Hundreds gather at Breedlove Nursery in Tyler for Butterfly Festival

Published 5:40 am Sunday, May 14, 2023

Breedlove Nursery & Landscape held its annual Butterfly Festival on Saturday. Guests enjoyed events such as butterfly crafts for the kids, Balloons by Gia, as well as an immersive butterfly tent.

Tony Delia, also known as “the Butterfly Guy,” entertained the guests with real life butterflies and learning opportunities. His mission is to educate people about the plight of the monarch butterfly through entertainment and education.

“We had butterflies in all four stages,” said Delia. “We had butterfly eggs, and monarch eggs on milkweed plants. We had the caterpillars that everybody got to hold and pet. We had the chrysalis of course and we had a live butterfly tent. It was a 12×12 tent with about 25 butterflies in it. Everybody went in and enjoyed themselves.”

Currently residing in Dallas, Delia also works in a salon and does some landscaping on the side. He raises butterflies on the side as a second job.

“I’m still learning … I’m always learning how to raise better, more healthy butterflies. It’s constant learning, as well as teaching what I do know,” Delia explained.

Delia is known for traveling to East Texas to participate in events.

“I used to do several events in Tyler for birthday parties,” he said. “I don’t consider myself an expert, just an enthusiast. I”m just someone who likes butterflies and likes to share it. I just like to share my passion. Laurie reached out to me one day and we met and became really good friends.”

Laurie Breedlove and her husband Paul are the current owners at Breedlove Nursery. The nursery itself has been open for 96 years.

Breedlove said the Butterfly Festival is one of their “biggest retail events” of the year.

“There were hundreds of people out here. It was a mob. People were so happy and looking around. We had a kids craft where kids made a butterfly, and we also had different food vendors,” she said. “We have festivals about four times a year. This is our biggest one we have. We have one in the fall with pumpkins, and we have one in early spring which is usually the Daffodil Festival.”

Even though the festivals help bring people to the nursery, Breedlove also mentioned how they do landscaping as well.

“When we’re doing the landscape projects, no matter how big or small it is when we walk away, it’s beautiful. And when we see people’s reaction to the beauty of nature. We work hard; all of our co-workers are so good at what they do,” said Breedlove. Laurie enjoys connecting with the community, especially during events like the Butterfly Festival.

“When people look at us today and say thank you for doing this for the community, that makes me the happiest,” she said.

Breedlove Nursery and Landscape is located at 11576 State Hwy 64 in Tyler. More information can be found at their website www.breedlovelandscape.com/contact.