Dart Nursery milestone: 30 years of horticulture and placemaking

02 November 2026

Dart's story in Cayman began with a sprawling plant nursery, driven by a passion for horticulture and its relationship to placemaking.

Since 1996, Dart Nursery has propagated, relocated and donated thousands of plants representing local and regional species. Many have since taken root beyond the nursery, creating and restoring beautiful environments across our portfolio and the wider community, providing lush landscapes and green spaces for people and local wildlife to enjoy.

That early commitment to horticulture helped lay the foundation for our approach to sustainability, ensuring the natural environment continues to play a prominent role in our initiatives and investments.

Here's a look at some of our plant-based projects over the years, from outdoors to indoors, in bookstores and up a few floors.

palms line the the Crescent in Camana Bay

The Crescent, Camana Bay

The signature, symmetrical row of palms along the Crescent in Camana Bay came to life from early renderings of the town's blueprint. It's since become one of the most iconic locations within the Town Centre, reflecting the tropical scenes Cayman is known and loved for.

Focus on Flora, coffee-table book

What began as a horticulture team newspaper column about the plants in Camana Bay blossomed into a beautifully illustrated coffee-table book written and designed in-house. Initially created as a thoughtful holiday gift to our community partners in 2020, as interest in the book grew, the remaining stock was made available for purchase at Next Chapter.

Pom Pom Rooftop, Hotel Indigo® Grand Cayman

Some of our plants' roots took flight, 10 storeys high, at Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman, enhancing the open-air aesthetic of Pom Pom Rooftop restaurant. Patrons enjoy a cosy atmosphere with effortless views that combine land, air and sea.

Gardenia Court, Camana Bay

This flowering courtyard in the Town Centre is reminiscent of a peaceful garden. Beyond offering a haven for respite, the court often hosts community events, including small music concerts, Pilates classes, kids' story time sessions and more.

The Green Room, Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa

A different but sensational project led the nursery team to collaborate with Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa for Earth Week 2021. The teams transformed one of the hotel's suites into a vibrant, living green room, inviting guests in to relax and immerse their senses.

Tree planting at Mission House Historic Site

Mission House Historic Site, Bodden Town

Our community partnerships often provide us with opportunities to tap into two of our favourite resources: plants and employees. The Mission House Historic Site in Bodden Town was one such opportunity, where our employee volunteers gave the site's landscape new life with plants gifted by the nursery.

Cayman Sage, Foster's Camana Bay

The critically endangered Salvia Caymanensis (Cayman Sage) was thought extinct until it was rediscovered in 2007, when local conservation efforts began. To support these efforts, we worked closely with The QEII Botanic Park to cultivate dozens of these plants and give them a home in Camana Bay, in the landscape adjacent to Foster's.

The kapok near Kapok, Camana Bay

With a deep-rooted reverence for nature, we've rehomed countless trees as part of our preservation efforts. One of our team's most impressive and delicate tree transplants was a 70-foot, 65,000-pound kapok tree now living healthily on the Camana Bay North roundabout.

Plants used as decor in the Silver Palm Bar at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman

Guest spaces, The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman

Few things exude luxury as effortlessly as Mother Nature. As part of extensive renovations at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, the nursery team curated verdant, leafy plants to enhance the hotel's open spaces for guests, including the main lobby and Silver Palm Bar.

Various species of endemic plants cover the The Rise in Camana Bay

The Rise, Camana Bay

Above the underpass on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway, a pedestrian crossing disguised as a landscaped walkway provides safe passage to and from Camana Bay. Covered with endemic trees, flowering plants and shrubs, the earthly charm of the Rise cleverly distracts from the motorways below.