The variety of cultivated gardens and natural biological communities located within Mead Botanical Garden provide a showcase for a myriad of beautiful and interesting plants from around the world, as well as an abundance of Florida native wetland and upland species. From the spectacularly showy night blooming cactus (that blooms just once a year), to the magnificent cypress trees that line the creek, from our amazing display of orchids, caladiums and begonias, to the mature longleaf pines that punctuate the uplands, Mead Garden’s flora is in a class of its own.
Volunteers are in the process of compiling a comprehensive species list for Mead Botanical Garden. If you would like to help assemble this list, please contact us.
Tree Inventory
In preparation for the eco-restoration of Mead Garden, the restoration team needed to know the condition of the tree canopy.
After the devastation of the 2004 hurricanes and the removal of the invasive vines and before assessing what needed to be planted, we needed a tree inventory. Mark Ausley, Senior Scientist and Certified Wildlife Biologist at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., generously and enthusiastically took to the woods and wetlands with his GPS to locate and identify each tree listed as invasive or obnoxious exotic.
You see him pictured here with Winter Park Arborist, Lee Mackin. We don’t have a picture of him slogging through the swamp or being chased by hornets. We do, however have the map they are looking at in the picture which identifies the undesirable trees in Mead Garden.
With this information in hand, the restoration team is working closely with the city to replant thousands of trees. Decisions on removal of the unwanted species are made on an individual basis to minimize any disruption to wildlife.
Thank you Beverly Lassiter for leading this committee of dedicated experts. And, thank you also to Nancy Prine, Landscape Architect and founding member of Friends of Mead Garden, who has generously worked since the beginning… bringing her talent, and knowledge of native plants to the work.
