12/5 Marie Selby Gardens

Marie Selby Gardens are located close to downtown Sarasota on the bay.  It focuses heavily on air plants--plants that do not root on soil, but attach themselves to trees or other objects and get their water from rain and humidity.  

I purposely rented a car for a few days because I knew that they had major construction around this botanical gardens, and that I would almost certainly not be able to park my big motorhome.  It was a good decision.

Below is a map of what the gardens look like now.  It may not mean much to you if you have not been here, but basically, the original gardens have been the 15 acres occupied by two homes on the old estate of Marie Selby.  They have owned the land across the road for several years and used it as a parking lot, but they have now also acquired and removed several homes next to the old parking area. 

On that land, they are building a new multi-level parking garage, which they have almost finished, but since it was not quite done, they had mandatory complimentary valet parking.  They have also almost finished the new visitor center next to the parking garage. (I tried to take photos but there were too many big pieces of equipment in the way.) When the parking structure and new visitor center open in a few weeks, they will begin tearing down the old visitor center and building several brand-new greenhouses, which will give them more space to house their collections.  That new area may take another year or two, but I am looking forward to sometime returning to see it when it is finished. 

So, after parking and walking a long block, you enter the current visitor center.

 

As usual, after paying my entrance fee, I immediately headed for the greenhouses.  Here are some photos of the orchids in bloom. 

 

 

 

Lots of ferns here. Many ferns attach themselves to trees, so they also quality as air plants.

 

Another category of air plants are the ones that collect rainwater and unsuspecting insects in cups or other receptacles, and live on those.  The next few photos show these insect-eating plants.

Some cycads.  These are the ancient plants that dinosaurs ate before there was grass or flowering plants.  Cycads are either male of female and produce very large cones with seeds in them.  They are NOT air plants, but the gardens have a very large and interesting collection. Here are some examples. 

This is a cone I found in the above plant.

I was told these were developing leaves, not a cone.

Back to the main garden, this is a candle tree.  The fruits are very waxy and resemble candles.

 

 

This one of two very large banyan trees that were planted by the Selbys.  

 

Last trip in December 2021, I took photos of the main house on the estate, but this is just a secondary house on the property. It is now used as a cafe and ice cream shop.

The estate was facing Sarasota Bay, but behind the house, they have a large river with homes and boat docks for each.

Several of us watched this great white egret for about 10 minutes.  He/she was not very shy, and tolerated us as he found and ate three small lizards and one bug.

Down the hatch!!

 

 

Nice, cool breeze off Sarasota Bay. 

 

And the walkway back to the visitor center.

There was still more to see, but I was tired and needed to pick up some groceries and get back to my campsite before the sun set.