FEATURE | e d i t i o n
Family Trees
Father’s Kanapaha Botanical Gardens Dream Blossoms Under Daughter’s Direction by TIM CRAIG
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IN A WAY, Alexis Caffrey was raised into her role.
Caffrey, in her 11th year as director of Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville, has had a front-row seat to the creation, development, and growth of the location into one of the premier show gardens in the Southeast. Her journey started in 1977 when her father, the naturalist Donald Goodman — along with members of the North Florida Botanical Society — founded the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens with the idea of starting a botanical garden in Gainesville like Sarasota’s Marie Selby Gardens or Miami’s Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens. In 1978, the group obtained a lease from Alachua County for 33 acres to begin development. Four years later, the group leased an additional
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29 acres from the county to round out the gardens’ 62 acres.
plants,” says Caffrey. “So we try to keep the plants together, organized down to the family level.”
As the daughter of Goodman, Caffrey grew up watching her father develop the gardens and eventually worked with him.
Caffrey says they try to highlight the interactions plants have with their biotic and abiotic surroundings. “In our hummingbird garden, for instance, we grow a lot of red, pink, and orange colors that attract the hummingbirds,” she says. “On our butterfly hill, we have a lot of colors that attract as well.”
“My parents would pick me up from school and they’d drop me at the gardens,” she says. “I’ve always been involved, and this place is like a second home to me.” When the gardens opened to the public in 1986, visitors walked a mile-long loop on the eastern portion of the gardens, while in the western part, there was a half-mile loop highlighted by a manmade water feature. Today, the gardens have 24 major collections, all arranged taxonomically. “A botanical garden is kind of like a zoo for
Kanapaha Gardens has the state’s largest public display of bamboos — including its signature premier stand of Chinese Royal bamboo — as well as the largest herb garden in the Southeast. But throughout the lush 62 acres, there are unexpected sights and sounds. “I think a lot of people find the gardens more expansive than they thought it would be,” says FloridaAgNews.com
