McKee Botanical Garden, Vero Beach
NOTE: There is a dinosaur exhibit until May 1,2022! Dinosaurs around the world, with giant dinosaurs!
McKee Botanical Garden is a surprisingly gorgeous garden in the middle of a very plain area of Vero Beach. Planted in the midst of a natural coastal hammock/jungle, it is a fairly large garden that follows a shallow, still, perfectly clear waterway full of beautiful water lilies of all different colors. There are tall palms everywhere, abundant flowers on tropical plants, and bamboo stalks that rustle in the breeze. A stone bridge leads over the largest pond. An incredibly tall strangler fig (a type of banyan) leads into an entertaining area with Spanish-tiled stoves and a house, the Hall of Giants, where there is the largest mahogany table in the world. The royal palm grove is a regal and gorgeous area with a winding path through stately palms. Our whole family sparked up with delight as we walked around this paradise, as did other families we saw along the way. One little girl was sure that she was a fairy, hiding under every giant leaf. The Whisper Bench, where you can whisper to another person via sculpted flowers on each end of the bench provided even more inspiration for this little fairy.
The children's garden is a pure delight! Here there are blue fairy mushrooms to hop from, huge blue stepping stones carved with a fairy poem, and blue crabs to climb! There are tortoise sculptures, and a splash pad! A gigantic tree and pirate ship lead to endless climbing and fun. On the pirate ship is a captain's wheel and telescope. A rope bridge provides a fun place to do a wobbly walk over an alligator sculpture! There are monkey and gorilla sculptures too, plus music chimes to play.
Each winter, the work of a different sculptor is showcased in the lovely natural setting of the gardens. In winter 2013, glass sculptures by Hans Godo Frabel were dotted about the park. It was wonderful! Little longfellows (skinny men made of glass) were walking joyfully along tree branches, or dancing in the water. There were giant glass cubes in the pond, and glass flowers and butterflies in the streams. A giant blue calla flower caught the light from the sky. How perfect to see glass art in a garden, all lit up and catching the light.
In winter 2014, life-size painted bronze sculptures (castings) by Seward Johnson are displayed, looking like real people lazing in the garden. The best feature of these sculptures is that the sweaters and jeans sculpted in bronze look like real fabric, as does the tablecloth in the Eye of the Beholder statue. Some of the sculptures are based on famous paintings by impressionist painters such as Renoir.
In winter 2021, lego sculptures made with thousands of bricks each filled the gardens!
There is a cafe with good prices and outdoor seating (admission is not charged if you only want to go to the cafe), which opens at 11:30 Tues-Sat and noon on Sunday. It is closed after May 13 for the summer. Bring mosquito repellent in the summer.
Vero Beach Museum of Art is only an eleven minute drive northeast, over on the island, and is a nice place to walk around in the AC checking out the recent exhibits. It is in a modern, attractive space. Four minutes from there, a fantastic place to stroll around and eat a meal is the Humiston Beach area with a beach, amazing playground, and cafes galore, many on the water. While on gorgeous Orchid Island, with its rows and rows of pink hibiscus bushes, drive north for twenty minutes and stop to enjoy the observation deck over the beach at McLarty Treasure Museum, which unfortunately is dusty and moldy inside. Two miles north of McLarty Treasure Museum, kids LOVE the rock pools at Sebastian Inlet.
The funny, delightful longfellows by Frabel catching the morning light over a lily pond.
Cypress stump, which was said to be 2000 years old when it was cut.
Glass spheres created by Frabel, suspended from the ceiling of the McKee pergola.
Three massive cube sculptures created by Frabel in the large pond.
Charming stone bridge.
Lily pads with pale pink flowers.
Cube by Frabel reflects on the surface of the lily pond.
Purple flower in lily pond.
Cubes and palms.
Frabel's "longfellows" in the trees. I love these guys!
Longfellows dancing along a branch amidst a tropical wonderland.
Spanish moss.
Longfellows by Frabel and Spanish moss- two of the most delightful things in the world!
Pale purple lily.
Pathway through paradise.
Giant leopard plant.
A large version of Frabel's "Tower of Babel," positioned beautifully in a lily pond.
"Clowning Around"- Frabel tells us to enjoy life as if it is one big carnival.
Butterfly in the garden.
Tropical flowers.
Bamboo.
Path through royal palm grove.
Looking up at the huge royal palms.
Blue Calla Flare, by Frabel.
Sunlit sky and Blue Calla Flare by Frabel.
Small rose window in the Hall of Giants.
The Hall of Giants and largest table made of one piece of mahogany.
