By Diane Feen
If you haven’t been to Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach then you’re in for a treat. Not only are there 14 lush acres of Mother Nature’s finest greenery, but a Tropical Fruit Festival is coming up Saturday June 25th.
This one-day extravaganza is a chance to learn about the benefits and excitement of growing your own tropical fruit. Bring your family and friends to “Come Taste the Tropics” right in your own backyard. 
The day’s festivities begin at 10 a.m. and will include: Free Tropical Fruit samples (for the first 500 guests) and cooking demonstrations by acclaimed Chef Allen Susser. Stop by Gene Joyner’s tropical fruit display and learn how to grow your own fruit. Listen to a lecture on “fruitscaping” by Dr. Jonathon Crane and learn how to landscape with fruit trees.
There will be tropical fruit and fruit trees for sale as well as guided tours of the Garden at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (space provided). Live steel drum music will be provided by Calypso King.
“Come to Mounts Botanical Garden and taste the Tropics,” said Garden Director Allen Sistrunk. “This is the time of year when most local tropical fruit is the ripest, so it’s the perfect opportunity for people to see and taste some delicious varieties.”
And you won’t have to wonder what they taste like because there will be free samples of freshly grown mango, lychees, jackfruit and other locally grown fruit (for the first 500 guests). The Palm Beach County Extension Master Gardner Booth will be set up to provide additional information along with a Family and Consumer Sciences Canning Display.
Visit Mounts Botanical Garden on any given day and you will find an herb garden, a vegetable garden, rose garden, butterfly garden, tropical rain forest and a native plant garden. Mounts also offers a variety of horticultural classes, garden-related events and workshops.
With gentrification stripping us of our native landscape, this indigenous jewel is all the more precious to South Floridians and out-of-towners. So bring your friends, family and children to experience what Florida is all about, in a fruitful way.
Mounts Botanical Garden’s Tropical Fruit Festival “Come Taste the Tropics” is co-sponsored by the Palm Beach Chapter of the Rare Fruit Council International and is made possible by the support of the Marge & Fritz Bell Tropical Fruit Project.
The Tropical Fruit Festival – on Saturday June 25th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – has a $5 entrance fee (which helps support the garden). If you are a Mounts or R. F. C. Member, there is no charge.
Mounts Botanical Garden is located at 531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach. For more information, call 561.233.1757 or visit www.mounts.org.