St Kitts / Special Interests / Flowers & Gardens

St Kitts boasts an astounding variety of flora and fauna despite its small size. From lush rainforests to exotic gardens, the island bursts with colour all year round with varieties of beautiful flowers in all colours and varieties. The national flower of St Kitts is the deep red poinciana, named after Frenchman Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy, which explodes into colour between May and August and can be seen everywhere on the island.

St. Kitts rainforest offers plants and wildlife from around the world, including varieties of palm and many plants used in traditional medicine, originally from Australia, Madagascar and the Pacific. Visitors will be able to find out about all of them on guided rainforest hikes and tours with tour companies such as Greg Safaris.

Many of the island’s plantation inns from heritage sites such as Clay Villa to Romney Manor or Fairview House, also feature beautiful botanical gardens as do plantation inn hotels such as Ottley’s Plantation Inn and Rawlins Plantation.

At Clay Villa Plantation House and Gardens, also described as 'St. Kitts Best Kept Secret' the gardens are ablaze with a profusion of flora, fauna, luscious fragrant fruits and lush mature tropical plants and trees where an interesting array of wildlife can also be seen such as green vervet monkeys, fresh water turtles, red-footed tortoises, beautiful colourful birds, playful sharks and tropical fish. To visitors, the gardens offer an eco-friendly hideaway, a sanctuary for exquisite plants and a variety of animals.

In the 10 acres of beautiful gardens of historic Romney Manor, also home to Caribelle Batik, a key feature of the gardens is the great saman tree, 350 years old, 24 ft in diameter and covering ½ an acre. The tree quietly presides over the activity of the present day Romney Manor and is a huge attraction for visitors who return time and time again.

At Fairview Great House at the foot of Artist’s Level Hill, which has recently been restored to its 18^th century glory, there are two-and-a-half acres of lawns, flowering shrubs and trees. Visitors can stimulate their senses as they stroll leisurely through the meticulously landscaped gardens featuring useful signposts which provide interesting information about the plants in this tropical oasis. The gardens also provide much of the produce for the adjacent Nirvana Restaurant under the guidance of Chef, Greg Austin.

Like most plantation inns whose antique elegance lies in their leisurely gardens and spectacular views, the exclusive Ottley’s Plantation Inn offers a magnificent setting above the Atlantic Ocean and is home to its own rainforest, a huge amount of fauna and flora and a variety of royal palms.  The owners take a delight in walking visitors around the gardens and pointing out different species to be found.