Conserving Natives! The Restoration of an Orchid Learning Center

The Garden Club of Palm Beach in Zone VIII will use the funds to build a much needed orchid learning center / slat house to nurture orchids while serving as an outdoor classroom for thousands of students and community who visit annually.   

Established in 1960 by Mrs. Elizabeth Kay, who was also a founding member of The Garden Club of Palm Beach, the FAU Pine Jog Environmental Education Center (Pine Jog) is among the oldest nature centers in the nation. Providing cutting-edge environmental education, Pine Jog’s programs serve thousands of students, teachers and the local community, both onsite at the 132 acre preserve and Gold LEED campus, and in the community and local schools. One program, the Native Orchid Propagation Program, continues to expand and engage participants of all ages. More than a century ago, millions of orchids were ripped from south Florida trees and packed into railroad cars destined to be sold as disposable potted plants in northern states. Orchid populations dwindled to catastrophically low levels. Urban development further decimated remaining native orchid populations which are now too low to recover on their own.

In 2015, Pine Jog established a Micropropagation Laboratory to grow endangered orchids in order to achieve two goals: to restore the orchids to their native habitat and to teach about the importance of conservation and environmental responsibility. 

Through various partnerships, Pine Jog’s onsite orchid lab has raised and planted 40,000 endangered orchids throughout Palm Beach County. Between 2015-2023 the project has also educated more than 4,000 students through the associated OrKIDS Program, many from underrepresented communities.

The objective of the project is to create the Pine Jog Orchid Learning Center, the hub of which will be a re-creation of Mrs. Kay’s original slat house that once stood on the property and housed hundreds of native orchids and plants. 

This structure is the “missing link” to provide much needed space to nurture tender young orchids after deflasking them from the lab and before Pine Jog disburses them to school and community sites. The center will also create a special place where children and families can learn about the history of Florida and the importance of protecting our natural areas.