McKee Botanical Garden

Opened in 1932 as McKee Jungle Gardens by Cleveland industrialist Arthur G. McKee and Vero pioneer Waldo Sexton, with the basic streams-ponds-trails infrastructure laid out by Olmsted-trained landscape architect William Lyman Phillips — the same designer behind Fairchild and Bok Tower. In its 1940s heyday it drew 100,000 visitors a year on the strength of one of the country's finest waterlily and orchid collections. Attendance collapsed by the 1970s and 62 acres were sold to developers in 1976; a community fundraising drive rescued the remaining 18 acres in 1995, and the restored garden reopened in 2001 with the original 1932 Hall of Giants and Spanish Kitchen intact.

What to order

Go early on a Tue–Sat morning — it's more jungle than manicured garden and the light is best under canopy; adults $15, seniors and teens $13. Allow 90 minutes and check the seasonal exhibit calendar (bamboo sculpture and orchid shows rotate).

Hours

Tue–Sat 10a–5p · Sun 12p–5p · closed Mon