What to do in the dog days of summer?
After the beach and pool, why not explore nature at Mounts Botanical Garden, Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest botanical garden? Or better yet, bring your pooch on July 11 as the garden hosts its monthly Dogs’ Day in the Garden, a dog- and family-friendly event.
“Dogs’ Day in the Garden offers dog owners a chance to step away from their routine outdoor walks and enjoy a different, relaxing environment with their fur babies,” says Melissa Carter, a spokesperson for Mounts.
“The dogs love being in our garden with so many new ‘sniffs’ and the chance to see other dogs and people,” she says. “The Mounts Botanical Garden also offers a great backdrop for family photo ops.”
The Garden takes its name from Marvin Umphrey “Red” Mounts, the county’s first assistant agricultural extension agent, who established and cared for the Garden’s collection of fruit trees to help produce new food resources.
A quiet, tropical oasis located behind the Palm Beach International Airport, the Garden spans 4 acres and boasts a collection of 25 display gardens containing more than 5,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants, including Florida native plants, exotic and tropical fruit trees, ornamentals, herbs, palms, roses, cacti, succulents, and bromeliads.
The various gardens include the Rose and Fragrance Garden, Garden of Tranquility, Herb Garden of Well-Being, Florida Natives Garden, and Children’s Maze Garden, among others.
For kids, the Children’s Maze Garden offers opportunities to learn and explore. Hedge mazes evolved from the knot gardens of Renaissance Europe. They are known for their mystical and magical quality. This maze was created in the 1980s from a sweet fragrant shrub whose white flowers bloom twice a year.
At the center of the maze stands the Bo Tree, said to be the species of tree that Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher known as the Buddha, sat under when he attained enlightenment.
Each garden is created as a living exhibit, with plants chosen specifically to tell a story about choices that visitors can make within our subtropical climate. The gardens illustrate what area residents can emulate in their own spaces, large or small.
The Herb Garden of Well-Being showcases herbs and how they affect our lives and sense of well-being through culinary, medicinal, ceremonial, and aromatherapy applications.
Natural elements of stone, wood, and living plant materials are combined in the Garden of Tranquility, as well as an Indonesian, hand-carved wall juxtaposed with elements from other Asian influences. The objective is to inspire peace and tranquility — a spiritual place for the mind and soul.
In addition to roses, the Rose and Fragrance Garden boasts the fragrant flowers of the Ylang-Ylang Perfume Tree, Angel’s Trumpet, and the Longan Tree, one of the oldest trees in the Garden.
The Florida Natives Garden uses native plants to help preserve the state’s natural resources. Increasingly, our native birds, butterflies, and wildlife rely on gardeners to replace natural habitats lost to development. Those native plants include the Wild Coffee native shrub and the Firebush, which attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.
In bloom in July are the Rainbow Shower Cassia (Cassia x nealiae), the Verawood (Bulnesia arborea), and the Trai Tich Lan Perfume Tree (Fagraea ceilanica), with its large, creamy, trumpet-shaped flowers.
August awaits the blooms of the Summer Poinsettia (Mussaenda philippica), the White Crepe Ginger (Costus speciosus), and the fragrance that became famous as Chanel No. 5 Eau de Parfum — the Ylang-Ylang Perfume Flower (Canaga odorata).
In June 2017, the Garden created the Windows on the Floating World: Blume Tropical Wetland Garden as a way of conserving and protecting freshwater. The wetland garden was designed to highlight the wetland ecology and to protect Florida’s fragile wetland system.
Designed by artists in collaboration with Palm Beach County’s Art in Public Places program, the garden, a microcosm of tropical wetlands, features open-gridded, 4-foot-wide walkways on the surface of the wetlands.
Within these walks are four “windows” planted with aquatics and changed out with rotating and seasonal botanical exhibits growing from submerged containers. Four circular, etched-glass, interpretive viewers are strategically located throughout the garden to educate and engage visitors on key components of a wetland.
Bromeliads grow wild and cover the natural stone walls; aquatic life and wading birds are abundant; and wildlife can be seen foraging for fish, clams, and snails in the muck and shallow pools.
So, while you may not find silver bells or cockle shells, you will find a respite from the outside world, a chance to unwind with or without your pet, and appreciate nature in all its glory.
Mounts Botanical Garden is located at 531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach. Sunday, July 11, is Dogs’ Day in the Garden, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Last entry at 2 p.m.) Cost: Free for members; $10 for nonmembers; $5 for children 5-12. For more information, visit mounts.org.