Fairchild Gardens, Miami, Florida

After the CBC on Saturday I was escorted to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. This is a lovely tropical plant garden found near downtown Miami. I love the way that they fuse artwork with the plants and wildlife. Currently they have the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit. Lichtenstein is best known as a painter of pop art. His signature work can still be found in the sculptures - Benday dots, lettering and speech balloons.

This piece above is called House II. When you look at House II, it appears that the corner of the house projects forward, toward you. When you move back and forth by the house it appears to move with you. I was fascinated by the house and thought it was charming set in this little bed of green grass and palms.

The other major work on exhibit is A Garden of Glass by Dale Chihuly. His glasswork was my favorite. I loved the Niijima Floats inspired by the Japanese globes you find on the west coast of the US. I have one of these floats from Mexico that my uncle gave me as a child. I would look into it like a crystal ball and dream of Japan. Chihuly has beautiful glass flowers on display that are found right beside the real tropical varieties. If you are a fan or art or just of nature then a trip to Fairchild is in order. I even saw a few birds while I was there. The Butterfly Garden is spectacular and full of life. I hear that Audubon has an Everglades/Keys habitat in the back part of the park.

The trees of Fairchild came in all types of shapes and sizes. I was rather fond of the Ficus trees. Above and below are pictures of the Cluster Fig, Ficus racemoja, which is found in Tropical Asia and Australia. I rarely enjoy seeing exotic plants and animals in Florida but when they are in the right setting I find it acceptable. I spent a nice afternoon sitting amongst these fig trees.

Before leaving the area I walked over to Matheson Hammock. Matheson is adjacent to Fairchild and share some parking areas. This Live Oak hammock is splendid for an afternoon stroll. I enjoyed seeing the families picnicking and the birthday parties reveling. The best part was a small waterfront area with Mangrove trees. I sat and watched the birds fly by until dusk.