By Zain Deane

I’m not much of a botanist. My thumb isn’t even remotely green, and plants tend to wilt when I walk in a room. So botanical gardens aren’t really my thing. Then I saw a poster at the airport for an exhibit by renowned sculptor Dale Chihuly, the Willy Wonka of glass, at the Fairchild Tropical Gardens. His work, more than the garden’s delights, lured me in, but I walked away with an awed appreciation for both.

The Fairchild is a mix of many things. On the surface, it’s a veritable Garden of Eden, lush and vibrant and serene. A stroll through the gardens is a chance to admire nature, breathe in a cleaner air, and relax in a peaceful place as far away from the daily grind as you want it to be. Even the most urbanized city-dweller can appreciate the incredible diversity of the garden’s flora.

Layout and landscaping are among the secrets to the Fairchild’s magnificence. Lakes, pools, deserts and rainforests are only a couple of the environments that invite you in to appreciate nature’s architectural genius. Winding paths lead you through the Fairchild rainforest and its brilliant explosion of water, flowers, and plant life. And don’t miss the very cool spiny forest of Madagascar, a stretch of cacti and wild-looking vegetation that is completely incongruous with anything you’ll find in Florida.

The mix of dense foliage and large, open spaces offer the illusion of traveling to different worlds in the space of a few minutes’ walk. Miniature pineapples, a rainbow eucalyptus tree that looks like it was attacked by a kindergarten classroom, the aptly named trumpet creeper … at each stop, there are new wonders. Along with perfectly manicured lawns and enclaves, there are inner sanctums like the “Windows to the Tropics”, a conservatory with almost 2,000 species of tropical plants spread across two indoor gardens. Another gem is the tropical fruit pavilion, which houses some fruits that you can only find in one or two places on Earth.

The Fairchild is also both a school and a retirement home of sorts for the world’s tropical plants, including some very rare flowers and trees. The Montgomery Palmetum is considered the premier collection of palms in the world. Their collection of cycads, a threatened species, is astounding. The garden does double duty, as both an attraction for visitors and a center of research and education.

But the best time to visit the Fairchild is when they host an exhibit. The Chihuly display which ended in June was a breathtaking mix of art and nature. His glass sculptures floated in pools, hung from trees, and dominated open fields. Together, Chihuly and Fairchild presented alien landscapes and often such a seamless blend of artifice and nature that you had to look twice to separate grass from greenery. The exhibit was one of the most impressive outdoor displays I’ve ever seen, and I can only hope that Chihuly comes back for another go-round.

Chihuly is not the only artist to exhibit at the Fairchild. Throughout the year, the garden hosts events and artists. On July 14-15, they host the international mango festival, which allows visitors to sample a variety of this fruit (this year, they’re jumping on the Pirates of the Caribbean bandwagon and featuring mangoes from the Caribbean) and even take home a mango tree. The garden gets dressed up for Halloween with a daytime event for kids and an adults-only bash. Their comprehensive website (www.fairchildgarden.org ) is a good resource for events and general information about the garden.

I’ve been to a few botanical gardens; even some of the more celebrated ones grew dull after a while. But, thanks both to Chihuly and the Fairchild’s natural artistry, I was reluctant to leave at the end of the day. And if an old cement-jungle-dweller like me can enjoy it, I bet you will too.