Gardens Blog
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Aechmea bracteata (Bromeliaceae) Origin: Mexico south to Colombia & Venezuela Selby Gardens’ Botany Department just returned from a three-week expedition to Belize, with the purpose of observing and recording epiphyte diversity around the country, covering a...
Dendrobium nobilis (Orchidaceae) Origin: Southeastern subtropical Asia The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens has a long association with the Orchidaceae. We are home to the Orchid Research Center, and have discovered or described hundreds and hundreds of new species to...
Strongylodon macrobotrys (Fabaceae) Origin: Philippines The geographical tropics, found in between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, is home to the most incredible array of animals, plants, and fungi found on the planet. The further you travel toward a pole from...
Brunfelsia densifolia (Solanaceae) Origin: Endemic to Puerto Rico We have featured the “Yesterday-today-tomorrow” Brunfelsias before, and mentioned there are two main groups of the genus. The yesterday-today-tomorrows have a pansy-like flower with a very short...
Eriobotrya japonica (Rosaceae) Origin: China Loquats are highly ornamental fruit trees with a strange habit of flowering in the winter. Most fruit trees in the Rosaceae (think peaches, plums, etc.) are from colder climates, and go completely dormant in the winter...
Hamelia patens (Rubiaceae) Origin: Tropical and subtropical Americas Butterfly gardens are getting more and more popular these days; there is something very special about watching colorful insects flutter around the garden. One of the best plant choices to attract...
The Boracayán Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica was the location of Selby Gardens’ latest tropical expedition, in mid-December, 2012. Three Selby Gardens staff members - Bruce Holst, Laurie Birch, and Angel Lara - joined photographer Daniel Perales and world-reknowned...
I arrived in Costa Rica on July 19, excited to meet the 20 students that had been selected from 10 countries to participate in the biannual graduate-level Spanish-speaking course on tropical botany and plant systematics (the study of plant relationships). The course...
Wild banyantree; short-leaved fig (fig family) Origin: Florida, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America south to Paraguay One of the most tropical sights that Florida has to offer is that of a banyan, the common name for Ficus trees which produce aerial roots. Hawaii and...
A popular Florida landscape tree due to its cold-hardy nature, Peltophorum dubium, also known as yellow Poinciana or yellow jacaranda, is a tropical tree in the bean family from South America and the West Indies. Find Selby’s Peltophorum in full, majestic bloom just...