Naples Botanical Garden Is a Treasure Trove of Tropical Plants

On the morning that my wife, Abby, and I visited Naples Botanical Garden (the Garden), our tour guide, Juniper, wore gloves and a hat that wouldn’t have been out of place in Boston! 

The winter of 2026 was certainly one for the books in most of the Eastern United States, with heavy snow and near- or sub-zero (F) temperatures recorded from Maine to Florida, beginning the last week of January and extending well into February. The Sunshine State did offer abundant bright sunshine but, unusually, that did little to warm up the areas favored by snowbirds. Inland Florida’s nighttime temperatures fell to the 30s and below, with snow flurries reported here and there. Even Naples experienced some 40-degree nighttime temperatures.

The Garden showcases 23,000 subtropical and tropical plants, which grow between the latitudes of 26 degrees north and south, in its 11 themed areas. As we proceeded on a short trek with Juniper through the Brazilian, Water and Caribbean gardens, it surely did not feel like the 26th parallel!

Related: How to Use Tropical Plants in Temperate Gardens

We first encountered a beautiful ceiba tree (Ceiba pentandra). Such specimens always cause people to stop and stare because the trunk is festooned with large, intimidating thorns. This is not a tree you want to climb, and even agile monkeys avoid ceiba in its native range of Central America and northern South America. Other names for the rapid-growing ceiba are the kapok tree and the silk floss tree.

In the wild, these trees can grow to a height of about 200 feet. The silk (kapok) from the seedpods (which somewhat resemble hanging mangoes) was once used for stuffing mattresses, pillows and even teddy bears. Now largely replaced by synthetic materials, it was also used in life preservers because it is buoyant and very water resistant. Native peoples once hollowed out single, large but low-density ceiba trunks to construct canoes that were reputedly capable of carrying a hundred men. 

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Moving to the Water Garden, we found a fine collection of water lilies that were quite different from those with which I am familiar. I was most impressed by the Victoria ‘Longwood Hybrid’, a cross between V. cruziana and V. amazonica. It was bred in 1960 at Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, Pa.), and like many crosses, it exhibits hybrid vigor, meaning that it possesses some traits better than those of either parent. In this case, the hybrid is much more tolerant of cool temperatures than its parents.

The pads, which may reach eight feet in diameter, have a lip to keep out water, and they are capable of supporting a 100-pound frog (if such exists). The spiny underside of the leaf thwarts hungry fish or even manatees. The flower has a strong pineapple scent that attracts the scarab beetle, its main nighttime pollinator. On the first night it opens, the blossom is white; on the second night it is pink, which indicates the flower has transitioned from the female to the male phase. The ‘Longwood Hybrid’ flower also exhibits thermogenesis, allowing it to increase its internal temperature to enhance diffusion of the flower’s alluring scent.

Related: Water Lilies for Cool Summer Beauty | From the Archive

The Kapnick Caribbean Garden is entered by walking through a pergola supported by beautiful limestone pillars and covered with entwined blue-sky vine (Thunbergia grandiflora) and queen’s wreath (Petrea volubilis), hailing from India and the American tropics, respectively. These two selections give a bright purple and blue greeting to those entering the garden. The coral pillars, white sand and shell pathways evoke Caribbean island scenery.

Part of the Caribbean Garden presents a characteristically scrubby, arid section supporting the growth of succulents and cacti, including the endangered Florida semaphore cactus (Consolea corallicola), found only in the Florida Keys and distinguished by its intimidating long pink spines.

Another area hosts the Ware Palm Collection of some 223 species, including the critically endangered Haitian oil palm (Attalea crassispatha), with its oil-rich fruits resembling coconuts; and the also endangered tahina palm (Tahina spectabilis) from Madagascar, discovered in 2007. The latter may live for decades, flower only once and then die—hence it is sometimes called the suicide palm. Interspersed throughout the section are tropical crops, such as sugar cane, coconut, pineapple, banana and papaya, which represent individual Caribbean island identities.   

As our stroll concluded, Juniper introduced Eric Foht, the Garden’s Director of Natural Resources. The Garden was founded in 1993 by local visionaries. In 2000, one Harvey Kapnick Jr., seeing the value of the dream, donated $5 million to purchase 170 acres of land not far from downtown Naples. Of that parcel, Eric oversees the 90-acre Preserve, which is dedicated to protecting its 400 species of native Florida flora and assorted fauna, such as wood storks, gopher tortoises, white-tailed deer and the like, which may be conveniently viewed from a boardwalk.

Eric touted the diversity of the Preserve, whose habitats include marshland, sandy coastal scrub, pine forests and elevated drier patches known as hammocks, with their ecology differing from wetter areas only feet away. In the Preserve you can find pond apples (Annona glabra), also called alligator apples because those reptiles favor them when not enjoying snakes, turtles and the usual unobservant mammal. The pond apples reputedly smell like the green apples that they resemble. If you’re lucky, you may even see native epiphytic ghost orchids (Dendrophylax lindenii) out in the Preserve, with their fragile-looking, pure white, scented flowers.

“I think it’s neat that in a small space, we have a pretty varied, diverse landscape,” noted Eric. “There are places where you could buy this much land, and it would all be pine flatwoods.” Many botanical gardens feature only cultivated spaces, but having a range of natural ecosystems on a single property is a positive.

