Diary of a Gardener Garden Tours and Twine Houses
I love visiting botanical gardens. When my husband and I travel we visit as many gardens as possible in the area we can. Last summer we visited Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria. In total we saw nine breathtaking gardens. Many were free gardens open to the public, but the best was the famous Buchart Gardens. It is incredible from A to Z. The best way to describe it is the ‘Disney’ of all gardens, in all the best ways possible. One of the benefits of living in Florida is there are many botanical gardens to visit. Our 12-month growing cycle allows tourists and visitors to follow the winding pathways curated by horticulturists and designers highlighting the vast selection of plants that grow in each region of Florida’s climate. Last week my mother and aunts visited Mounts Botanical Gardens, in West Palm Beach. Over a 3-hour drive from Sarasota, directly through the middle of flat Florida through towns I had never heard of. We drove around the large man-made Lake Okeechobee, only to find there is a giant berm surrounding it. There is no way to see the lake. Small towns time forgot, sugar cane fields, orange groves and cows grazing as far as the eye can see is what makes up the middle of Florida. What people see on postcards is not what the majority of Florida looks like.
Mounts Botanical Gardens did not disappoint. This garden’s simple yet inviting entrance does no justice to the botanical wonders behind the gate. Giant stone sculptures, a life size twine hobbit house, waterfalls, flora, and fauna, curated and educational displays highlighting many Florida native plants as well as plants that grow here with little to no maintenance. I still cannot get over the twine house. We enjoyed the distinct characteristics of each point of interest along the pathways. A large vegetable garden with gorgeous and luscious kale, an edible display garden with many herbs and plants with medicinal properties and dry creek beds. Dry creek beds display plants that can live with lengthy periods of drought but also withstand flooding from run off. I found many of their plants to be the same as we grow in Sarasota but being just slightly more south, they were larger and robust. The plants also appeared not to be struggling from our lengthy winter weather. Overall, it was a beautiful day. I highly recommend Mounts Botanical Gardens on a Florida garden tour.
Back here in Sarasota, I am making rose tortillas. Just kidding, I am not but I have started the cornmeal remedy for black spot on my roses. There is a slight fear vermin will be attracted to the garden floor, but time will tell if the black spot stays off the rose leaves. After a hard prune two weeks ago, the roses are sending out their tiny new leaves. I anxiously await new blooms and hopefully healthier and more robust rose bushes this summer. My first goal is for the roses to bloom in about a month. A dear friend is hosting a watercolor workshop here in the gardens. We want the participants to use nature as their muse, so I am hoping Mother Nature does not disappoint.
There is always so much to do and not enough time or energy to complete. As I transition myself and my career to concentrate more on my landscape and plant business the right people are being put in my pathway. Arduous work is something I have never been afraid of or immune to, but learning to be grateful for the people who help me get where I am going is a trait I believe helps us all get where we are meant to be.
Remember to always keep growing.
