History

• The owners, Floyd and Jane Wray, planted an orange grove in 1926. The first garden began in 1928 as an experiment to grow exotic plants and flowers. By 1968, Flamingo Gardens had grown to include the sanctuary, arboretum, botanical gardens and a nature center.
  
  

Botanical Garden

• The tropical plant house has orchids, calatheas, bromeliads, staghorns and air plants and many other types of plants. Other gardens include xeriscape, a hibiscus, the heliconia, and the amaryllis garden, with a butterfly and hummingbird garden nearby.
  
  

Arboretum

• The royal poinciana trees, African sausage trees, once used as a medicine, and different species of palm trees flourish in the arboretum. Two hundred year old champion trees, century old oak trees and juniper trees grow there, too.
  
  

Animals

• The sanctuary shelters wildlife animals that are injured and unable to live in the wild. Florida panthers, bobcats and river otters live in their own habitats while a separate lagoon houses the alligators, snakes, iguanas and turtles.
  
  

Birds

• The 25,000 square foot aviary has various species that fly free, including pelicans, storks, great blue herons, snowy egrets and flamingos. The area offers different environments including a coastal prairie, tropical swamp, forest, rainforest and a saw grass prairie. The separate birds of prey center houses bald eagles, hawks, falcons and owls.
  
  

Wray Home

• The original 1933 house is a museum and registered with the Broward County Historical Commission and the State of Florida as an historic site. The house rests on the highest elevation in the gardens, the Pine Island Hammock, and lush trees and plants surround it.