In 2003, the garden administration began to create a seed bank to collect and maintain a viable gene pool of rare species common to the Azores.

[3] After remodelling and renovations, the Gardens were reopened on 22 May 2011, marking the International Day of Biodiversity, which included guided tours, a tea tasting (from Casa D'Avilas), a film on the Faial Nature Park and the presentation of a new website, Sentir e Interpretar os Açores, produced by the Regional Directorate for the Environment and Oceans (Portuguese: Secretário Regional do Ambiente e do Mar).

[4] The garden includes a couple of old farmhouses and land on the edge of an orange orchard of Quinta de São Lourenço, in the civil parish of Flamengos.

[2][5][6] In the autonomous region there are records that indicate that 90% of the endemic plants common at the time of the early settlement have disappeared or were crossed with other species.

[8] Other important orchids include the Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium families, which have fused sepals similar to a bag, that attract insects who fall into its flower.