A Plant Geek in South Florida - Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Part II, Fruit, Flowers and Freaks

Although I was totally amazed by the trees at Fairchild, there were many other items fighting for my attention.

I am not sure which banana this was, but I loved its flower.

As you might expect there were also many bromeliads.

The plant combo above was part of a much larger landscape, looked over by tall Bismarkii nobilis.

Flame Violet (Episcia cupreata)

Japanese Lantern (Hibiscus schizopetalus)

Plumeria

Gold Finger Plant (Juanulloa aurantica)

Cannonball Tree (Couroupita guianensis)

This waterlily had good company in the form of some Chihuly sculpture.

One of my favorite parts of Fairchild was the Madagascar garden. The thorny trunks on the left belong to Pachypodium lamerei.

I am not sure what this was lying on the floor of the rainforest garden.

Wax Jambu (Syzygium samarangense)

The size of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) would make any man tree feel proud.

African rainbow lizards were all over the garden, and they are also starting to show up on Florida's ever-increasing invasive species list.

This will end our visit to Fairchild Gardens, but if you would like to see more photos click here for my complete set. 

Up next from Florida, I enter a world far more foreign and exotic to me than any tropical garden - I go to a shopping mall.