​KEY WEST, Florida Keys – The 15-acre Key West Tropical Forest is seeking volunteers who want to learn about our native plants by helping preserve this rare ecosystem; the only "frost-free" botanical garden in the continental United States.   Enjoy sharing time with fellow gardeners, trimming, weeding, installing new plants, and performing general maintenance in the Garden or in the Native Plant Nursery where propagation and maintenance of over 1,500 plants takes place.  All tools and gloves are supplied.  
 
Volunteers meet in the nursery on Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 9 to noon.  For more information, please call 305-296-1504 or visit the website at www.keywest.garden.   The Garden is located at 5210 College Road on Stock Island. 

​KEY WEST, Florida Keys — The Keys community & visitors can enjoy an exhibition and sale of rare plants, explore the unique 15-acre Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden and discover fine arts and crafts during the 20th Annual  “GardenFest Key West: The Green Market Place 2023”, set for Saturday, March 4th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The Garden is located at 5210 College Road on Stock Island.  Admission is free. 
 
Visitors can view and purchase tropical and native plants from plant vendors and the Garden's own Native Plant Nursery. Activities include: Two Docent guided tours at 11am & 2pm, a Children’s science corner, all-day Music, adult beverages, food vendors, local arts & craft vendors with nature themes or composed of natural materials, a silent auction and 50/50 raffle, eco-friendly products and services and exhibits by conservation-oriented non-profit organizations.
 
For more information please contact the Garden at www.keywest.garden or call 305-296-1504. 

​Call for artists amateurs, students, businesses, and professionals to create for the “2022 Scarecrows in the Forest Art Exhibit and Contest” September 15—November 30, 2022. Registration required through September 10, 2022, with installations by appointment through September 15, 2022. Using natural, recycled, and repurposed materials, each entry eligible for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Best in show prizes for entries with CASH Prizes. 3 Categories to register:

1. Not-for-Profit
2. School age
3. Business and Professional

​For more information, full details and application contact Misha at Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden 5210 College Road Key West FL 33040 www.keywest.garden / (305) 296-1504

The Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden is a 2022 Blue Star Museum!  It will join museums nationwide in the Blue Star Museums initiative, a program that provides free admission to currently-serving U.S. military personnel and their families this summer. The 2022 program will begin on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 21, 2022, and end on Labor Day, Monday, September 5, 2022.

Blue Star Museums is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of Defense and museums across America.  Blue Star Families is the nation’s largest grass-roots military family support organization, with a mission to support military families to improve military readiness.

“Museums educate and inspire, cause us to wonder and imagine, dream and remember,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.  Blue Star Museums include children’s museums, art, science, and history museums, zoos, gardens, lighthouses.
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The free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States Military—Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force, members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps, and up to five family members. Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), DD Form 1173-1 ID card or the Next Generation Uniformed Services (Real) ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.