Center for Subtropical Affairs

08/20/2025

our dear friend took this beautiful and incredibly timed shot of my camera flash illuminating a Pride of Barbados flower in the garden at dusk which you can see currently exhibited at her goodbye show at this month before she leaves us (congratulations Alina!) for grad school at UCLA

06/06/2025

06/04/2025

Flora of Namunyak Valley Conservancy appreciation post
do keep in mind it’s never this green there. I was told this repeatedly by everyone. We were just very lucky to get there at the end of rainy season and everything was in Bloom.
so let’s start with the epizoochory seed dispersal mechanism where seeds attach to the fur or clothing of animals and humans and are transported to new locations so common in arid environments
seed from an acacia
deltonix Elata a relative of miami’s beloved royal poinciana
Caralluma acutangula which is not a cactus or euphorbia?! it’s cool star shaped flowers, attract flies and smell very bad. you gotta love a plant you can look at, identify with a fair degree of certainty, then be completely wrong and realize no matter how much you know, you know nothing.
a giant termite mound on the iconic trunk of a classic example Africa’s iconic Acacia’s aka the Fever Tree for it’s medicinal properties but watch the thorns at all times. if you’re in the bush as soon as you let your guard down, you’re bleeding from one of these prickly ubiquitous beasts.
Gomphocarpus fruticosus is a non-native milkweed that was planted near a lodge to help the monarch butterflies. It’s from South Africa but it’s so adorable. I had to include it.
King Kigalia the sausage tree towers above the landscape it’s crazily unique fruit dangle like 3’ sausages.
giant desert rose to me, small out there. they get ENORMOUS. next trip getting closer to one of the 30’ behemoths
local hibiscus and abutilon it’s more festive cousin in the malvaceae family
some morning glories and then for those of you that stuck it out this far I should tell you the entire floor of the valley smells like wild Basil right now it’s incredible everywhere you go and anywhere you step you release the sweet scent of basil into the air, you cannot avoid it and it is heavenly.

06/02/2025

Recently returned from a trip to the world’s first Indigenous community-owned African elephant sanctuary run entirely by the Samburu tribe Elephant Sanctuary in Namunyak Conservancy in Northern Kenya.
They rescue orphaned and abandoned elephant calves with the aim to release them back into the wild herds adjoining Reteti.

Reteti is at the forefront of an expanding grassroots movement of community-driven conservation across Northern Kenya; an effort that is not just protecting wildlife but also growing new economies, transforming lives, and conserving natural resources.

The Samburu have been living alongside wildlife for thousands of years and have deep respect for elephants with whom they share the land and its resources.

The keepers have been formally trained in the care, rehabilitation and release of elephant calves.

OK now, here’s the thing that led to a cascade of epiphanies that changed everything for me and the future of how the center can give back to Miami: With every bottle of goat milk, the elephants at Reteti receive superior nutrition to help them one day return to the wild. At the same time, the Samburu women, who supply the milk earn an income for the first time in their lives – supporting an Indigenous Community, their vital conservation efforts, and their thriving landscape.
But the chain of positive change doesn’t end there!

The women also receive training from The Sarara Foundation in animal husbandry, rangeland management, grazing practices, and more. This enables them to take better care of their livestock to increase milk production and avoid overgrazing.

One bottle of milk doesn’t just boost the wellbeing of the community; it heals the land itself – the very landscape to which the elephants will ultimately return when they’re released back into the wild.
I look forward to sharing some of the ideas i learned from the wisdom of this ancient people flourishing in the modern era through conservation and cooperation which stands as a beacon for a possible path forward that respects the needs of people, in our community and the ecosystem of which we are all a part.

02/13/2025

lately in the garden

02/11/2025

join us this Saturday for the celebration of our good friend Par David! with Djs BYOB

02/03/2025

stuck working on sunday funday

12/15/2024

HEY MIAMI! is playing at this is literally one of the greatest living, jazz musicians. He has worked with everyone from Snoop Dogg & Kendrick to Flying Lotus & Thundercat this is the kind of programming we want in this city and we should support it by buying tickets and seeing what can only be described as transcendently authentic expression in the form of some of the best Jazz you’ll ever hear in this lifetime.

11/28/2024

we couldn’t be more excited to announce our collaboration with for .milano in Miami with in support of
For this installation a real time, generative Epiphytic Music composition  has been designed to help living plants support both other and any bodies that are present. In this installation, the plants are generating tones by monitoring their electrical impulses from their leaves using EKG sensors. These pulses are turned into sound, and trigger additional related tones and textures provided by the composer based on plant-beneficial frequency analysis. The purpose of this Epiphytic music is for humans (the composer) to support the plants as they help their fellow plants, and in turn, all species grow and thrive. 

Epiphytic as support, music as symbiotic, music as soundscape/landscape, music as living structure, Burle Marx was ahead of his time in so many ways, and we owe him the debt of continuing his vision for a symbiotic, ecologically vibrant world. 

we are presenting our book with exile, elegant furniture from Oggetti, and self watering planters designs with the engineering expertise of Miami Botan & Private Practices Studio, and a portable orchid Laboratory from Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in an immersive jungle squeezed into a hotel room!
find us at the Miami River Inn Alcova Miami at the River Inn
437 SW 2nd St, Miami, FL 33130
FREE and open to the public

11/17/2024

Absolutely thrilled to announce our collaboration on a book about plant pigmentation with & in association with for .milano designed by the masterful during Miami art week in support of .
This work is a humble attempt to follow in the path and pay homage the pioneering research done in the area of plant pigments and color by David Lee during his tenure as director of
We would all like to extend enormous gratitude to Dr. Carl Lewis and Dr. Jason Downing of for their continuous support and encouragement, and for allowing microscopic photographer Jack D. Hahn and ourselves to use their imaging laboratory to produce these stunning images!
📷 of David Lee by Naomi Fisher, from “Tree Walk for Miami Artists - Led by Dr. David Lee,” by Bas Fisher Invitational (BFI) 2016.

09/07/2024

sent the photos from the old center. looks like 2017 or so. crazy how long it’s been! 6 years though. it was a good run.

05/24/2024