Living Collections Blog

What to do with your new plants from the Spring Plant Sale

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:43:37 GMT

What to do with newly purchased plants After careful reading and perhaps some research, you have selected plants for your home garden. Most of the plants that Fairchild offers for sale have been grown in light shade to full sun. When you bring home plants do not stop on the way home and park your car in the sun. This will cook any plants that are left in the car. Go home, unload plants, make sure their soil feels moist and water thoroughly those that are dry. Place the plants in a lightly shaded...

Edible plants for sale!

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:38:58 GMT

In just a few days, the 33rd Annual Spring Plant Sale will take place at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden on April 14 & 15 during the Food & Garden Festival. I will be posting some information about the plants that FTBG will be offering. How would you like to have fresh black mulberries in your breakfast cereal or mulberry cobbler for an evening dessert? Have you ever cooked steamed lemon grass crab legs or chicken satay with lemon grass? Would you like to make creamy lemon grass ice cream? We...

Available soon at the Spring Plant Sale!

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:00:09 GMT

In just a few days, the 33rd Annual Spring Plant Sale will take place at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. I will be posting some information about the plants that FTBG will be offering. Fairchild's 33rd Annual Spring Plant Sale will take place April 14 & 15 at FTBG during the Food & Garden Festival. We will have a huge variety available including 62 kinds of native plants, many which are wonderful butterfly or bird attracting species. Our native Senna's attract the beautiful...

Grow your own lettuce - it is easy!

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:44:00 GMT

Earlier this month I attended a Miami-Dade County Cooperative Extension Service advisory board meeting. After the meeting, we went outside to see the raised bed gardens that Master Gardeners had planted. In some cases, unusual containers were used. Seeing this gave me a great idea! I have an old recycling bin. So the following weekend I went to my local gardening center and purchased some young buttercrunch lettuce and red lettuce plants along with some potting soil. I picked up a few collard...

The Keys to Growing Beautiful Bougainvilleas

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:40:46 GMT

Bougainvillea, in all the vivid colors of the tropics, is very easy to encourage blooming. The keys to promoting flowering in bougainvillea are: 1. Prune 2. Fertilize lightly 3. Less water. Remember this: bougainvillea blooms on new growth. Prune back your plant and lightly fertilize. This will promote new growth and flowering. On November 1, I pruned the bougainvillea next to my house. The next day I applied some 8-3-9 granular fertilizer and watered lightly. My bougainvillea on November 1,...

They are baaaack! You can have them too!

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:25:26 GMT

I've been busily preparing for them for a few weeks now. I was filling my two feeders with white millet seeds, the favorite food of our most colorful bird native to North America. They come down beginning in late September and stay until mid April. Much to my delight, early evening yesterday, I looked through binoculars to my bird feeders in my back yard and saw three Painted Buntings! Two were the incredibly colorful males and the third was a 'greenie' either an immature male or a female. Some...

A Plant for Everyone Who Loves Wine, Pudding, Cakes, Ice Cream, Rum.....

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:23:49 GMT

One of our 2011 distribution plants: Hibiscus sabdariffa is one of the most useful flowering shrubs in the Caribbean. Commonly known as sorrel or roselle, the fibers found in the stems are used to make jute, while the fleshy, red calyx are utilized in the West Indies and elsewhere in the tropics fresh for making roselle wine, jelly, syrup, gelatin, refreshing beverages, pudding, and cakes, and dried roselle is used for tea, jelly, marmalade, ices, ice-cream, sherbets, butter, pies, sauces,...

Pine rockland plants, poor things!!

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:32:24 GMT

I've often mentioned to my fellow horticulturist, nature-loving friends that plants growing in the pine rocklands of south Florida are stunted due to the poor growing conditions. We are growing many plants native to this special habitat in our nursery, the grounds of Fairchild and in our home gardens. It is simply amazing how different the same species looks when grown in good soil versus the rockland. Here is one example. The first photo is Ocimum campechianum, wild sweet basil, in pine...

Summertime is the best time to........

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:36:47 GMT

We are definately in the midst of our summer, rainy season. This is a great time to take care of some gardening tasks. To avoid working in the heat of the day, work outside either very early in the morning or in the evening. This is the time to cut back shrubs which have become leggy. Plants such as beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) and firebush (Hamelia patens) can be cut back to promote a fuller, better looking plant. By trimming shrubs now, the plants will have time to put on new, more...

