Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

I love flowers and gardening. I volunteered for 5 years at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Fairchild is one of the most beautiful places on earth. In my opinion, it should be listed as another one of the wonders of the world. I am very thankful for all the knowledge I gained from volunteering there. The volunteer department does so many wonderful things! During my time at Fairchild, I was able to do so many exciting jobs. One of my jobs at Fairchild was to scan and upload plant specimens onto their database. It was an exciting job because I learned about new and fascinating plants. My favorite group of plants to scan was the Pteridophyta group, which includes ferns. Ferns are just as mysterious as they are romantic. People are named after them, so they must be great, right? During the spring, when the lighting bugs fly through them, I always remember when I was a child and I would imagine the bugs were really pastel-colored fairies. The light glittering in the ferns fascinated me. Now, when I go on walks and find ferns hiding under soaring trees, it intrigues me. There long stalks and leaves are lovely and dainty, in contrast to the huge, cement-like trees. Walking through an emerald abyss of ferns makes me happy and relaxed. Ferns can be used in so many different ways, people even eat some types of ferns. They look modern and gorgeous in vases, especially in vintage white porcelain vases. The gorgeous green color stands out against the elegant white porcelain. White and green really look great together!

    A vase in my shop.

    This photo of a white picket fence with ferns growing below was taken on one of my trips to Micanopy, FL.

  This last picture is of an Australian fern hovering over plants in my garden.