JUNGLE GARDEN

A lush tour of a famed and historic tropical plant sanctuary.

In the heart of Florida, McKee Botanical Garden stands as a lush, living testament to tropical preservation. Established by intrepid plant explorers in the 1920s, McKee quickly became renowned for its vast subtropical and tropical collections—it’s home to over 10,000 species, including rare orchids from the Andes, waterlilies from the Amazon, and exotic palms from every corner of the tropics.

A tour through all five senses as much as a tour de force of botany, these pages offer a succession of unforgettable “rooms” and experiences. The reader will be able to wander through glades of fragrant ylang ylang and past bottle-shaped gourds of calabash; be enveloped by masses of pink, lavender, and magenta Indian azaleas; marvel at the towering palms that shape the dramatic “Garden of the Gods;” or discover a watery oasis teeming with over 100 varieties of waterlilies (including lineage from David Fairchild’s expeditions) and 900 spectacular orchids.

This is a volume for everyone interested in tropical gardens, for armchair enthusiasts and collectors of tropical and subtropical plants, and for anyone who appreciates the passion of plant hunters and gardeners working in the name of conservation.

Producing a commemorative volume honoring a vision first realized more than a century ago is no small undertaking. At its heart is the celebrated photographer, Ngoc Minh Ngo, whose evocative images capture the enduring beauty of the historic jungle garden today. Guiding the narrative are members of the Garden’s board of directors: Elizabeth Moulton, founder and publisher of Vero Beach Magazine, Susan Smith, who led the Garden’s rescue, and Marion de Vogel, great-granddaughter of Arthur G. McKee. These contributors collaborated with the writer, Heather O'Shea, who brings to life the story of a singular garden: imagined in the early twentieth century and ultimately saved by a determined community. The project is led by Executive Director, Rochelle Wolberg, whose visionary leadership continues to shape the Garden’s future and its standing among the nation’s most distinguished landscapes.