Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
Colonel Robert H. Montgomery was a Miami accountant, attorney and businessman who also had a passion for plant collecting. Through his passion for plants he got to know David Fairchild who was a renowned .plant explorer. Fairchild had travelled the world collecting plants until he retired to Miami in 1935. Montgomery dreamed of setting up a tropical botanic garden in Miami. He purchased 33 hectares (83 acres) of land and engaged landscape architect William Lyman Phillips to design the garden. With Fairchild’s expertise and plant collection plus the help of a group of other plant collectors and horticulturists, Montgomery set up the botanical garden. It opened in 1938, named the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in recognition of the role that David Fairchild had played in creating the garden. Montgomery later deeded most of the garden to Miami-Dade County. From the beginning, the botanic garden was much more than a place to see exotic plants. Scientists at Fairchild work on a range of tropic plant research and conservation projects, including a Rare Plant Conservation Team whose task is to reduce the extinction risk of rare plants from South Florida and the Caribbean.
Paper Kite Butterfly, Butterfly Conservatory
In addition to its impressive collection of tropical plants, the garden has a Butterfly Conservatory. Here you can walk amongst a range of butterflies from around the world. The Paper Kite Butterfly, shown here, is from Southeast Asia and has a wingspan of 12-15 cm (4.7 to 6 inches).
Triplaris Cumingiana in flower
When you visit the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden you can be pretty sure that there will be something in flower. When we visited this Triplaris Cumingiana was covered in red flowers. This is a tropical tree found at low elevations between Brazil / Peru and Panama.
Cycad Circle
Cycads typically have a stout and woody trunks crowned by large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They look a little like palm trees but are a totally different species. They are found widely around the tropical areas of the world. These Cycads at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden occupy the centre of a roundabout on the tram route.
Farmers Market
The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is huge and to see it all on foot would be very hard work. The garden has numerous lakes so your route from one point of interest to another may not be direct. Fortunately, a free tram tour is available. When we visited, the garden was hosting a Farmers Market every Saturday, but we understand that this has ceased. We saw the Farmers Market from the tram, but there is so much to see in the garden that we had no time to browse the stalls.
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Spiny Forest of Madagascar
Madagascar has been separated from mainland Africa for millions of years resulting in some unique plant and animal life. In recent years much of the habitat of Madagascar’s unique species has been destroyed. Scientists from Fairchild are working with local organisations create protected areas in Madagascar where the unique species can thrive. South Florida has a climate not dissimilar to Madagascar so a forest of spiny desert plants has been created at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden to bring attention to the plight of these unique plants.
Orchid growing on Avocado Tree
One delight within the garden is to stumble across a a brilliant flash of colour hiding within a sea of green. Here an orchid in full flower lights up the trunk of its host avocado tree.
© Mike Elsden 1981 - 2025
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