(Last Updated On: June 26, 2022)Perched above the sea on Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden gives visitors a close-up view of lush foliage and colorful flowers from the Caribbean and beyond.
I’m a little obsessed with gardens. Almost any kind will do, but tropical gardens are favorites.
Thus, I’m always a little surprised by how few tropical botanic gardens exist, how basic most are, and how little love they get from neighbors and visitors alike. I suppose a carefully managed jungle of foliage and flowers doesn’t seem so special in a place where orchids are backyard plants. However, as small fortunes are spent maintaining collections of tropical plants in conservatories around the world, it seems more people would want to see them in a setting more like their native habitat.
All this means I was both surprised and not so surprised to discover just one botanical garden was open on Saint Thomas this winter. Fortunately, Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden provided exactly the tropical immersion I craved.
In this post:
Step into the Phantasea’s garden
Beautifying a bit of Saint Thomas (garden history)
Plan your visit
Best places to stop along the way
Other gardens on Saint Thomas
Further reading
Step into Phantasea’s tropical forest garden
Even though Phantasea’s garden is relatively small in size (about 2 acres), there’s a lot to see. And a lot to like.
On arrival, a friendly woman sold us our tickets and told us a bit about the garden and its plants.
To be honest, I barely listened. (Which I regretted later.) However, at the time, I was too distracted by a birdfeeder buzzing with hummingbirds and bananaquits (the official bird of the US Virgin Islands) and a glimpse of lush terraces side-stepping down the hillside below trees draped with bromeliads and orchids.
Basically, I could see there was a tropical paradise just waiting to be explored. I could not wait to get a closer look!
A beautifully unnatural forest
Phantasea’s gardens are an orchestrated mix of tropical trees, flowers, palms, and other plants found in the damp forests of the Caribbean and beyond. At Phantasea, these plants are mostly mixed together in a jumble, as if they were growing in the wild.
Of course, there are both more types of flowering plants and more flowers here than you would generally find growing together in the wild. But that’s what’s great about gardens!
Exploring the garden
Throughout the garden, narrow paths wind below the trees. Steps cut into the hillside lead from one level to the next.
While a few arrows designate a route through the garden, we wandered at will.
It was easy to choose a path that allowed us to generally avoid the few other visitors we encountered. Likewise, it was easy to return to a particularly attractive area (orchids!) or dawdle to photograph a specific flower without making others wait for me,
Seating scattered throughout the garden also offers options to sit and relax in the garden. . . sometimes while enjoying a view of the sea.
A pleasant way to learn as you look
Phantasea gardens is intended to be educational, not just beautiful.
Some areas are planted as natural-looking gardens that feature different forms of the same family of plants, such as orchids or bromeliads, with signage about the plants.
Some individual plants also have signs, like this cool dendrobium orchid.
A tag identifies this as a New Guinea Orchidaceae Dendrobium ‘Andre Millar’ (atroviolaceum x convolutum), blooming in October-February. It also bears the mysterious number 98.195.
But most plants do not have that sort of signage.
The balance seems about right for most visitors. You can learn a few things about tropical plants without feeling as if you’ll be have to pass a quiz before leaving. Instead, you can enjoy a pleasant walk through a well-maintained tropical forest with a variety of options for learning a bit about what you see along the way.
Beautifying a bit of Saint Thomas (garden history)
Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden opened to the public in 2015. However, that opening date represents decades of work. It takes still more to maintain it. That’s especially true in a place where hurricanes strike.
A plant collection finds a home
Patsy Breunlin is the force behind Phantasea.
A native of South Florida, Breunlin moved to Saint Thomas in 1987. A building boom was underway on the island and, as an architect and general contractor, it was a good place to find work. It was also a good place to raise the bromeliads and other tropical plants she had acquired over the years. Those plants followed her to Saint Thomas in a refrigerated section of the shipping container that brought the rest of her belongings.
But it took a while for that plant collection to become a botanical garden.
The plants from Florida stayed in pots in the yard of her rented house as she settled into island life. But they were soon joined by plants purchased on the island, including orchids. Although never a big orchid fan before, once Breunlin discovered more unusual types (like the dendrobium pictured above), she began adding them to her collection. And it wasn’t long before she had lots of orchids!
It took a while to find the right home for her growing plant collection. But, in 1993, she bought property in the Northside area. A few years later, after hurricane Marilyn, she began removing vines and the other invasive plants that had taken over. While the usual practice when building on the island was to take down all the trees and strip the land bare, she left native trees and plants. And then she began adding her own plant collection to the site.
Heliconia, ginger, anthurium, dieffenbachia, and more came out of their pots and went into the ground. Orchids were tied into the trees where most tropical orchids naturally grow. And the bromeliads? With such a wide variety, some went in the ground while others joined the orchids in the trees.
