Montgomery Botanical Center — Attraction in Coral Gables

An excellent collection of cycads, palm trees, and conifer specimens from around the world. Unlike many other botanical gardens, Montgomery's goal is to maintain and conserve the genetic diversity found within each species. Therefore, they have several plants of the same type. While this may appear unnecessary to someone who wants to see varieties of plants, this actually ensures the preservation of the entire population of plants. The samples of plants they have more accurately represents the samples found in nature, making this an excellent conservatory. This is primarily an academic site which requires a simple email request to visit. When I visited there was no admission fee or donation request, and I clearly stated the date and time I wished to visit. My email was answered promptly and I didn't need proof of a reservation. We pulled up to the gate and stated that we made a reservation via email, and were allowed through the gates. We were met by a researcher, a graduate from Yale, who invited us into the main house of the estate. From there we rode with her by golf cart through acres of landscaping. She answered every question we gave, from the most basic biology questions to the financial up-keep of the property. As a recent college graduate with no penny to my name, I visited simply out of interest in botanical gardens. There was no pressure for donations, and our guide expressed that they enjoyed providing free tours to anyone with interest in the field of plants or environmental science. I expect that the Montgomery Botanical Center will always function this way and highly...

A REAL HIDDEN GEM! We were visiting from SC and did not know what to expect. Gate was closed and had press keypad that read dial some #. Someone picked up the call & ask if we had appointment. We said no and were just visiting. They were kind enough to let us in. Then came another surprise. Our TOUR GUIDE VICENTE approached with a golf cart and gave us a tour of entire Botanical garden explaining how the plant species were brought and grown there. He stopped by at interesting spots to take photos of PEACOCKS ROAMING AROUND, Beautiful ORANGE WHITE CONES and CYCADS AND PALM TREE VARIETIES! VICENTE showed dedication towards his work as he has worked on Cycad tree species, he is jolly, continuously describing plants, humorous and was playing music while giving us the tour to give us serene experience! SIMPLY AWESOME! We THOROUGHLY ENJOYED BEING WITH HIM AND ENTIRE BOTANICAL GARDEN. House of Montgomerry is very spacious and beautiful! This tour was for free and I really feel they should charge for almost an hour tour they gave us. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this gem! Oh and Vicente was nice to recommend local Mediterranean food Daily Bread. We did dine there and food was delicious! Thanks Vicente for making our day...

Amazing place !!! I learned so much about their Palms, they conserve the worlds half of them. They have private tours now because of covid and they can be booked any time, any day you choose. We toured the private house of Montgomery and his wife which was so beautiful. We did a tour on the gulf cart because the place was so large to walk around. If you want to try their free tour contact Tracy, she is their outreach manager. You will truly enjoy the...