Unique Experiences

Item Description

This botanical garden located in Coral Springs FL is priceless.  There is so much to see and so much to do....

What to Expect During Your Visit to Our Butterfly Garden
When you arrive at the Wings of the Tropics exhibit, you’ll be greeted by our friendly botanical garden volunteers who will explain the exhibit’s safety and containment requirements. The conservatory is a USDA-approved facility, which requires us to follow specific containment procedures. Please follow these procedures during your self-guided tour to ensure the best possible experience for both you and our delicate, fluttering friends.
Vollmer Metamorphosis Lab at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
Watch butterflies emerge from chrysalises at the Vollmer Metamorphosis Lab at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Learn the process of nurturing and managing these fledgling butterflies as you witness their transformation in real time.
Enclosures near the Vollmer Metamorphosis Lab also display tropical insects, such as Australian prickly sticks, Malaysian jungle nymphs, Hercules beetles, derby flower beetles, and elephant beetles. The species on display are subject to change.
Tropical Plant Conservatory and Rare Plant House, and Whitman Tropical Fruit Pavilion
When you depart the Wings of the Tropics exhibit, exit into the Tropical Plant Conservatory and Rare Plant House. From there, proceed to the Whitman Tropical Fruit Pavilion to round out your tropical conservatory experience in Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
For safety reasons, strollers are not permitted inside the butterfly area. Stroller parking is available.

The Garden’s first 15 years saw the construction of its primary buildings and landscape features, including the Montgomery Palmetum, Bailey Palm Glade, Allée and Overlook, Vine Pergola, Garden Club of Amphitheater, Gate House, Montgomery Library and Museum, 11 lakes, stone terracing walls, irrigation systems, Moos Sunken Garden, and the Nell Montgomery Garden House. Later buildings included the Davis House (1953), Hawkes Laboratory (1960), Robbins Plant Science Building (1967), Rare Plant House (1968), Corbin Education Building (1972), Jean duPont Shehan Visitor Center (2002), Whitman Tropical Fruit Pavilion (2005), DiMare Science Village (2012), Burns Science Building (2012), The Clinton Family Conservatory (2012), Adam R. Rose and Peter R. McQuillan Arts Center (2014) and various additions over the years. A comprehensive master plan developed in 1994 provides a framework for continued growth and development. The Rare Plant House, now called Tropical Plant Conservatory and Rare Plant House, was totally renovated in 1995 and again 2012, as was the Gate House, a locally designated historic landmark.

Assembling and maintaining an outstanding botanical collection has been a fundamental part of the institution’s existence since 1938. Indeed, even before the Garden was created, Robert Montgomery and David Fairchild dedicated themselves to collecting, documenting and studying tropical and subtropical plants from around the world, especially palms and cycads, which are still the most significant Fairchild collections. Other major contributors to the Fairchild collections include Elmer D. Merrill, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Harold Moore, Jr., John Dransfield, Alwyn Gentry, Richard Howard, Stanley Kiem, John Popenoe (director from 1963 to 1989), Chuck Hubbuch (former Director of Plant Collections), and the Garden’s many scientists.

In 1984, the Garden became a member of the Center for Plant Conservation, a consortium of botanic gardens involved in preservation of endangered U.S. flora. Since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Fairchild plant collecting efforts have intensified dramatically, as scientists sought not only to restore the Garden’s collections, but also to identify and save endangered plants throughout the tropics. Since that time, Fairchild’s collections now include tropical fruit, orchids, and Florida and native plants.