Sarasota Florida | Catherine Castle

Tags

epiphytes, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, orchids, Public Gardens, Sarasota Florida, tropical plants

Conservatory entrance path

Through the Garden Gates at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, Florida

This past May, I had the opportunity to visit Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Situated on land bordered by Sarasota Bay, the garden property was originally the home of oil baron William Selby and his wife Marie. An enthusiastic gardener, Marie willed the property to the Sarasota community for use as a botanical garden. Selby Gardens is a renowned research and education facility as well as showcase of gardens with an emphasis on epiphytes (plants that grow in trees). Their conservatory features 6000 orchids as well as thousands of bromeliads and other epiphytes. Outside, on the grounds’ fourteen acres, you can explore twelve other diverse gardens and twenty different habitats. If you ever get to Sarasota, and you love orchids and tropical plants, be sure and make this one of your stops. But for now, enjoy your trip through the garden gates of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

THE CONSERVATORY