Flamingo Gardens facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Flamingo Gardens |
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Flamingo Gardens' main attraction
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| Location | 3750 South Flamingo Road, Davie, Broward County, Florida, United States |
| Area | 60 acres (24 ha) |
| Created | January 1927 |
| Status | Open year round |
Flamingo Gardens is a super cool place in Davie, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It's a huge 60-acre (24 ha) area that's part botanical garden, part Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary, and even has an aviary and zoo! You can visit this amazing spot to see all sorts of plants and animals.
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History of Flamingo Gardens
Flamingo Gardens started as a special project by Floyd L. and Jane Wray. In 1927, they built a weekend home right next to the Everglades. They also created a citrus grove and a lab there.
The Wrays loved collecting rare and unusual plants. They gathered tropical and subtropical plants, fruit trees, and unique specimens from all over the world. Their goal was to create a beautiful botanical collection.
Later, a group called the Floyd L. Wray Memorial Foundation was created. This foundation helps protect the property and its amazing gardens. This way, future generations can enjoy them too.
Today, the Wray Home is a museum. It shows what a country home looked like in the early 1930s. You can take a guided tour to learn more about its history every day.
Exploring the Collections at Flamingo Gardens
Flamingo Gardens is home to thousands of different plants and many kinds of animals. It's like stepping into a living museum!
Amazing Plant Life
The gardens are filled with over 3,000 types of tropical and subtropical plants. You can see huge, old Southern live oaks that are 200 years old! There are also more than 300 kinds of palms.
You can take a fun tram ride through the area. It goes through a tropical rainforest, a native hammock (a type of forest), and wetland areas. You'll see all sorts of exotic flowers and trees.
Flamingo Gardens has special collections of plants like heliconias, gingers, and bromeliads. They also have beautiful flowering trees, crotons, and orchids. Don't miss the mango orchard and the pollinator's garden, which attracts bees and butterflies!
Champion Trees and Unique Gardens
There's a jungle-like arboretum (a tree garden) with 16 "Champion trees." These are some of the biggest trees of their kind in Florida or even the whole country! One giant tree is called an Enterlobium cyclocarpum, also known as an Ear Tree.
The arboretum has one of the largest collections of non-native champion trees in the area. Some cool trees you might see include the pink trumpet tree, yellow poinciana, and the dynamite tree.
You can also visit the Xeriscape Garden. This garden shows how to grow plants that don't need much water. It's a great way to learn about saving water!
Wonderful Animal Residents
Flamingo Gardens is a sanctuary for many animals, especially those native to Florida. You can see black bears, otters, and alligators. There are also bobcats and even Florida panthers!
You'll find different types of tortoises and fresh water turtles. Many birds live here too, like geese, swans, and blue-beaked ducks. Of course, you'll see lots of flamingos, which the gardens are named after!
Birds of the Everglades Aviary
The Everglades aviary is a huge birdhouse, about 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) in size. It's one of the biggest collections of birds and animals in the United States!
Inside the aviary, you can spot many different bird species. Look for white pelicans, turkey vultures, and even huge ostriches and cassowaries. You might also see colorful roseate spoonbills and scarlet macaws.
Other birds in the aviary include American white ibis, wood storks, brown pelicans, and different types of herons and egrets. These include the great blue heron, great egret, and snowy egret. You can also see anhingas, double-crested cormorants, and seagulls.
The aviary is designed to show five different natural areas found in Florida. These include coastal prairies, mangrove swamps, cypress forests, sub-tropical hardwood hammocks, and sawgrass prairies. It's like walking through different parts of the Everglades!
