R F Orchids in Homestead is a must for orchid lovers (2024)

Most folks who love the subtropical foliage of Florida soon learn to love orchids – the native ones but also the splendiferous variety from around the globe that thrive in our climate.

If you have fallen for orchids, you owe it yourself to visit the Redland, the surprising rural enclave south of Miami where several orchid growers are located.

While there are other growers, for pure beauty and interesting history, orchid lovers should head to R F Orchids for one of the best free tours I’ve ever taken.

The whole area makes a great daytrip that is also full of food (celebratedcinnamon buns at Knaus Berry farms) and fruit (famous Key Lime Milkshakes at Robert is Here) and locally made wines and beer (Schnebly’s Redland Winery.)

R F Orchids has a fascinating back story

Note: As of summer 2023, tours of RF Orchids have been suspended except for scheduled private group tours for which there is a fee of $100 for 10 people. The following story is based on public tours, which were formerly offered on weekends for free to the public.

R F Orchids has captivating gardens and award-winning blooms. (It has won more than 1,000 American Orchid Society awards in 30 years.) Here, there are orchids wherever you look: In the ground, around fountains and peeking out of every crevice.

The best part: Robert Fuchs. Unless he’s judging an orchid show or leading a South American orchid tour, the president of R F Orchids, leads tours through the private gardens around his adjoining residence on some weekends.

“I try to give the tour myself,” Fuchs said, “because I know the history.”

And there is a lot of history.

His great-grandfather was a Redland pioneer, who homesteaded on the property in 1921. His grandfather operated a nursery there until his death in 1969, and in 1970, Fuchs, a new college grad, took over the business and began raising orchids.

During those early years, Fuchs was a middle-school art teacher who grew orchids on the side and opened his greenhouse to orchid loverson weekends and late afternoons.

His big break came in 1984, when orchid growers from around the world came to Miami for the 11th World Orchid Conference. Fuchs’ orchid, named Vanda Deva Robert, won the top honor, Grand Champion of the World. With the international recognition, he was able to quit teaching and devote himself to orchids the following year.

R F Orchids survived Hurricane Andrew

His tours benefit from a sense of humor that must have served him well as a teacher. Fuchs tells anecdotes of Redland history, including the fascinating story about his own experiences during Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which devastated his property.

Today, R F Orchids is the oldest South Florida orchid firm and he has decorated his gardens with such items as antique Burmese temple gongs and 200-year-old Buddha statues from Thailand.

His garden tour engages all the senses: Screams of colorful parrots in cages, the fragrance of rare varieties of blooming orchids, the taste of edible orchids or a sweet wine made from lemongrass and a scorpion that Fuchs invited us to try.

Every object in R F Orchids garden has a story

The beauty of the gardens is enhanced with cages of colorful macaws. “They’re all rescue birds,” Fuchs said. “One flew in after Hurricane Wilma.”

On the tour, Fuchs has a story about seemingly every tree and object.

He points out trees covered from the ground to 20 feet up with a huge vining orchid plant – that’s a vanilla orchid, he explains, and then describes how the fruit of this orchid, which looks like a big green bean, has to stay on the vine for nine months to develop its distinctive flavor and aroma and then be cured and dried.

In his backyard there is a fern-rimmed pond with an alligator named Wally, South American pacu fish and exotic catfish. It’s such a vision of a tropical paradise, you expect Tarzan to come swinging through the trees.

While the tours are limited now, the R F Orchids showroom is open Tuesday to Sunday. You won’t see the pond, alligator and exotic landscaping located on the private grounds, but the showroom is bursting with dazzling orchid specimens.

In addition, surrounding the greenhouse are shaded public gardens full of orchids and other tropical flowers where you are welcome to visit – and even picnic – whenever R F Orchids is open.

R F Orchids
28100 SW 182nd Ave., Miami.
305-245-4570

Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free tours are offered at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, weather permitting.

While in Redland, you may also want to visit:

• The Redland rural area near the Everglades is full of interesting places to visit and tasty experiences, including Schnebly Redland’s Winery plus strawberry farms and a historic railroad village. This is a guide to visiting the Redland region.
• One place to see the wonderful range of exotic fruits that grow here is to visit Fruit and Spice Park. Here’s a Florida Rambler story on 10 wonders of this unique garden.
• Robert is Here, famous for its fresh-fruit milk shakes, exotic fruits and vegetables, its petting zoo and general fun atmosphere, visit funkyRobert Is Here on your way to nearby Everglades National Park.
• Of course, you’re moments from the Homestead entrance to Everglades National Park. Here’sFlorida Rambler guide to visiting the Everglades National park.
• Knaus Berry Farm.The Knaus family has operated a farm and bakery in the Redland for 50 years. When the storefront farm stand opens for the season in late October, folks start lining up. The cinnamon rolls are dense, rich and gooey and people go to extraordinary lengths to buy them. Read more about visiting Knaus Berry Farm.
• Visit Everglades National Park. Here’s our visitor guide.
• Nearby is a historic roadside attraction in Homestead. Coral Castle: 15 things to amaze you at mysterious ‘work of art’ Homestead

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