Moving plants

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:39:27 GMT

To prepare for the the new state-of-the-art Science Village, Tropical Research Labs, Cafe and Conservatory the horticulture team moved several important plants. We realized that this would be necessary to make room for the new buildings and Conservatory shade house. Among the palms to be moved were five Cryosophila williamsii, wild collected in Honduras by Dr. Scott Zona. This species of Cryosophila is restricted to steep, high-rainfall slopes of the Lago Yojoa watershed in west-central...

Is that a lilac in bloom?

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:09:31 GMT

Lonchocarpus violaceus var. violaceus is a flowering tree native to dry hillsides in Trinidad. Plants often begin flowering when only five or six feet tall. Homesick northerners will love the scent, which is somewhat reminiscent of lilacs. Throughout October and November, masses of purple to pinkish mauve flowers are borne on six-inch racemes, making a wonderful show above the dark green pinnate leaves. This tree in the photo is located at the tram plaza. Be sure to get a close look and smell....

My Meadow Garden - Five Months Later

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:02:57 GMT

It was early in May when I planted my meadow garden under a Guaiacum sanctum (lignum vitae) and a Veitchia. The plants have really grown into mature specimens and all the grasses are blooming. I've weeded this area only three times this summer and the grasses are now growing so densely that soon, weeding will not be necessary - my goal!! Each grass was planted about 2' apart so that their rounded form can be expressed In June I scattered seeds of Coreopsis leavenworthii, our native tickseed This...

Exciting sightings in Fairchild!

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:12:20 GMT

In recent days, staff have seen the amazingly beautiful Painted Buntings in Fairchild! Over the past year, we have placed feeders in quiet locations within FTBG to encourage more birds. One of the important ingredients of the seed mix we use is white millet, a favorite food of Painted Buntings. Both male buntings and the "greenies" (immature males or females) have been seen at feeders in the Keys Coastal Habitat, the palmetum area between the cafe and the south gate, near the Victoria Pool and...

This is the week!

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:10:54 GMT

Hi Everyone, This week is the big week.....Members' Day is on Saturday!! We began bringing up the thousands of plants from our nursery today. The nursery is filled with plants we have grown for this special sale. Good thoughts for good weather (and NO storms!) would be appreciated! Photos attached were taken at our nursery last week. Many thanks to the nursery crew (Marlon Rumble) and his many dedicated volunteers....

Plant Countdown to Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 9

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 10:48:06 GMT

Chosen as one of the 2007 Fairchild Plants of the Year, Clusia lanceolata is a delightful shrub or small tree 8-10' tall from the sandy coastal regions of Brazil known as "restingas". It was introduced to South Florida by noted USDA researcher and Fairchild Research Associate Alan Meerow. The white, waxy 6-petaled flowers have a distinctive ring of wine-red markings around the center. These 2-inch wide flowers appear all year. The distinctive fruits are round and crowned with a circle of black...

Plant Countdown to Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 8

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:50:51 GMT

Plant Countdown to Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 7

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:36:03 GMT

A Special Class for Those Wishing to Attend Members' Day Plant Sale

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 22:42:46 GMT

PRIVATE TOUR AND TALK ABOUT PLANTS FOR MEMBERS' DAYMarilyn Griffiths Be one of the 20 lucky Fairchild members on this special after-hours tour (wine and tramette shuttle service provided). Need plants for your garden? Planning to attend the Members' Day Plant Sale on October 2nd? Not really sure what plants to buy? Join Fairchild's Marilyn Griffiths on a one-of-a-kind pre-sale tour where you will learn more about the plants being offered. This tour will take you on a journey...

Plant Countdown to Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 6

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:40:58 GMT

Nashia inaguensis, commonly called Moujean tea, is a shrub to 8 feet tall native to the Bahamas. It is much branched, with tiny leaves that are aromatic when crushed. The young stems are red, becoming gray-brown. The tiny, fragrant white flowers are followed by small orange fruits nestled among the glossy leaves. We have found that the Atala butterflies and many others find Moujean tea hard to resist when in bloom. Grow in full sun. It is very drought tolerant once established. (May be seen in...

Plant Countdown to Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 5

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:40:59 GMT

Senna mexicana var. chapmanii, known as Bahama senna, is native to South Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba. It is a small shrub to 6 feet tall with yellow flowers nearly all year. Bahama senna is a larval host plant for several butterflies, including the orange-barred sulphur, sleepy orange sulphur and cloudless sulphur. It grows best in full sun to light shade. Bahama senna is a wonderful choice for all butterfly gardens. We have examples of this species growing in our butterfly garden....

