FLAMINGO GARDENS - PRIVATE GUIDED TOUR

*Established in 1927, Flamingo Gardens is one of the oldest botanical gardens and attractions in South Florida. Originally founded by Floyd L. and Jane Wray as an orange grove, the nonprofit botanical gardens is home to 15 “Champion” trees, the largest trees of their species in Florida. Specialized botanical gardens include some of the largest collections of naturalized orchids, cycads, and heliconias & gingers in the contiguous United States and over 3,000 species of rare & exotic, tropical, subtropical, and native plants and trees. Flamingo Gardens’ Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary is a home to permanently injured or non-releasable Florida native wildlife including alligators, bobcats, eagles, otters, panthers, peacock, and of course, flamingos!* When Floyd Wray and his business partner Frank Stirling founded Flamingo Groves in 1927 it was largely a naturalized hammock surrounded by reclaimed land of the Everglades. They planted the first citrus tree on February 22 and the grove grew to 2,000 acres with over 60 varieties of citrus including a 20-acre citrus laboratory. In the 1930s, the botanical gardens received foreign plants and seeds from the federal government for test planting, and to showcase rare tropical fruit, flowering trees, and shrubs, further expanding the botanical collection. The Wrays welcomed the public to the gardens. They built a weekend home atop the Live Oak hammock in the groves where annual barbeques were held on the vast lawn. Tours of the citrus groves and botanical gardens, as well as the fruit shipping area, were given daily. It is said that there were nesting Flamingos on the property when it was bought and Mrs. Wray introduced Peacocks to the gardens in the 40s to the delight of the visitors. Of course alligators were indigenous to the area, and in the 1960s an exhibit was introduced with daily demonstrations and shows. The Floyd L. Wray Memorial Foundation was established in 1969 by Mrs. Wray, in honor of her late husband, to…