Now that she had her own piece of land, Breunlin bought still more plants to create more gardens. She also built paths that looped through the gardens and cut steps into the hillside to move between levels.
Needless to say, Breunlin’s friends were impressed with her garden. They encouraged her to share it with more people. And she saw the value of sharing her collection and knowledge with others, be it Saint Thomas residents who strip the land around their homes bare or visitors looking for an alternative to the beach.
After discovering that botanical gardens were allowed in her zoning district, Breunlin got a business license and began turning her private garden into a public one. It took five more years of landscaping, buying plants, planting, and building visitor facilities before Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden opened to the public in 2015.
Of course, a garden is never complete. Breunlin is still replacing plants and adding new ones; building and rebuilding paths, steps, and other infrastructure; and creating new gardens. New plants come to the garden from across the Caribbean and tropical areas around the world. A small retail nursey sells plants to the public. When COVID restrictions aren’t in place, classes teach students of all ages about topical plants.
She also has plans to add more features to the garden, including guest cottages.
But she also has to deal with hurricanes.
Tropical plants and hurricanes
In 2017 back-to-back hurricanes hit Saint Thomas.
Irma came first. At the time, it was the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, with winds of 185 mph. On September 6th it plowed into the British Virgin Islands and continued on, traveling over Saint John and on to Saint Thomas as a Category 5 hurricane. It was the first storm of this size ever recorded in these islands. Needless to say, it brought widespread devastation.
Maria followed on September 19th as the second Category 5 hurricane to hit the region. Saint Thomas missed the worst of Maria, as it traveled south and passed over Saint Croix instead. Even so, it compounded the damage Irma had inflicted earlier.
As happened throughout the Virgin Islands, the intense winds uprooted some trees, broke large limbs off most others, and stripped everything bare. Unlike many other places, the small buildings at Phantasea were built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and did so admirably. Even so, there was a lot of clean-up to do.
Hurricanes may damage property and keep visitors away, but plants will bloom anyway. By November, even as clean-up continued, a wide variety of plants were blooming in the (now very sunny) garden.
If, like me, you didn’t see the garden before the hurricanes, you’d be hard-pressed to believe anything happened. A few paths are closed (which may or may not have anything to do with the hurricane damage) and a few area seem a bit less lush than most, but the uprooted trees and broken limbs are gone and the canopy has filled in overhead.
It all looks lush and lovely.
Plan your visit to the Phantasea garden
Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden is located on Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.
Most visitors stay for an hour or a bit less. I was there for a bit longer and would have gladly stayed longer still. (A friend was waiting to pick us up after our visit, so we kept our visit short.) I had time to walk most of the paths and take a few pictures for this story. However, with several areas to relax and enjoy the garden and views over the water AND a busy birdfeeder near the entrance, this is a good place to slow down and relax.
So, for most people, an hour is probably adequate. However, if you really like plants and/or photographing them or just want a relaxing break, give yourself a couple of hours.
Garden hours
Normally the garden is open daily from 9-4. Due to COVID-19, it’s currently only open Friday-Sunday.
Restrooms
Currently, the restrooms are closed even when the garden is open. This is a small place and they just don’t have the staff to handle the extra sanitizing required right now.
Getting to the garden
Unless you can find an island tour that includes Phantasea, you will either need to take a taxi or drive there yourself. (There are no ride-sharing services on Saint Thomas or on any of the US Virgin Islands.)
While there are often claims that Google maps doesn’t work on Saint Thomas, that may soon be a thing of the past. In January Google directed me to Phantasea perfectly, following the same route a friend familiar with the island recommended and ending right at the parking lot.
Once there, the garden is easy to spot, with a couple of large signs and a small parking area right off the road.
At the garden
The ticket office/shop are located right along the parking lot next to the garden entrance. You’ll be greeted and asked to purchase your ticket or show your pre-paid ticket.
Tickets to enter Phantasea’s gardens currently cost $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 5-12. There is a discount for USVI residents. Annual memberships and group rates are also available.
If you can find an island tour that includes the garden or a third-party ticket vendor that INCLUDES hotel pick-up and drop-off in the ticket price, it likely would be cheaper than taking a taxi.
However, basic “skip the line” tickets won’t save you money or time.
Even with an advance ticket someone needs to check you in and orient you to the garden. The “line” to enter the garden will be the same (likely short or non-existent) whether or not you have an advance ticket. Thus, unless you can find a package that includes transportation, buy your ticket at the garden. That ensures all of your fee goes to support this small business and not to some big international company.
Facilities
Along with the garden itself, visitors will find teeny tiny gift shop with books, souvenirs, and a few snacks. There is also a small outdoor display of plants that visitors can purchase.
As noted above, the restrooms are currently closed.
When’s the best time to visit Phantasea garden?
For most people, the answer is anytime.
Because of the wide variety of plants in the garden, there will always be flowers. That means there’s no bad time to visit!
