Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Stephen Bittel is a longtime advocate and board member of the 83-acre botanic garden with extensive collections of rare tropical plants.  His work includes spearheading and funding the planting of 1,000 orchids within the trees along Miami Beach’s iconic Lincoln Road, which has served to beautify the area and engage the community in celebration of a key asset: native Florida plants. The orchids, which more than a century ago blanketed oak and mahogany trees throughout South Florida, were attached to existing trees along Lincoln Road as part of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s “The Million Orchid Project.”