McKee Botanical Garden
Indian River County
Connie Cotherman, Marketing & Events Manager
The McKee Botanical Garden, located on an 18-acre tropical hammock in Vero Beach, Florida, is where native plants and exotic botanicals combine with old Florida charm. The garden features 10,000 native and tropical plants, in addition to one of the largest waterlily collections in Florida. Thousands of visitors come to McKee each year to learn about our rich history and enjoy the natural landscape of majestic palms, exotic plants, trees, waterfalls, tranquil streams and historic structures. McKee’s role in horticultural stewardship, now and historically, is to ensure that the Garden’s collections support plant biodiversity.
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The McKee Botanical Garden is a valued resource for cultural enrichment, hosting a variety of programs each season including world-class art exhibits, special events and educational courses for adults and children. Our mission is to nurture and enhance a historic garden in a unique tropical setting for the education, enjoyment and enrichment of all.
This past autumn marks the opening of the Children’s Garden at McKee. As a natural complement to the existing offerings, the Children’s Garden offers expanded educational opportunities and programs for our young visitors and provides an engaging place for families. We hope to encourage our young visitors to engage with nature as future stewards. The mission of the Children’s Garden is to create a fun and whimsical outdoor destination that inspires curiosity through interaction, education and exploration.
At McKee, we offer educational courses for adults and children including, cooking demonstrations, jewelry demonstrations, photography classes and much more. In addition, McKee offers the Garden Discovery Backpack program for children ages 3-12 where children can choose from five themes: McKee Garden Explorer, Things with Wings, It’s a Bug’s World, Plantastic and Survival: Lost in the Jungle. Each backpack contains an educational guide and a variety of tools for exploration.
