Page 72 - August Life In Naples Magazine

T he story of Naples Zoo at Caribbean

Gardens begins with botanist Dr. Henry
Nehrling. An early conservationist,
Nehrling wrote in 1904, "It is high time
to protect and preserve what is still
left." He first acquired the Naples site in 1919 to
avoid a repetition of the disastrous freeze to his
plant collection in central Florida in 1917. At
that time, this portion of Naples was being sold
in farm plots for agriculture. In regard to his new
work, he stated, "In my 66th year, I again became
a pioneer of the wilderness." His newfound
devotion allowed him to say in 1925, "My garden,
containing about 3,000 species of tropical plants,
is a constant source of intense pleasure and
delight." His new home, the famed "Tropical
Garden," one of the earliest plant collections in
Florida, occupied the northern acreage of the
present day Gardens. Many of his plantings, still
IN THE remaining, provided the inspiration for current
endeavors. Dr. David Fairchild, the veteran
plant explorer associated with Fairchild Tropical
BEGINNING Gardens in Coral Gables, wrote of Nehrling,

"He was always a naturalist at heart...a great
plantsman of the type so rare that one can hope
to meet only a few, even in a long life of travel."

72 Life in Naples | Aug/Sept/Oct 2018