Oh what a wonderful time I’m having this winter here in South Beach. Last season I visited these gardens and decided that I would volunteer here when I returned this season. During the summer, I contacted the gardens and filed an application. As soon as I arrived here, I began the process of training. For over 3 weeks now, I’ve been training and have began my volunteer position as a “host” at the Kiosk in the Butterfly Garden. I’ve also volunteered at the “Chocolate Festival” which was this past weekend and was so much fun. Below are some pics.
The above photo of a monarch butterfly was taken with my cell phone. I never in a million years thought that I could get this quality photo with a phone camera.
The photo above is called “66th Street” and is made of fiberglass and stainless steel.
His exhibition “The Roses” made its debut on Park Avenue in New York City in January 2011. Individual roses from the exhibition have since traveled to Switzerland. Most of the pieces at Fairchild were made specifically for the gardens. Will Ryman was born in NYC in 1969 and worked as a playwright for 12 years.
Each year the garden highlights a particular artist to showcase their work throughout the gardens. This year the art of Will Ryman – oversized, brightly colored rose clusters and insects can be seen amongst the tropical landscape. The two photo’s below are what is called “Petticoat Palms”. The dead fronds will accumulate and form what appears to be a petticoat. Then, suddenly, they will all fall off. One day you see them and the next day you don’t. 
The four photo’s below are of “Cycads”.Cycads are the world’s oldest seed bearing plants and go back 280 million years. They look like palms, but are not related. There are male and female cycads which produce cones. Very large cones. The Cycad tissue contains a toxin and they seeds contain carcinogenic elements which can be harmful to humans and leaves cycads with very few predators. Fairchild Gardens has about 715 cycads.
