Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Coral Cables
Filed under: Community News

The Fairchild Botanic Garden is dedicated to the exploration, explanation and conservation of the world of tropical plants. The location is one of the first for research and education-based gardens in the entire world, and is a recognized conservation leader. The cycad and palm collections at the Fairchild Botanical Gardens are a part of the North American Plant Collections Consortium of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA).
The organization’s educational program reaches around 50,000 school children every year. The garden also hosts popular events like the Chocolate and Orchid Festivals, the International Mango and the Ramble. Plant society shows and concerts are held at the Fairchild Tropical Gardens as well, and plants are sold at the location as well. The funds go to continue the development of the gardens, as it is a nonprofit organization that relies on the financial support of 40,000 benefactors and members. The garden also has 1,200 volunteers.
The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is 83 acres, and in addition to palms and cycads, the garden features a number of tropical vines and flowering trees. The garden is in metropolitan Miami, south of Coral Gables, and surrounded at the west and south by Matheson Hammock Park. The garden is internationally recognized for its extensive research, along with its horticulture programs, and opened to the public in 1938.
While the gardens are breathtakingly beautiful and guests come from all around to view them, Fairchild is also a museum, learning center, conservation research facility and laboratory. However, the main objective of the facility is to preserve biodiversity, and the garden staff, volunteers and scientists contribute to this objective daily. Fairchild become the home of the American Orchid Society in 2012.
Be sure to check out Venetian Goral Gables – a Zilbert Condo near Fairchild Gardens.
Events at the garden include the Plant ID Workshop, which is held on the first Friday of every month. The next session will occur on June 7, 2013 at 1pm. If you have a plant in your garden that you’re not sure about, you can bring it to the Herbarium so the scientists at the Fairchild Botanic Garden can uncover the origin of the plant. Space is limited for the event to the first 12 people who reserve their spot online.
Photos of plants are not recommended; the garden encourages guests to bring real plant specimens. The workshop will take place at the Fairchild Center for Tropical Plant Conservation in the front seminar room, which is at 11935 Old Cutler Road in Coral Gables.
Admission into the garden is $25 for adults, $12 for children between the ages of 6 and 17 and $18 for seniors. Fairchild members and children 5 and under are admitted for free. The garden is open Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 4:30pm. On Saturdays and Sundays, the garden is open to the public from 7:30am to 4:30pm. The garden is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.








