American Orchid Society Visitors Center and Botanical Garden, Botanical garden in Delray Beach, Florida.
The American Orchid Society Visitors Center and Botanical Garden occupied 3.5 acres in Morikami Park at 16700 AOS Lane, Delray Beach. Its 20,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style visitor center was designed by Song Associates of West Palm Beach, and the gardens were laid out by Connie Roy-Fisher Landscape Architects of Jupiter from a design adapted from University of Florida landscape architecture students' work. Two 370-square-metre greenhouses stood on the site, one open to the public with a 4-metre waterfall inside, the other reserved for the society's orchid cultivation.
The American Orchid Society established this facility in 2001 as its headquarters, with gardens designed by University of Florida landscape architecture students. The orchid collection moved to another location in 2011, ending its role as a primary display space.
The site was the American Orchid Society's third home, after Harvard University's Peabody Botanical Museum (1921–1981) and Lewis Vaughn's West Palm Beach residence (1981–2001). Beside hundreds of orchids, the gardens held Amorphophallus, balsa, bamboo, baobab, bromeliads, cycads, Dillenia indica, Everglades palms, Heliconia, Guaiacum officinale, Platycerium, Ficus triangularis and water lilies. The society sold the centre in 2011 and moved the collection to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in 2012.
Visitors should allow time to explore the greenhouse facilities and outdoor areas while learning about orchid care. The flat terrain is easy to walk through and offers good conditions for unhurried visits on most days.
The garden's layout was adapted from designs by students in the University of Florida's Department of Landscape Architecture, realised by Connie Roy-Fisher Landscape Architects of Jupiter. The site was the society's third home, after Harvard's Peabody Botanical Museum (1921-1981) and Lewis Vaughn's West Palm Beach residence (1981-2001).
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