Flamingo Gardens

Heritage Landmark

The Flamingo Gardens were originally established
in 1927 by pioneer Floyd Wray as Flamingo Groves. He planted over 200 acres of citrus. The home was originally built in 1933 as a weekend country home for Floyd and Jane Wray. It has been restored and gives you a glimpse of life in the 1930s.

It was one of the first of its kind in the country giving residence to permanently injured or non-releasable Florida native wildlife with the goal of returning offspring to the wild.
It has been preserved as a 60-acre botanical garden, museum and wildlife sanctuary exhibiting the five natural habitats indigenous to this area; coastal prairie, mangroveswamp, cypress forest, subtropical hardwood hammock and sawgrass prairie.

The Everglades wildlife sanctuary is home to the largest collection of Florida Native wildlife in the state.  It contains over 3,000 tropical and sub-tropical species of plants and trees. It opened in 1990.

Historical Wray Home Museum

After taking a narrated tram tour of the back 50 acres, we visited the residence of Lloyd and Jane Wray. A walking tour featured an Everglades free flight aviary, a bird of prey center, panther and bobcat habitats, a flamingo pond, a parrot aviary, an otter habitat, an alligator lagoon, and a rookery and turtle walk.

Egret

Florida Panther

A Panther with Sunglasses!!!

Priscilla & Elvis III

While peacocks and iguanas roam free,  our real Wildlife Encounter was with Bob who told us about oppossums, bard owls and Florida King Snakes.

OZ the Opossum

WHISPER the Bard Owl

VENZA the Florida King Snake

Decorated for Christmas

Gumbo limbo tree (note red color)