Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

We were in Sarasota this past summer.  However, as the temperatures were then in the 90 degree range, we decided to wait on seeing these gardens until cooler weather.  Time has passed quickly for us since then and we forgot about the gardens until we learned about the orchid show.  I had recently read the book The Orchid Thief  by Susan Orlean - which told me everything I would ever wish to know about orchids.  After reading that book I just had to see an extensive display of orchids!

Marie Selby and her husband built the above home in 1939 and lived in it until 1970.  She left her home and property to the local community with the aim of forming a botanical garden.  That was established in 1973.  The gardens grew over time into the surrounding properties and now covers about 15 acres.  Mrs. Selby had an extensive banyan grove which has always been a part of the gardens.  It is a fig tree that begins its life as an epiphyte when its seed germinates in the crevice of a tree.

A cousin of the banyon is the ficus tree.  In the gardens is a walkway bordered by those trees, they have such impressive names as the "lofty fig" and the "council tree".

Selby Gardens is a leader in the conservation and display of epiphytes, or plants that grow on other plants.  As we walked through the gardens we saw many plants hugging their hosts.  A beautiful example is pictured below.

Another category of epiphytes are the bromeliads.  Some of them grow in trees, other in the ground.  Examples of this family is the pineapple plant as well as Spanish moss.

Also in the family of epiphytes is the orchid.  I will feature the orchid show in my next posting.  The gardens does also have a very diverse collection of other tropical and subtropical plants from many regions of the world.  Pictured below is the dessert area of the park.  I cannot begin to cover all beautiful flora in these gardens, but I must say it is one of the best botanical gardens we have seen!