Naples Botanical Garden
Naples Botanical Garden sits at 26.1085 degrees north latitude.
This is noteworthy because it is devoted to flora that grows between the 26th latitude north and south. One doesn’t have to travel to Brazil or the Caribbean islands or Southeast Asia to sample what grows in all those places. Those parts of the natural world thrive right here, in a kind of window to the world.
Founded in 1993 by a visionary group of local plant enthusiasts and incorporated as a nonprofit organization the following year, the Garden had its first major growth spurt in 2000, with a $5 million donation from the late Harvey Kapnick Jr. enabling the purchase of 170 acres of open space 3 miles from downtown Naples. In 2006, the team of Ellin Goetz, Ted Flato, Raymond Jungles, Herb Schaal, Bob Truskowski and Made Wijaya, dubbed the “Dream Team” by the Miami Herald, completed the master plan for Naples Botanical Garden.
It opened in 2009 with the Smith Children’s Garden, Kapnick Brazilian Garden, Kapnick Caribbean Garden and the Smith River of Grass. Shorly after, the Florida Gulf Coast University Harvey Kapnick Research and Education Center opened, followed by the Scott Florida Garden, Buehler Enabling Garden, Garden Club of Naples Idea Garden, Lea Asian Garden and the Water Garden. The master plan was completed in 2014 with the opening the Chabraja Visitor Center including Kathryn’s Garden, Irma’s Garden, LaGrippe Orchid Garden, Kapnick Hall, Berger Shop in the Garden and the Fogg Café.
Today Naples Botanical Garden welcomes more than 220,000 visitors a year to explore themed gardens that represent the culture and flora of the tropics. Because the Garden experience is almost totally outdoors, it’s also a haven of safety for visitors during the pandemic. Heightened sanitation procedures and protocols including timed ticketing to limit the size of crowds on the grounds at any time make it even more so.
But there is no limit to the beauty.
Everglades Wonder Gardens
This heavenly slice of old Florida is fittingly located on what is called Old 41 Road in Bonita Springs.
The Everglades Wonder Gardens evokes a feeling of nostalgia for a Florida long gone merged with a modern appreciation for nature.
The Gardens opened in 1936 as The Reptile Gardens, a labor of love for brothers Bill and Lester Piper. It was before Disney World, interstate highways and jet travel, and even 11 years before the Everglades became a national park. Today the property is owned by the city of Bonita Springs and operated as a nonprofit, Bonita Wonder Gardens Inc.
While the administrative side of the Gardens has changed, the charm remains.
Visitors to the 3.5-acre patch of old Florida can stroll under banyan, African mahogany and kapok trees.
The sanctuary is dotted with orchids and bromeliads and other blooming delights. The grounds are also home to a host of flamingoes, ibis, peafowl, ducks, Amazon parrots, cockatoos and other birds and a butterfly garden.
The Piper Brothers would be happy to know snakes and alligators still reside here, too, even though the word “reptile” is no longer part of the name.
www.EvergladesWonderGardens.com
Edison and Ford Winter Estates
The Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers are best known as the getaway retreats for two of the most famous Americans ever — inventor Thomas Edison and automobile tycoon Henry Ford.
Less well-known, perhaps, is the legacy of a lush, bucolic subtropical paradise they bequeathed to succeeding generations.
Nestled between palm-fringed McGregor
Boulevard and the Caloosahatchee River near downtown Fort Myers, the Estates are home to more than 1,700 plants and 400-plus species from six continents. Flowers are always blooming here, 12 months out of the year. In late November, for example, visitors could admire Philippine violets, yellow ixora and double hibiscus.
The site is so breathtakingly lovely that some of its gardens have become prime wedding spots. The romantic Moonlight Garden, established in 1929 by fabled landscape architect Ellen Biddle Ship- man, boasts bougainvillea-entwined trellises as a lovely backdrop for exchanging vows. Other popular wedding spots on the property are the Coconut Grove, Ford’s Riverside Lawn, under the Mysore fig tree and at Edison’s Pergola.
www.EdisonFordWinterEstates.org
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Marie Selby died in 1971, but half a century later her generous spirit and love of horticulture live on in the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, founded in 1973. While downtown Sarasota and has blossomed around the property at 900 S. Palm Ave., this 15-acre retreat has remained true to its mission.
Florida is dotted with beautiful gardens, but this one is unique not only in the Sunshine State but beyond. As the website notes, it is the only garden in the world dedicated to the display and study of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads, ferns and other tropical plants.
A delight for both recreational gardeners and scholars, the grounds include a research library and a wide variety of banyan, bamboo, live oak and palm trees. Then there are more than 20,000 orchids, bromeliads and other plants, all just steps away from the hubbub of the 21st century.
Peace River Botanical & Sculpture Gardens
Art and nature merge 4.5 miles east of Punta Gorda on a stretch of the scenic Peace River, at a sanctuary of art and nature aptly named the Peace River Botanical & Sculpture Gardens.
The nature is apparent in the growing collection of staghorn ferns, bromeliads, bougainvillea, bamboo and unique palms. Mother Nature’s works here are complemented by works of artists from around the world, including American hyperrealist sculptor Carola A. Feuerman. Others works come from artists working in China, Turkey, Indonesia and more.
Although it’s not as established as many older gardens in Southwest Florida, there are lofty goals for this riverfront oasis that opened in 2017 thanks to the generosity of Roger and Linda Tetrault.
The 30 acres includes five ecosystems: marshlands, wetlands, mangroves, uplands and a tidal basin. There are plans to add more than 15,000 square feet of boardwalks and docks in the years to come. www.PeaceRiverGardens.org
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