PHOTO BY PAUL VLADUCHICK

With or without the butterflies, this room is an idyll.

As you enter the Stove Room at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the trail ahead of you winds downhill and into a short underpass. In reality, you’re merely passing underneath part of the footpath; in the lush and sensorily enveloping environment, though, it feels as if you’re exploring a subterranean cave.

You’ll continue past plants that are remarkable — even for a building full of them. The aptly named dwarf red powder puff perches like a Dr. Seuss drawing; the whimsical flowering maple dangles tiny flowers that look like lanterns. The room is warm with complex fragrance; you can hear water trickling all around you.

And, for several months of each year, you’re surrounded by butterflies.

From spring to fall, the Stove Room becomes the Butterfly Forest, home to dozens of species of butterflies from the Eastern and Southern United States. Delicate, beautiful insects flutter freely throughout the room, searching for nectar and alighting on equally intricate plants.

You’ll pass through a curtain of interlocking metal (think of a slightly more industrial version of ’70s beaded curtains) to access the room when butterflies are present, to ensure they don’t spread throughout the conservatory. They probably wouldn’t want to anyway, says Braley Burke, Phipps’ integrated pest-management specialist.

“We plant a lot of plants that are nectar-rich to make sure they have the food they need … It’s ideal because it’s not a room that gets changed out seasonally,” Burke says. “It only has the two doors into it, [and] the plant selection just makes sense.”

Burke says to look out for the striking, aptly named zebra longwings, which flitter around the room regularly and congregate on vines at night; also, look for the vibrant green-and-black malachite. But don’t look too hard for anything in particular; let the room come to you, following whatever your eyes and nose tell you is worthy of attention. A visit to the Butterfly Forest (or anywhere in Phipps, for that matter) is a mental reset; you’re putting better things into your mind than you will elsewhere for the rest of the day. Or just about any other day, for that matter.

Insider’s Tip

Don’t miss the lithops, or living stones. Found in the Desert Room, these African plants resemble rocks so closely you’ll swear they’re … well, just rocks. They’re actually succulents that can absorb water even in arid conditions. Find them in a small case along the pathway. Also, note that some rooms at Phipps, including the Butterfly Forest, are not wheelchair accessible.

While You’re Here

Ordinarily, we’d tell you to leave time for lunch at Café Phipps — but it’s closed for renovation. Instead, take a short stroll past some of Oakland’s most stately buildings (and the remaining section of the Forbes Field wall) for food and refreshing cocktails at The Porch in Schenley Plaza.