Plant Countdown to Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 4

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:37:06 GMT

Brunfelsia plicata is a small, erect eight-foot shrub endemic to Jamaica. The sturdy, dark green leaves make a good background for the showy, white flowers. Appearing in profusion several times during the year, they waft forth a spicy, clove-like fragrance at dusk. Stems tend to be upright, but the uppermost ends of the branches cascade down, giving the plant a vase-like shape. Grow it where it will receive morning sun and afternoon shade. (May be seen in Fairchild in plots 52 and 27.)...

Plant Countdown to Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 3

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:00:41 GMT

Jacaranda caerulea is native to the Bahamas. It is a smaller tree than the more commonly grown Jacaranda mimosaefolia and with more bold, shiny foliage. It is one of the most attractive ornamental trees native to the Bahamas with its panicles of blue-violet flowers appearing throughout late spring and summer. The crown is more narrow and upright than the more common Jacaranda, making it a great choice for small yards. This species prefers a sunny location and thrives in the soils of south...

Plant Countdown to Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 2

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 14:55:36 GMT

Guaiacum officinale, native to continental Tropical America and the West Indies, is known as lignum vitae or tree of life. This species, although not native to Florida, is similar to our native Guaiacum sanctum. It will grow faster than our native species, eventually developing into a beautiful flowering tree to 20 feet tall with gorgeous mottled green trunks. Lovely blue to pale blue flowers appear in spring to summer, followed by orange-yellow fruit. Birds love the seeds. Grow in full sun to...

Plant Countdown to the Members' Day Plant Sale - Day 1

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:03:49 GMT

We will have some wonderful plants available for the 72nd Annual Members' Day Plant Sale on October 2. The entire article about the sale is here. Muhlenbergia capillaris, muhly grass, is a native clumping species 18 to 36 inches tall and wide. One of our most ornamental native grasses, it produces beautiful cloud-like pinkish-purple plumes during the fall months. When not in bloom, its airy texture fits nicely into any landscape or garden. We have found that grasses go nicely when planted among...

History of Members' Day Plant Sale

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:45:53 GMT

In 1939, Fairchild Tropical Garden had the first Members' Plant Distribution. To quote David Fairchild from the first list of plants: "In accordance with our policy to grow and distribute plants and palms which are more or less rare in this section, we have now on hand and ready for distribution a limited quantity of plants, a list of which is attached herewith. Small plants are ready for delivery to members only at the Garden, not more than a total of three plants are available for any one...

A "New" Plant for South Florida Bird Lovers

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:46:40 GMT

I am so excited that we will be offering a plant which has proven to be a wonderful source of food for migrating songbirds. Colubrina elliptica, soldierwood, is native to the Florida Keys, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Venezuela. It is a shrub to small tree, from 10 feet up to 30 feet tall with an open branching habit. The trunks have flaking orange to brown bark which adds to its character. We are offering this plant because it has proven to be a bird magnet! During last fall...

My Meadow Garden - Two Months Later

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:26:29 GMT

It has been just over two months since I planted a small meadow garden in my front yard. The summer rains are enough that my hand watering is finished. The plants are establishing very well and I am really pleased with the results. Here are some photos I took last weekend: Click on images to enlarge In the photo above, the Croton linearis has grown so that it is almost completely hiding the limestone rock. The blue-green form of Elliott's lovegrass, Eragrostis elliottii, have also grown enough...

An Amazing Plant is Blooming on the Vine Pergola

Wed, 12 May 2010 11:37:49 GMT

Tecomanthe dendrophila, also known as New Guinea trumpet creeper, is in full bloom on Fairchild's vine pergola. To see it, walk to the southern end of the pergola and you will see this amazing plant. One of the Fairchild Plants of the year in 2006, this vigorous woody twiner (liana) could simply be grown for its deep green foliage, but it is the large pendant clusters of trumpet shaped flowers that steal the show. Rosy-pink colored at the base and fading to paler rose, the flowers open to reveal...

A week later, my meadow is blooming!

