Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden - The Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden- it's a gem in the rough, a work in progress. The land was originally donated by the Sample family in the 1930s. The Federal EMbergency Relief Act put people to work after the Depression and this was one of the projects. it started out big, at 55 acres but has now dwindled to seven acres. They used to have an ampitheater and greenhouses, plus an aviary and rock perimeter walls and limestone paths. It was hugely popular until World War II. At the advent of the war, land was taken from the gardens to create an emergency hospital. The area was neglected until the late 1960s and early 1970s when groups of locals pitched together and cleaned up the area. The Key West Botanical Garden Society was then founded in 1988 by Betty Desbians. 1991 was when the Society gained management control of the Gardens, given to them by the city of Key West. Many grants were then acquired to build a visitors center, a pavilion, butterfly habitat and boarwalk. In 2003 public officials awarded a grant to acquire more land to expand the gardens and forest.
This is the only frost-free tropical moist garden in the United States. Tropical moist forests hold at least half of all the biodiversity on earth by the way. You can see flora that's native to Cuban, South Florida and the Caribbean. You can see butterflies, baby iguana, Gumbo Limbo trees, wild and chickens and roosters. Parts of the garden and forest are off limits until they can recover from Hurricane Wilma, who swept through in 2005 and killed lots of vegetation. The pond seems to need some work too. They are always looking for volunteers and donations are always welcome.
