Most people are aware that bees are responsible for a great deal of pollination of plant species but not everyone would know that butterflies are also brilliant pollinators as well.

Teena Harcla, Manager of Butterfly Hill in Nambour is passionate about educating people of all ages about the important role butterflies play in the environment.

“Butterfly Hill has been open for around 8 years now and it gets busier every year,” said Teena. “The property was always a plant nursery and now we incorporate the nursery with the butterfly house. So we have the plants that butterflies need to lay on, as well as nectar plants to feed them,” she said.

Butterfly Hill is home to over half a dozen species of butterflies, some of which are bred purely to be released.

“These are the species that can’t be kept in the butterfly house because they fly too high,” Teena said. “And some years we release lots of each species because there are too many of them to keep.

“We give visitors a guided tour of the butterfly house and we educate them about the life cycle of the butterfly. Often, people want to recreate a butterfly garden at home and we can sell them the plants that they need to successfully encourage more butterflies into their garden. We sell the host plants that attract the butterflies and the nectar plants that feed them.

“We find that people of all ages enjoy Butterfly Hill because as well as the butterfly house and the plant nursery, we also have a gift shop, a lovely fish pond and fountain and we play classical music which makes it an extremely peaceful place to be. It is definitely not just for the kids!”

Butterfly Hill is closed during the winter months and re-opens from late Spring through Summer.

It is open from 10am to 4pm Wednesdays to Saturdays and 10am to 3pm Sundays. “Warm sunny mornings are the best time to see the butterflies flying,” Teena said.

It is free to browse the nursery and gift shop and admission to the butterfly house is free for children under three, $5.50 for 3 - 15 years old and $8.50 for adults.

• Butterfly Hill, 28 Petrie Creek Road, Nambour.