Sat, 08 May 2010 14:18:06 GMT

My Meadow Garden Has Been Planted

Wed, 05 May 2010 12:03:34 GMT

Well, I took last Thursday and Friday off and worked in my own yard. The day before, I had purchased some Elliott's lovegrass (Eragrostis elliottii), native plumbago (Plumbago scandens), Havana skullcap (Scuttelaria havanensis), gama grass (Tripsacum floridanum) and forked blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum). Wednesday night I weeded the planting beds and bright and early I started on the meadow garden area. First I arranged the plants still in their pots where I wanted to plant them. This was...

It is time to start planting my meadow garden

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:10:25 GMT

As some of you may remember, if you read my article that appeared in the Miami Herald, I said that my next gardening project will be a meadow garden. Well, I purchased some meadow plants at last weekend's Spring Plant Sale, the ground is nice and wet from 3 1/2 inches of rain today, and I plan to start planting soon. Here are some of the plants I will be using: Scutellaria havanensis (Havana scullcap) - 1 (may divide this) Heliotropium polyphyllum (pineland heliotrope) - 2 Croton linearis...

A glorious time of year!

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:24:01 GMT

Spring is coming...finally!

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:38:00 GMT

It has been an interesting winter to say the least! In my 37 years in South Florida, I've not experienced a winter so cool for so long. Many plants lost their leaves due to the extreme cold temperatures in January and have been in "hibernation mode" ever since. In the last few days, warmer temperatures and some warm showers are helping the sleeping trees and shrubs to wake up slowly and start producing new leaves. Propagating for our plant sales has been almost totally collecting, cleaning, and...

We have lots of birds in Fairchild!

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:43:48 GMT

We've had very cold temperatures from January 7 through January 12. This meant that the temperature of our lakes has also cooled. Certain exotic (bad) species of fish, such as tilapia, have been killed by the cold water. Well, wading birds such as Ibis, Egrets, and a very special visitor, a Wood Stork, are feeding on the fish! Come to our lowlands and see the birds taking advantage of a "buffet" of tilapia. Wood Stork grooming himself (or herself) in front of a bench...

It was “snowing” in the lowlands this morning…..

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:09:06 GMT

Early this morning, I was collecting seeds of our pineland crotons to grow on for sales and special projects. As I was walking from our pineland back to my office, I noticed that the sign for Mark di Suvero's She' had "snow" on it. I also saw that the grass in the area had "snow" as well. I looked up, up, up, into the crown of the nearest royal palm and saw that it was flowering. The huge inflorescence of the palm was a creamy white hue, buzzing with...

Its a Friday night and I'm writing this blog - why?

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:45:05 GMT

Members' Day Plant Sale coming soon....

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:47:37 GMT

What is that purple flowering tree in our rainforest?

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:02:11 GMT

In recent days I've been asked about the tree in the rainforest which is currently flowering. Showy purple flowers appear in the canopy of the Fairchild rainforest. It is Carpodiptera ameliae, a member of the Tiliaceae family, native to Central America. Commonly called mountain pear, it is a 30-40' tall tree with large evergreen leaves. In July and August, a profusion of panicles with many small lavender-rose colored flowers are produced. If you want to see Fairchild's mountain pear, stand near...

This week in Fairchild

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:49:46 GMT

We are truly in the midst of our rainy season. So far during this month we have received 6.34 inches of rain. The total for the year is 19.11 inches, most of that occuring the last two weeks of May and this month. As many of you know, we have our own weather station. It is located on the roof of the Garden House and the data is sent to a computer station in the plant records office. Check out the current conditions online via our Web site. This week three of our horticulture staff are in St....

We are getting ready for the Members' Day Plant Sale

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:15:56 GMT

I propagate plants for Members' Day Plant Sale, the Ramble and the Spring Plant Sale all year long. In fact, nearly every Monday and Tuesday morning my volunteers and I collect seeds and cuttings from Fairchild then clean and plant them at our nursery. This time of year, when many plants have new growth, is the best time for taking cuttings. Most plants root well from either young tip growth or semi-woody stems. We take the cuttings early in the morning, wetting them immediately to keep them...

You can almost hear the plants growing.....

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:54:03 GMT

Our summer rainy season has begun. Our winter and spring at Fairchild was sunny and dry; extremely dry. Now that we've received more than 10 inches of rain since mid-May, the plants in the garden are bursting with new growth and lots of flowers. You can almost hear the plants growing! Our lawns are carpets of green, creating enticing pathways to investigate, off-road, other inner portions of Fairchild. I believe that Fairchild is at it's absolutely most beautiful during the summer! Come visit!...

