Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach is
Actually Closed But Virtually Active
Palm Beach County’s Oldest & Largest Public Garden Offers Fun & Educational Online Activities for Children and Adults
(West Palm Beach, FL – April 2, 2020)Friends of the Mounts Botanical Gardentoday announced that although the Garden has been temporarily closed during the current COVID-19 pandemic out of an abundance of caution and for the well-being of visitors, volunteers, members and staff, Mounts Botanical Garden is now virtually active with a variety of fun and educational online activities for children and adults.
To make this easily accessible to homebound people of all ages, the Garden recently launched three new portal pages on its official website, mounts.org.
Visit Virtually:
https://www.mounts.org/visit-virtually/
While the front gate may be closed, this page allows visitors to take a virtual tour of Mounts Botanical Garden. This is the perfect online opportunity to explore the beauty of the Garden, learn more about the fascinating plants and display gardens, find family activities that can be enjoyed from home, enjoy breathtaking photos contributed by staff and guests, and even go on an art-meets-science excursion.
For Children:
https://www.mounts.org/virtual-youth-programs/
On this page, Mounts Botanical Garden offers unique programs for children and families, as well as educational experiences for students in grades K-12. Online activities include:
+ Nature Quest
Like all botanical gardens, Mounts is home to thousands of plants from all over the world. This page offers 20 fascinating factoids and questions of a horticultural nature.
+ Virtual Learning is Fun!
Mounts has partnered with Scientist in Every Florida School to bring interdisciplinary content that connects art and science, including livestream events—the first of which will be on April 21 at 10 am, when Dr. David Blackburn, associate curator of herpetology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, will conduct a virtual tour of Mounts to see Ribbit the Exhibit and learn many curious characteristics of frogs.
+ Make Your Own Frog Bog:
Frogs play an important part in the environment as both predators and prey, and as incredible indicators of the health of the ecosystem in which they live. This page offers tips about how to build and stock a healthy frog pond.
For Mounts Members:
https://www.mounts.org/mbg-members/
“During this unprecedented time of uncertainty while the Garden is closed, we wanted to create a special place for our members and friends,” says Rochelle Wolberg, Mounts Curator-Director. Online activities include:
+ Frog Blog
An insider’s look at the art and horticulture of Ribbit the Exhibit, including stories featuring the 23 whimsical, larger-than-life frog characters created by J.A. Cobb.
+ Virtually Yours
Filled with beautiful places to go, gardening tips from a Mounts horticulturist, and other helpful content, this page includes virtual tours of some of the world’s most amazing gardens.
+ Leaflet
The spring 2020 issue of Mounts’ popular glossy magazine will be published online mid-April.
“We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Mounts Botanical Garden as soon as it is safe to reopen,” adds Wolberg. “Until then, we hope garden lovers everywhere will enjoy the fun and informative content on mounts.org.”
About Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County:
With a mission to inspire and educate through nature, Mounts Botanical Garden is Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest botanical garden, offering gorgeous displays of tropical and sub-tropical plants, plus informative classes, workshops, and other fun-filled events. The Garden contains more than 2,000 species of plants, including Florida native plants, exotic and tropical fruit trees, herbs, palms, bromeliads and more. Two recent additions to Mounts include Windows on the Floating World: Blume Tropical Wetland Garden and the Zen-like Garden of Tranquility. Mounts Botanical Garden is a facility of the Palm Beach County Extension Service, which is in partnership with the University of Florida and Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden. Mounts is located at 531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach. For more information, please visit mounts.org.