From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Best Public Garden

October 18 2006

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, 305/667-1651, www.ftg.org

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has one of the most important collections of rare and endangered tropical plants in the world, and it's a pleasure to walk among them. The gardens are home to a rain forest area and extensive numbers of palms and cycads, water plants, flowering trees, vines and fruit trees. It hosts the annual International Mango Festival, the Bromeliad Show and Sale and other events focused on particular classifications of plants. Tram tours are offered all year; walking tours are provided seasonally. An outdoor café surrounds a sapodilla tree, and the bookstore, which has more horticultural and botanical books than anywhere else in the region, is a worthy destination in itself. The gardens are open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Dec. 25. Admission is $20, but the first Wednesday of each month is Contribution Day, when visitors set their own admission fee.