Attracting birds to your yard

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:21:48 GMT

A pair of painted buntings visiting my feeder which is hanging in an Alvaradoa amorphoides. I have planted many native trees, shrubs and palms to re-create natural habitats in my own yard. I created a hardwood hammock, palm and grass savannah, and a pineland area all in a less than 1/2 acre size lot. One of the main reasons I planted native species was to attract wildlife. Birds require food, shelter, and water. I am especially pleased with the many birds who visit my yard, especially painted...

Spring has arrived in Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden!

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:07:20 GMT

Brownea capitella in our rainforest Spring at Fairchild means lots of amazing flowers are here for you to enjoy. Some flowers are only fragrant at night. Tonight and every Thursday night in April, there will be special walking tours in the Arboretum to visit flowers which are fragrant during the evening hours to attract insects, mostly moths, which only fly at night. There may be fewer moths than there are of daytime insects, but there are also fewer nighttime flowers, so less competition. The...

Our Jade Vine is Blooming!

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:22:20 GMT

Once again, the time has come for our beautiful jade vine, Strongylodon macrobotrys, to begin flowering. This marvelous vine is native to the Philippines. The amazing jade hue, blue-green flowers are produced in pendant clusters up to 3 feet long! It is growing on Fairchild's vine pergola. The jade vine should be blooming for the next few weeks....

A little history lesson about Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden - Part 2

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:08:24 GMT

Foundations The first 15 years saw the construction of its primary buildings and landscape features, including the Montgomery Palmetum, Bailey Palm Glade, Allee and Overlook, Vine Pergola, Amphitheatre, Gate House, Montgomery Library and Museum, 11 lakes, stone terracing walls, irrigation systems, Moos Sunken Garden, and Nell Montgomery Garden House auditorium. Later buildings included the Davis House (1953), Hawkes Laboratory (1960), Robbins Plant Science Building (1967), Rare Plant House...

Come see our lowlands and enjoy the wonderful sculptures by Mark di Suvero

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:39:24 GMT

I have to go to the nursery in a few minutes to work with one of my volunteers. We propagate plants all year long for our three annual plant sales. Before I leave, I want to urge everyone to visit Fairchild during the next six months. This time of the year is cool, sunny and a great time to explore the habitat areas found in FTBG's lowlands. Our pine rockland area is full of plants native to this critically imperiled habitat. Our pines, palmettos, wildflowers, wild basil, American beautyberry...

A little history lesson about Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden - Part 1

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:37:12 GMT

David Fairchild David Fairchild (1869-1954) was one of the greatest plant explorers of all time. At the age of 22, he created the Section of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction of the United States Department of Agriculture, and for the next 37 years, he traveled the world in search of plants of potential use to the American people. His far-reaching travels brought into cultivation in the U.S. many important plants, including mangos, alfalfa, nectarines, dates, horseradish, bamboos and flowering...

We are getting ready to Ramble!

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:11:16 GMT

Tomorrow is the first day of Fairchild's very special Ramble. We are getting ready. Our plants are up from the nursery and plant societies are filling their spaces with beautiful, interesting plants that need a good home! The Ramble is full of festivities: good food, music, art, special tours, gardening furniture, fun activities for children, antiques, old books, and plants, plants, plants. Check out the photo of the bougainvillea area. If you look carefully, you can see a pirate's flag flying...

Ramble has a very special plant sale

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:06:46 GMT

The 2008 Ramble will be the 35th Ramble I've worked at and enjoyed since I began working at FTBG in 1973. In my first years here, when the Ramble was more of a rummage sale, with old clothes, furniture, and other "recycled" merchandise, only Fairchild-grown plants were sold. Beginning in 1980, with the new, gardening-focused Ramble, various plant societies began participating in the plant sale. Now the plant sale area in the palmetum is filled with plants grown and brought in by 14 plant...

We have a new weather station at Fairchild!

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:59:35 GMT

With thanks to the generosity of Caroline Lewis, Director of our education department, a weather station was purchased. It was installed on the roof of the Garden House in mid-September. The console with weather information obtained from the weather station is in the Hawke's Lab. The station keeps records on rainfall, temperature, wind speeds, relative humidity, barometric pressure and other weather data. In the future we will place this information on the FTBG website. You might be interested...

A Limpkin in the garden!

