For more than two decades, visitors to Oviedo's Lukas Nursery have stepped into a warm, glassy oasis and walked out with that slightly dazed grin you get when a butterfly decides you are the most interesting thing in the room. The Butterfly Encounter, which opened in 2004, has grown into a local staple, with dozens of native species drifting among flowering plants and a small aviary. Now the fourth-generation, family-run nursery is gearing up for a multimillion-dollar rebuild, moving the attraction into a larger, climate-controlled home as county roadwork reshapes Slavia Road.
The current enclosure is roughly 4,000 square feet. The Butterfly Encounter runs daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (last admission at 3:30 p.m.), and general admission is $8.95, with children 3 and under admitted free. The nursery also sells butterflies for ceremonial release and hosts field trips and birthday parties. Those visitor details, along with the Encounter's size and schedule, are listed on the Lukas Nursery website.
Edna Kane, who manages the Encounter, told the Orlando Sentinel that "the painted lady is our most social butterfly," explaining that smaller species will often land on visitors and even "ask you how your day was." Kane said the exhibit's purpose is to reconnect people with nature and to give school groups hands-on lessons about pollinators.
New Building and Timeline
The Lukas family plans a purpose-built, fully enclosed Butterfly Encounter of about 9,822 square feet, paired with a 2,800-square-foot Learning Center and a small coffee shop to better serve visitors and school groups. The phased redevelopment is estimated at roughly $5-6 million and includes upgraded climate control to make visits more comfortable in heat or rain. Those project specifics and the family's timeline come from reporting that interviewed the Lukas family about the plans, as reported by Oviedo Community News.
Why Slavia Road Matters
Seminole County's plans to widen Slavia Road from two to four lanes along the stretch near the nursery, adding medians, turn lanes, and a traffic signal near Lukas Lane, helped trigger the site redesign. County project documents for the Slavia Road Multimodal Capacity Improvement Project outline the scope, cost, and safety improvements tied to the widening. The roadwork is being folded into the nursery's rebuild schedule so the family can adapt without closing the attraction for long stretches, according to Seminole County.
What Visitors Should Know
The existing Encounter remains open during planning, and timing your visit matters. Butterflies are most active from April through September, and they need warm body temperatures, roughly 80 degrees, to fly. A typical visit takes about an hour, and the nursery recommends checking schedules if you are planning a field trip or a special release. For current hours, admission and program options, see the Lukas Nursery information page.
Bring Butterflies Home
To support local pollinators at home, the nursery and experts point to a simple recipe: plant a mix of nectar and host plants and avoid broad-spectrum insecticides. A useful rule of thumb is roughly three nectar plants for every one host plant. University of Florida Extension highlights Florida-friendly nectar choices such as lantana, pentas, salvias, porterweed and firebush for Central Florida gardens. For more details, see UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions. Creating staggered bloom times and providing shallow water or puddling areas will make a yard more attractive to butterflies across the seasons.
The Lukas family says the expansion is meant to preserve the Encounter's role as a community learning resource even as development pressures change the surrounding landscape. For construction updates, opening dates, and school-program information, the nursery and local reporting will carry the latest details. As Oviedo Community News notes, the project represents the largest capital investment in Lukas' history and a bid to keep the family's century-old operation rooted in Oviedo.
