Our visit to Fairchild Tropical Gardens...

Friday, July 5, 2013

Fairchild Tropical Botantic Garden has been open to the public here in Miami since 1938. However, I don't ever recall going there even though I love plants and flowers.  The park is home to 83 acres of tropical plants and flowers and recently opened a  pavillion with thousands of tropical butterflies flying free among flowering nectar plants.

I don't know why I've never made it into the garden. They host special events like a mango festival and a chocolate festival, but it is on the other end of the county.  I saw in the paper that on the first wednesday of the month, the hefty $25 per person admission fee is waived. Being the entertainment committee for two teens, as well as the filling of the  camp trunks , are bleeding my dry, so a free activity sounded right up my alley.

We arrived early which was a great move as the parking lot fills up fast on "free day". It was also July in Miami so our 9:30 arrival made the long walk around the park as pleasant as walking around outside can be in the tropics right now.  I forgot bug spray, so I got a few bites which was not that smart. 

I was looking forward to practicing photography, but one teen grabbed my camera and took lots of shots. This kept him from complaining. Other than venus flytraps, my kids are not very interested in gardening, trees or plants.

Our favorite spot was the butterfly garden. The butterflies were all over and some even landed on us. Other than that, it was not the best field trip for teens. I liked the fact that they were unplugged and getting fresh air, but it was like going to the zoo without the animals. A much better option for teens (and kids) would be  Miami Metro Zoo or Jungle Island. Those Miami spots have plenty of gorgeous tropical plants but also lots of animals.   

I would return to Fairchild sans children or when they are hosting an event but I won't be taking my kids back to the garden otherwise.  Regardless, here are a few shots that my son took during our visit.

 We could find any frogs on these lily pads

 The butterfly pavillon was our favorite spot
We wished we could jump in (it is July in Miami !)

Dale Chihuly glass sculpture inside the rare plants greenhouse 

We thought that this tree looked like a Dr. Seuss character! 

5 comments:

NanaDiana said...

When I first started reading this I wondered if the boys would like it. Not too surprising, huh? It does look like a beautiful place though. I would like to go on a COOLER day! xo Diana

Susie said...

Most boys like creapy crawly things. Japolina, I know how you feel though, trying to entertain on the thrift and kids bored to tears. I keep telling my g.kids things should not have to cost a fortune to be entertaining. Just now Emma wanted to shop for fireowrks...I keep it to 15 dollars...cause I think my children spend tooooo much money on that kind of crap. The only reason I bought any was...she watched the city display from my bedroom wondow last night and still said "oh wow". So she will have her own wee little show tonight.xoxo,Susie

angryparsnip said...

My goodness this looks lovely ! All the lush green is wonderful,
bored kids or not.

cheers, parsnip

Anonymous said...

I would like this place. :) xo jojo great photos!

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