Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
My family and I visited the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens this January 2023, located in downtown Sarasota. They have two separate locations and we were at the Siesta Key/Downtown Sarasota location. Unfortunately for me this place had not been on my radar, even though I had been to Siesta Key before (practically a lifetime ago).
If nothing else, I hope that this post will get Selby Gardens not only on your radar, but it should go directly to your short list. This place blew my socks off! My other family members, whom do not consider themselves fellow plant nerds, also really enjoyed their time spent here.
We entered through the main entrance (as opposed to their event entrance) which opened first to their gift shop (smart) and spacious greenhouse. I was impressed with the diversity of orchid offerings for sale. This was not your average grocery store fare. No no, this was the real deal, practically a conservatory unto itself. I had to be pulled out by said family to start our tour together. At the doors to the entrance of the actual garden, we were greeted by a lovely and knowledgeable person who not only gave us a map, but gave us her favorite route to take.
Upon entering, we were bombarded with colorful orchids in bloom. Never in my life (and I’ve been to and worked at many a conservatory) had I seen so many different varieties of orchids in one place, but also displayed in such a way where you could stop and really take it all in. Everyone was also labeled in detail, go hort team!
Orchids, carnivorous and other tropicals
Still flabbergasted by all the orchids, we emerged from the greenhouse and entered an outdoor expanse. There was a large walkway that led us to the rainforest play area. There were giant Banyan and Ficus trees, a waterfall, wobbly bridges and at least three different types of xylophones spread throughout. It was a great place for the kids to run around and not worry about garden etiquette.
My mom and I split off to chase down some coffee at the nearby café that had tons of outdoor seating. The courtyard featured a modern endless fountain in the shadow of one of the largest Banyan trees I’ve ever seen.
After our coffee break we hopped back on the path and strolled past the desert and succulent garden, a beautiful stained glass gazebo to an overlook of Sarasota bay.
The path kept us bordered with the bay and started to feature different types of palms and a bamboo grove. The non-invasive (I had to look it up because bamboo is invasive in Ohio) clumping bamboo was magnificent and graceful. We kept strolling past the coastal area and bromeliad garden and found ourselves on top of a wedding party about to start. Trying to be respectful, we ducked down towards the display gardens, but missed out on the tidal logan. I can’t picture a more elegant place to get hitched.
Bromeliad
Bromeliad
The gently winding path that connected all these different garden areas was spaced out just enough to give us time to take it all in and appreciate detail without rambling too long. Making it an overall hands down lovely experience!
But the best is yet to come -their normal parking lot is under construction because they’re expanding!! Cannot wait to come back and check it out!
Manasota Scrub Preserve: bonus post!
Although this was a very different experience from the well designed botanical garden, it was really fun to wonder about this preserve on the mowed path, imagining what Florida might have looked like pre-development. There were some signs to watch out for the endangered gopher tortoise. We saw what appeared to be a tunnel, but never a glimpse of the tortoise. There were also some flora in bloom, which was pretty exciting since it was unseasonably cold - even for January.