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:11:02 GMT

This morning while I was walking near Glade Lake, I was delighted to see a limpkin walking along the shoreline! It was hunting snails for his breakfast perhaps. Fairchild is actually a great place to see birds. A few days ago, I saw two white-crowned pigeons in the Keys Coastal Habitat. Next time you visit, remember to look at the plants....and the birds!...

My Favorite Hedge - Simpson's Stopper

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:44:59 GMT

Many people have Ficus benjamina, which can quickly become a huge tree, hedges which require regular pruning and now there is a whitefly which is killing it in south Florida. My favorite hedge is Myrcianthes fragrans, Simpson's stopper, which is a native of hammocks of south Florida and Tropical America. This shrub or small tree grows to 20 feet tall. It makes a great hedge and is a low maintenance alternative to the commonly used ficus hedge. Simpson's stopper's silvery gray to warm brown bark...

We have another cannonball tree blooming in Fairchild.

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:37:55 GMT

In May, 1992 we received seeds of Couroupita guianensis from Venezuela. The seeds were in our greenhouse when Hurricane Andrew hit just a few months later. It survived Andrew's wrath and was planted in plot 18 in June 1994. The young tree had to be moved to plot 45 due to the Visitors' Center construction in 1999. In late October, 2005, Hurricane Wilma blew it down. It was quickly propped up and voila, is now in bloom for the first time! It's first 16 years have not been easy, but now that it is...

My Gardening Joy - What is Yours?

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:00:40 GMT

About 15 years ago, I was fortunate to find a piece of property, just under one-half an acre with a small house and very little vegetation. I had a nearly blank slate to start my own garden on the first property I had ever owned. I took a while to consider what kind of garden I wanted. I am a nature lover; birds, butterflies, even squirrels and snakes always delight me with their presence. So I decided to create natural habitats in my yard to attract wildlife. That...

We have beautiful parrots in Fairchild!

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:56:38 GMT

During recent weeks I have seen large parrots or macaws flying over the arboretum and lowlands of Fairchild. I have seen a pair and sometimes as many as five birds flying and making their very loud squawking noises. Today while I was near the southeast edge of Royal Palm Lake, I heard the unmistakable sounds of the parrots in a royal palm in plot 87. I was fortunate to have my camera and took a few photos. One of the parrots was using its beak to tear off bits of a leaf stem in a Veitchia...

CTPC staff monitor the endangered Pseudophoenix sargentii on Elliott Key

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:55:59 GMT

Jennifer Possley, GIS Lab Coordinator/Field Biologist, reports that two weeks ago today, several members of Fairchild's Center for Tropical Plant Conservation (CTPC) returned from a three-day trip, monitoring the endangered palm Pseudophoenix sargentii (Sargent's cherry palm) on Elliott Key. We last conducted a thorough monitoring of this taxon on Elliott Key in 2003. This time, we collected data on: (1) approximately 115 surviving individuals that were planted by...

Don't forget to look up while walking through our rainforest.

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:07:35 GMT

This morning, around 8:30, as I was walking out of my office in the rainforest, I heard a very loud squawking noise. I looked up and saw a pure white large bird fly over the trees. It landed nearby and continued its raucous call. Harvey, Rod and I walked in the direction of the sound. We looked up to see a beautiful cockatoo perched upon the tip of a Veitchia spear leaf. Eventually the bird flew to the east, before I could get a good photo. We occasionally...

I discovered something neat in our rainforest

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:20:50 GMT

A couple afternoons ago I was walking through the rainforest on my way to the arboretum to check some seeds I am watching for propagation purposes. Just before I entered the rainforest plaza I looked up and saw a Schefflera seedling sprouting from the surface of a palm leaf! The palm is a very robust Livistona seedling with leaves held in a horizontal fashion. Seeds in a rainforest can fall onto leaves, in the crevices among tree branches, even onto a roof of a hut or in...

Discovering Fairchild Tropical Garden - the Rainforest

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:52:28 GMT

Photo by M. Collins Rainforest waterfall I often see many people walking through the rainforest on the tram road but they don't venture onto one of the paths which are lined with beautiful plants and our wonderful stream with cascades and waterfalls. Our rainforest stream uses water from Glade Lake. Water from the lake is pumped up in a pipe under the Cycad Vista. Through gravity, the water flows down the stream which begins behind the Hawke's Lab hort office building, under the tram roads and...