The Miami Beach Botanical Garden is a

urban green space In land-use planning, urban green space is open-space areas reserved for parks and other "green spaces", including plant life, water features -also referred to as blue spaces- and other kinds of natural environment. Most urban open spaces ar ...

in Miami Beach, Florida founded in 1962. It was transformed in 2011 with a $1.2 million landscape renovation designed by South Florida landscape architect Raymond Jungles. The new landscape showcases native Florida plants and trees including

bromeliads The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

, palms,

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male o ...

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

and many others. There is a

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...

, native garden and

bioswale Bioswales are channels designed to concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution. Bioswales can also be beneficial in recharging groundwater. Bioswales are typically vegetated, mulched, or xeriscaped. They co ...

, and water gardens including ponds, fountains, and a wetland with

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

and pond apple trees. The renovation also expanded the Great Lawn area for corporate and social events, established a plant nursery and event plaza, and enhanced the night-time lights, entrance gate, and pathways. The Garden offers free admission and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

History

In 1962, the City of Miami Beach created the "Garden Center" on a vacant site opposite the

Miami Beach Convention Center The Miami Beach Convention Center (originally the Miami Beach Exhibition Hall) is a convention center located in Miami Beach, Florida. Originally opened in 1958, the venue was renovated from 2015-2018 for $620 million. The re-imagined and enhance ...

built in 1957. Operated then as a City park, the Garden was situated on the historic Collins Canal, an integral part of the beginnings of Miami Beach. In the early 1900s pioneer

John S. Collins John Stiles Collins (December 29, 1837 – February 11, 1928) was an American Quaker farmer from Moorestown Township, New Jersey who moved to South Florida at the turn of the 20th century. He attempted to grow vegetables and coconuts on the swam ...

dug the canal to transport mangoes and avocados, then called alligator pears by boat to the

Port of Miami The Port of Miami, styled as "PortMiami" but formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the ...

from groves along what is now Pinetree Drive. In the 1920s pioneer

Carl Fisher Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

developed Lincoln Road, luxury hotels such as the Flamingo and the Nautilus with polo fields and golf courses. The Garden site was originally a golf course. By 1922 Miami Beach boasted the largest avocado and mango groves in the world, but Miami's agricultural roots would not last much longer, sacrificed for the tourist trade. Tourism has long been a driving force in Miami Beach, but the City also experienced the impact of economic recessions, World Wars, and destructive hurricanes. The Garden had sadly deteriorated before the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

renaissance of the 1980s and after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. A group of residents approached the City in 1996 to create the Miami Beach Garden Conservancy as a non-profit organization with a mission to restore the Garden. Today's Miami Beach Botanical Garden is a public/private partnership, owned by the City of Miami Beach. The Garden has again become a dynamic venue for arts and cultural programming, environmental education and cultural tourism.Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.
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Mission

The mission of the Miami Beach Botanical Garden is to promote environmental enjoyment, stewardship and sustainability through education, the arts, and interaction with the natural world. The garden is a unique, subtropical oasis of beauty and tranquility within an urban setting—a community resource that refreshes, inspires and engages our visitors.Miami Beach Botanical Garden
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Miami Beach Garden Club

The Miami Beach Garden Club is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Florida Federations of Garden Clubs. The organization promotes the cultivation of plants and flowers within the community through projects that focus on: beautification of Miami Beach; mentoring and sponsoring student programs both locally and statewide; and support of the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. The Miami Beach Garden club also works with local Girl Scouts and school children at multiple local schools by continuing to expand their knowledge through monthly programs.

Japanese Garden

One of the main features of the Miami Beach Botanical Garden is its Japanese Garden. This tranquil corner of the garden is defined by a red lacquered bridge spanning a quiet pond dotted with

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artisti ...

. Stone lanterns stand among the plantings based on the principles of Feng shui, where specific orientation and placing of certain elements helps to capture the energy and spirit of nature. Significant plantings here include the red powder puff shrub (

Calliandra haematocephala ''Calliandra haematocephala'' is a species of flowering plants of the genus ''Calliandra'' in the family Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,

), golden trumpet tree (Tabebuia caribea), and various types of tropical

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

Water Features

Water is a focal point in all areas of the garden. According to the garden's landscape architect Raymond Jungles, the element of water is significant because it "brings the sky into the garden, animates the space, reflects the landscape, and cools the areas directly around the buildings. Water magnifies the garden's sense of scale." Outside the offices is a refurbished fountain designed by

Morris Lapidus Morris Lapidus (November 25, 1902 – January 18, 2001) was an architect, primarily known for his Neo-baroque "Miami Modern" hotels constructed in the 1950s and 60s, which have since come to define that era's resort-hotel style, synonymous w ...

. Beyond the fountain is the main pond with a cascading oolite fountain and flowering water lilies. The adjoining

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

contains red

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

, pond apple trees (

Annona glabra ''Annona glabra'' is a Tropics, tropical fruit tree in the family Annonaceae, in the same genus as the soursop and cherimoya. Common names include pond apple, alligator apple (so called because American alligators often eat the fruit), swamp appl ...

), and rush grasses. During the day you can see

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

koi or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' ke ...

, and if you're lucky, one very shy turtle roaming the waters.

Edible Garden

The edible garden remains a reliable source of sustenance and natural beauty. It was made possible in part by the local chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier: an international organization of women in the field of food, drink and gastronomy. This tropical edible garden contains pineapples (

Ananas comosus ''Ananas'' is a plant genus in the family Bromeliaceae. It is native to South America. The genus contains ''Ananas comosus'', the pineapple. Species The genus ''Ananas'' includes only two species: Gallery File:Pineapple.plantation.jpg, Pinea ...

), pomegranates (

Punica granatum The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

), coffee ( Coffea arabica), and even raspberries. Often, the staff harvests fresh food and herbs from the garden to supplement workshops, mixers and other events.

References

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External links

Miami Beach Botanical Garden
Botanical gardens in Florida Greenhouses in the United States Protected areas of Miami-Dade County, Florida Agricultural buildings and structures in Florida Japanese gardens in the United States 1962 establishments in Florida