Maintaining the Preserve is a challenge, said Eric, recounting his battle with the invasive Melaleuca quinquenervia, or paperbark tree, which once dominated the property. One tree may produce 20 million seeds! This plant disrupts local hydrology and can turn shallow rivers into swamps. Dense stands dry out and become extremely flammable. In the Everglades, some consider this tree to be a threat on the level of the Burmese python. At the Garden, control mostly relies on intensive and repeated hand labor.

(I had never heard of melaleuca before, but a few days after visiting the Garden, I saw melaleuca honey at a flea market. Later investigation revealed that it is a tasty, potent product with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, making it useful for treating stomach ulcers, wounds and even sore throats. I suppose this shows that some good can come from something bad, though, in this case, I am sure that most Floridians would gladly use over-the-counter remedies for those afflictions and be rid of the scourge to their native ecology.)

Several man-made lakes at the Garden, including Lake Tupke and Deep Lake, were created to filter pollutants, manage stormwater, control flooding and provide an aesthetically pleasing background. The dredged material, some 250,000 cubic yards of it, was repurposed on-site to create elevated areas as habitats and focal points. The lakes also serve to recharge the local aquifer, which has proved more important than once thought, since all of Florida is in a serious drought phase at this time.

I next met with Brian Galligan, the Vice President of Horticulture who has been at the Garden since 2007. Brian oversees design and maintenance efforts and helped direct the Garden’s restoration after the destructive hurricanes of 2017 and 2022. As we chatted under a tropical canopy, he filled me in on a staff-developed exhibit titled “ChromaFlora,” which educated visitors about the nature of color. It explained such things as light absorption and reflection while also showing how colorful plant selections with different textures, structures, heights and fragrances could be used to set the mood in home or public gardens. 

For example, the orange color of calamondins (Citrus × microcarpa) and marigolds (Tagetes) that brightens yards or patios is caused by betalain and carotenoid compounds. The chemical basis for many red-colored plants may be the presence of anthocyanins. Red shouts “Hey, look at me,” making it useful to plants in messaging, whether they’re saying “Come eat my fruit and help spread my seeds” or “Eat my leaves at your peril.” Plant colors can be affected by the presence or absence of companion chemical compounds or even soil pH. These are the types of lessons that the Garden communicates to visitors through its special exhibitions—while celebrating the beauty of South Florida plants.

It dawned on me while speaking with Brian that for a botanical garden laid out in 2006—by what the Miami Herald dubbed a “dream team” of landscape architects and designers—it appears much, much older because of the maturity of the specimens. Brian explained how near-tropical growth rates contributed to this, as did the planned use of fully grown trees from the outset.  

When Brian stepped away, Assistant Director of Horticulture Andrea Grace came to fill me in on various behind-the-scenes aspects of the garden. Most impressive was the world-class Evenstad Horticulture Campus, a 60,000-square-foot state-of-the-art operation, dedicated in 2024, that contains labs, greenhouses and specialized nurseries, such as those for plants that need high humidity, like orchids. 

As we drove in a golf cart to the 16-million-dollar facility, my first impression was that it looked like what might be constructed on Mars one day to support a human colony. In addition to nursing along threatened species, the Horticulture Campus supplies the plants needed throughout the Garden to keep the grounds looking at peak for every visitor. Andrea explained, “We grow 10 plants to have the best 2.” They use whichever propagation techniques are most effective for the species, including seed germination, rooting and tissue culture.

The Horticulture Campus also contains a conservation seed bank with 990,000 seeds from nearly 150 species, 84 native to Florida and many of them at risk. Not only are the seeds collected here, but the best ways to store and then germinate them are studied. Seeds may be exchanged with other botanical gardens, and Garden staff are growing thousands of plants for use in dune restoration.

At the Garden, the interpretive signage is trilingual. Spanish and English were no surprise, but the third language is Haitian Creole, a nod to a growing local population and also an acknowledgment of a partnership with Haitian botanists participating in the Flora of Haiti project. 

Helpful to the serious visiting researchers are the tags found at the base of so many specimens in the Garden’s collection, which detail family, genus, species, year collected, the number of plants collected that year and the country of origin. I liked that there is plenty of simple explanatory signage supplemented by QR-code links to more in-depth information for those who want it.

The Garden takes its educational mission seriously. Aided by the Buehler Family Foundation, the Enabling Garden is designed to be more accessible to those with physical limitations and challenges—for example, using raised beds to show plants that pleasure different senses with their color, feel or scent. Visitors might be encouraged to duplicate what they see here in a home setting, growing their self-confidence along with their vegetables and flowers—a benefit of therapeutic horticulture.

The Garden has a longstanding partnership with Florida Gulf Coast University, which owns the on-site Kapnick Education and Research Center, a shared-use facility. For students enrolled in the university’s Water School, which teaches ecological engineering and environmental science, the location could not be more perfect.

Not only can they use the resources of the Garden, but they also have easy access to Big Cypress Swamp, the Everglades, Naples Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, facilitating all sorts of aquatic fieldwork. University students actively participate in research projects that help advance the Garden’s restoration work and inform land-management decisions, such as the use of prescribed fire.

Related: A Horticulture Student’s Journey from Cincinnati to Chanticleer

Whether you’re a serious horticulturist or someone who just feels very comfortable in a setting with beautiful plants, this destination garden is a special place to return to again and again. Aside from the incredible diversity of the plants and the beauty of the displays, there is on-site programming made continuously available on topics such as garden photography, floral corsage-making, painting and soil-to-spoon gardening. 

At Naples Botanical Garden, you will not lack for things to see and do while you relax in a re-created Garden of Eden so thoughtfully curated.  

Photos courtesy of Naples Botanical Garden unless otherwise noted.

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