The Wray Home Museum and Gardens
The Wray Home Museum provides a glimpse into life in the early 1930s. Some of the original furnishings are on view in the home, as well as items connected with the Wrays and Flamingo Groves, including family portraits, thank you letters from President and Mrs. Eisenhower for delivery of fruit to Key West and the White House in 1956, plus other notable items of interest.Volunteer guides give tours from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily.
Sixty-acres are set aside adjacent to the Wray Home as a botanical paradise. It is there that rare, exotic and native plants provide a sensory delight. Flamingo Gardens has the largest collection of Champion Trees in the State of Florida. The towering giants include 19 of the largest trees of their species. Most are tropical and would not survive outside southern Florida, many of these are the largest specimens you will see without leaving the continental United States. It is possible to see over 60 commercial and ornamental types of citrus including oranges, limes and grapefruits.
Visitors can experience special flora collections including the newest Croton Garden, Xeriscape Gardens, a Tropical Plant House, Flowering Tree Walk and a Reflection Garden. Other unusual favorites include the sausage trees, the dynamite tree with pods that explode and send seeds showering down, and the double coconut from the Seychelles Islands.
Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary
Flamingo Gardens provides a permanent refuge for injured, threatened, and endangered native wildlife. Native wildlife include alligators, flamingos, river otters, bobcats, turtles, and over 70 species of native birds. Free-roaming peacocks strut on the lawns in front of the historic Wray Home.The free-flight aviary includes a walk-through screened enclosure. Within the aviary's five ecosystems – coastal prairie, mangrove swamp, cypress forest, sub-tropical hardwood hammock and everglades sawgrass prairie – resides one of the largest captive collections of native wading birds. This is "bird watching made easy!" Some of Florida's most majestic birds – Bald and Golden Eagles, Osprey, Falcons, Hawks, Owls, and more inhabit the bird of prey center.
Wildlife encounter shows are offered daily, weather permitting, at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. They include up-close live introductions to Florida's native wildlife including birds of prey and reptiles.
Information
Flamingo Gardens is open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and Mondays from June 1 through September 30 (with the exception of Labor Day).Admission is $17.00 for adults, $8.50 for children ages 4-11, and FREE admission is offered to children age three and under. A 20% discount is available with proper ID to seniors (age 65 and up), AAA members, and armed services personnel. Students receive a 30% discount. There is an additional charge for Tour by Tram of $4.00 for adults and $3.00 for children ages 4-11. Children ages three and under ride free. Walking Tours of the botanical gardens and wildlife areas are given by volunteer Garden Guides at 10:45 a.m. most mornings.
Group Tours of 15 or more are $12.50 for adults and $8.00 for children and includes the Tour by Tram. Reservations are required. Children's Birthday Parties are available with a 10-child minimum. Birthday party prices are $15.50 for children and $6.50 for adults. This includes admission, reserved seating by the children's playground, Wildlife Encounter show and photo of the birthday child with a bird or animal, guided tour of the gardens, Tour by Tram, and free plant for each child. Reservations and a deposit are required.
Directions
Flamingo Gardens is located just west of Fort Lauderdale at 3750 S. Flamingo Road, Davie, Florida.From I-95: Take the Flamingo Road exit and travel south about three miles.
From Florida Turnpike: Take I-595 West. Exit at Flamingo Road and travel south about three miles.