What a lush, tropical paradise!
White Fig tree near the Hall of Giants. Amazing!
The twisty branches of the White Fig tree!
Flower in bark, catching the light.
Lovely leaves!
Whisper Bench.
Seward Johnson's "A Turn of the Century," inspired by Renoit's "Dance at Bougival."
Bells on the side of the log-built Hall of Giants.
Lego sculptures special exhibit: polar bear mama with babies!
Red feather palm. What a perfect leaf!
Waterfall.
Red palm frond.
Chinese fan palms.
A toddler plays in the splash pad in the children's garden.
Tortoise sculptures in the children's garden.
Blue crab sculptures in the children's garden! I love these!
There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day.
Boy climbs on the blue fairy mushrooms.
Fairy poem on blue stepping stones.
Fairy mushrooms area.
Thatched hut at the giant pirate ship.
Captain's wheel.
Telescope at the top of the ship in the children's garden.
Stained glass on the ship in the children's garden.
Looking down from the huge pirate ship in the children's garden.
Chime bells to ring in the children's garden.
Girls play by a tree you can climb through in the children's garden.
You can climb under a huge tree!
The tree and pirate ship are huge!
Tortoise sculpture in the splash pad area.
Flower sculpture in the children's garden.
The flower sculpture adds color to the children's garden.
Alligator sculpture under rope bridge in the children's garden.
Gorilla sculpture in the children's garden.
Wooden steps up to the rope bridge in the children's garden.
Monkeys on branches sculpture in the children's garden.
Sunlit path through the gardens.
Snow leopard sculpture in the Lego special exhibit. Made from 63,000 bricks.
Thatched hut in the garden.
Snow leopard lego sculpture in the jungle.
Wildebeest lego sculpture. It took 500 hours to build.
Panama rose flowers.
Zebra lego sculpture, among bamboo.
Fern.
Beautiful leaves.
Whooping crane lego sculpture by the lily pond.
Tropical flowers!
Pink flowers.
Hut.
Butterfly lego with pretty background.
Thatched tower and bamboo.
Mushroom sculpture you can walk under.
Stick sculptures by Patrick Doughtery.
Stick sculptures to walk through.
Stick sculpture exhibit.
Bridge to the stick sculptures.
Tropical leaves arch over you as you walk the gardens.
Hummingbird feeding from a trumpet flower, a lego sculpture, during a temporary exhibit.
Entrance to the Christmas exhibit 2021.
Lights on a bare tree.
Dinosaur and giant lit-up flowers.
Christmas panda.
Christmas panda with carol singing book.
Christmas panda in the garden.
Dinosaur special exhibit Dec 2021!
Christmas panda climbing a tree.
Pandas in the trees!
Light-up panda in the gardens at Christmastime.
Christmas decorations.
Dinosaur in the gardens during a special exhibit.
Giant tyrannosaurus rex!
Interesting red tropical flower.
Shady path through a palm grove.
Fan palm grove.
Lilies in a waterway.
Inside the log cabin at Christmastime. Lollies hanging from the ceiling!
Gingerbread friend and giant cupcakes, inside the log cabin at Christmastime.
Gingerbread chef and giant lollipops.
The log cabin decorated at Christmastime.
Orange flowers that light up.
Giant pink flowers that light up at night in the lily pond.
Frame for family photos in a palm grove.
Santa inflatable in the gardens.
Christmas decorations in the bamboo hut.
Blue lights in a thatch palm by the frog and mushroom sculpture.
Lion sculpture at Christmastime.
Dinosaur with turquoise frill.
Natural Christmas tree.
The dinosaur is big!
Stripey dino.
Bamboo catching the light.
McKee Botanical Garden is located at 350 US Highway 1, Vero Beach FL 32962, call (772) 794-0601.
From the Florida Turnpike northbound, take exit 152. Follow Highway 713 for ten miles, then turn left on US Highway 1. After 4 miles, turn right on Vista Gardens Trail. From Highway 95 southbound, take exit 147. Turn left on Hwy 60 and follow it for eight miles. Turn right on US Hwy 1 and follow it for two miles. Turn left on Indian River Blvd, right on 4th Ct, and right on Vista Gardens Trail.
Open Tues-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5. Closed Jan 1, July 4, Labor Day (1st Monday in Sept), Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in Nov), and Dec 25.
Admission Nov-Apr is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $5 for children aged 3-12.
Admission May-Oct is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4 for children aged 3-12. The gardens are wheelchair accessible.
Last Updated: Fri, 10 Dec 2021 21:14:47 GMT
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