Palms are and have always been a symbol of the tropics. Here in our garden, it only stands to reason that these princes of the plant world would be a main staple of our collection. Miami Beach Botanical Garden currently has over 100 species represented in the garden with many more, growing in our nursery, to be planted.

Some of the most opulent and impressive specimens reside in the north eastern corner of the garden, affectionately known as Copernicia corner. From the Copernicia baileyana, that is an original planting, back when the garden first came to be—to the recently acquired blue form of Copernicia rigida, you will find a world class collection of tropical and Caribbean palms thriving here and throughout the rest of our modest botanical garden.

See our full list of palms here.

Here, a small pond and bamboo plantings are accentuated by a bright red bridge and stone lantern sculptures. Did you know Fujisawa, Japan is a sister city of Miami Beach designated in 1959? Our Annual Japanese Spring festival celebrates this vibrant culture. This garden is a wonderful location to relax as well as for events such as intimate wedding ceremonies, photo shoots, and memorials.

The wooded surroundings and waterscape create a natural boundary for smaller gatherings, ensuring privacy and serenity.

Orchidaceae is the largest and most diverse family of flowering plants, and many bloom all throughout the year here. As you explore the area, you may discover that not all our plantings are in the ground. Many orchids peer out between tree branches and foliage, so don’t forget to look up too!

The orchids in our collection consist mainly of those which will survive outdoors in our particular microclimate. Genera include Vanilla, Phalaenopsis, Oncidium, Schomburgkia, and Vanda. The garden often has orchids for sale if you would like to try your hand at growing your own.

The Native Garden is a wild area defined by woodchipped pathways and densely planted perennial shrubs, trees and palms. Corky stem (Passionflora suberosa) attracts plenty of Florida’s state butterfly, the Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonius). Natives are best for attracting wildlife, especially in urban environments like ours – also for water conservation as they require minimal, depending on our natural wet and dry seasons.

Nearby plantings of Firebush (Hamelia patens), Locust Berry (Byrsonima lucida), Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) and many others provide food for birds and nectar for butterflies. This area closest resembles a hardwood hammock in wild South Florida. We recently received a grant from the Miami Beach City Sustainability department for a Pine Rockland Demonstration garden in the area between the Japanese and Native, which will be complete in May 2018.

This garden showcases flora that might not necessarily have showy flowers or foliage, but are paramount to ecosystem health. For example, the Coontie cycad (Zamia pumila) is a low growing, flowerless plant often confused as a fern or palm, but is actually more closely related to coniferous trees. It is the only cycad native to Florida and the host plant for the Atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala).
Other signature plantings include Lignum-vitae (Guaiacum sanctum), and Live oak (Quercus virginiana), with epiphytic plants growing amongst the branches such as native tillandsia, orchids, and cacti.

Water is a focal point in the garden. According to our 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.”

Immediately outside the offices is a refurbished circular fountain designed by Morris Lapidus. Beyond the fountain is the main pond with a cascading oolite fountain and flowering water lilies. The adjoining wetland contains Red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), Pond apple trees (Annona glabra), and other water loving plants. During the day you can see dragonflies, butterflies, koi, ciclids and a happy, smaller pond of turtles which are able to dig and nest outside the water.