Let’s check in with the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden

Misha McRae, executive director of the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the garden.

The garden has been in Key West since 1936.

McRae said, “Which makes it 89 years old this year and thank you to the voters of Key West, we’re going to be here for another 97.”

The second annual Rum Infused Scavenger Hunt will be on February 15 at the garden.

McRae said, “It’s an adult theme scavenger hunt. You know, all the kids get to have the fun with the scavenger hunt. So last year, we created the adult themed, rum infused. We have local vendors donating the rum signature drink. We’re going to have cocktails and dinner and music, as well as a scavenger hunt through the garden to win prizes. It is was so popular last year that we had pre registration for our event on February the 15th, starting last month. So please go online. We have all the information. It’s $100 per person, but it includes cocktail, dinner, the scavenger hunt. We’re doing a contest. We’re doing the whole show. Everyone has a wonderful time, a wonderful evening, and a wonderful way to support the botanical garden. This fundraiser goes 100% towards the capital campaign to help us build our new education center.”

Sponsorships are also being sought for Garden Fest 2025 on Saturday March 8.

McRae said, “This is one of the garden signature annual events where we have our big native plant sale. We bring vendors from the mainland down. We work with local artists for artesian market. We have live music. We have a beer garden. We have a lot of fun at the Botanical Garden. This is a one way that we can promote the community. We can promote our local businesses and vendors, and we can provide the community an opportunity to one to visit the garden in a different venue, but also to purchase their native plants they need for their yards. It has been going on for 23 years. Highly, highly participated, and definitely one of the ways our community can support the garden, because one, we need sponsors. Sponsorship letters went out last month and then again last week. Please check your email as well as your spam, in case it went the wrong direction, and support the garden becoming a sponsor, and if you want to be participating in it as a business, the vendors costs $100 for a vendor booth, and gives you a opportunity to come to the garden and show your wares and show off your business at the garden.”

The capital campaign for the educational center at the garden is also ongoing.

McRae said, “The garden’s Living Lab education program has extended itself all the way up to Marathon now. So we have well over 3,500 students coming to the garden. If it’s bad weather, we have to shut it down. We don’t want to do that. The new state of the art education center is going to have indoor classroom. It’s going to have everything the education department needs to facilitate the academic careers for pre K all the way up to college. That’s the grades that we cover now within our program. We need your help in a capital campaign to put them into a new office. They’ve been sitting in an old construction trailer since 2004. It’s outlived itself. We need to look into the future, because the garden is going to be around for a while, and we want to reach more kids. We want to have the opportunity to teach them the Florida based standard, as well as your STEAM curriculum. And we work with all the teachers in the community to give them what they need for their classrooms. Show us your support. Become a contributor and donate to the capital campaign.”

Another way to help is to become a member.

McRae said, “In real life, everything is that you get the most out of it when you participate. We ask for your participation. You know, I’ve been striving for decades to make this garden a community center. Membership is the key way show your support, sign on the dotted line and contribute to the membership program. But then you can do donations. You can restrict it to the education program, and then, of course, within the donors, the grants and the funds, we’re going to be able to raise the money we need to build this new building.”

Volunteers are always needed.

McRae said, “We need weed warriors, because, of course, with all the rain, the plants love it, but so do the weeds. So our garden volunteers are called the Garden Guardians. They help us keep the weeds at bay. They help us with the trimming and the landscape. They learn about the plants in the nursery and help us build the nursery up so that we can sell the plants to the community. It’s just a good way to get your hands in the dirt, feel good about what you’re doing and support the Botanical Garden.”

For more information, click here:  https://www.keywest.garden/