Having said that, spring and early summer offer the broadest range of flowers.
And, if you are interested in seeing a particular kind of plant in bloom, some seasons yield more blooms and/or more varieties in bloom than others.
For example, orchid fans will find the widest variety of plants in bloom during spring and early summer. Winter-blooming phalaenopsis will still have flowers then, but dendrobiums, cattleyas, broughtonias, and brassias will also be in full bloom as spring brings more sunshine into the garden. And these sun-loving orchids will keep blooming well into the summer.
(Phalaenopsis has a long bloom season, beginning in winter and lasting through late summer. Even in early January, I saw a lot of them in bloom.)
Like the orchids, you’ll see the most heliconia and ginger in bloom during spring and early summer.
I saw a what seemed like a lot of bromeliads in bloom when I visited in January, but there will be even more blooming this summer.
Regular visitors to Saint Thomas should visit during different seasons to see how the garden changes. You might be surprised by the difference from one season to the next! But no matter what season you visit, you’ll find plenty to love.
Butterflies, birds, lizards,
By their very nature, tropical gardens of this type are damp. And water attracts insects. So, I was pleasantly surprised that we didn’t see any insects at all. That’s probably due to the number of birds, butterflies, lizards, and, yes, chickens (beautiful old heritage breeds of chickens are everywhere on Saint Thomas) that make their home in the garden.
Don’t worry, all of the lizards we saw were tiny and cute. And they eat insects.
Best places to stop along the way
Unless you are staying nearby, make the most of your trip to Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden by combining it with a few scenic overlooks (and maybe even a bit of shopping) on Crown Mountain.
The Charlotte Amalie Overlook
A large parking lot along Highway 40 offers expansive views to the south over Charlotte Amalie, Hassel Island, and more.
(Stop later in the day if you want better light than I had on my morning stop!)
Drake’s Seat
Slightly farther up the mountain, Drake’s Seat offers views to the north, including a particularly good view of Magen’s Bay and its popular beach.
Mountain Top
On the mountain above Phantasea, the Mountain Top emporium offers a vast array of souvenirs and tropical clothing (and tropical daiquiris) along with a spectacular view.
Other gardens on Saint Thomas
Just before the hurricanes in 2017, you could spend a full day visiting gardens located in roughly the same part of Saint Thomas.
However, between COVID-19 and remaining damage from Maria and Irma, Phantasea was the only one open in January 2021.
Plantation Crown and Hawk Botanical Garden was damaged in the 2017 hurricanes, but reopened. Now COVID-19 seems to have closed it again. The website indicates it will reopen again, but doesn’t indicate when.
I visited Saint Peter Greathouse in 2015. There was a lot of updating going on at that time in order to accommodate larger events. Still, it seemed keeping up the gardens was a challenge. And that was before Irma and Maria.
I’m guessing they were hit very, very hard by the hurricanes. While the website is still up, it seem unlikely it will reopen any time soon, if ever. That’s too bad. It was a beautiful property with amazing groves of ginger and heliconia, charming buildings, and observation platforms that provided sweeping views over the sea.
Gardens are expensive and labor intensive. It’s got to be tough to keep one going in a place where so much business is seasonal and a hurricane can cause immense damage. Keeping three gardens going on Saint Thomas seems like a challenge. However, each offered a different experience; together they would make a fabulous garden tour day-trip.
Maybe someday in the future Saint Thomas can became a tropical garden destination, with a variety of gardens, managed natural areas, educational programs, plant-related events, and tropical plant nurseries where American visitors could pick up a couple favorites to grow at home.
Until then, make Phantasea a regular stop on Saint Thomas. You’ll discover a garden that is lovely, but slightly different, every time you visit.
Further reading
See Ars Botanica in the New York Times Magazine for a first-person account of how Patsy Breunlin became obsessed with orchids and ended up turning her tropical plant collection into a botanical garden.
Whether you are into orchids or not, Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy by Eric Hansen is a great read. This dive into the bizarre world of serious orchid collectors features profiles of an odd cast of characters and the plants they love. It’s equal parts detective story, crime thriller, travel adventure, serious journalism, and personal memoir. And it’s all completely crazy.
You can buy Orchid Fever at your local bookstore or get it online using my affiliate link at Better World Books, Books-a-Million, Bookshop.org, or AbeBooks (an Amazon company).
We visited this island some years ago, when we went on a cruise, but didn’t stop long enough to be able to visit this beautiful botanical garden. I absolutely love tropical gardens and visited some in Hawaii, but Phantasea garden on Saint Thomas looks even more beautiful than the ones I’ve seen.
It is a beautiful and it’s pretty carefully maintained. Some of the Hawaiian ones seem a little wilder, although one of my favorite gardens in the world is near Hilo, Hawaii. If you ever get back to the US Virgin Islands, you’ll have to stop and check Phantasea gardens out!