fee of $7 per butterfly but, due to sponsorship by the Second Chance Fund, the money will be refunded when butterflies are picked up.
Butterflies also can be taken home to be released.
The butterfly garden is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through Labor Day.
For details and butterfly reservations, call 724-837-0245 or visit greensburggardencenter.net.
