Help Yourself to Florida

Last weekend I enjoyed Artfest in Fort Myers FL, the juried annual event featured more  than 200 talented artists and other vendors.  Many of the artists prefer not to have their work photographed.  After a late stroll through the booths we landed at the roof top bar at Firestone's, what a view of the city, man oh man.  I have not been downtown Fort Myers in many years the newly renovated riverfront is something special.  Brick pavers and refurbished buildings smack of charm, I'll be back.



My old chum Sue lives in St. Petersburg where there are a multitude of things to do.  We started out Tuesday with a three miles kayak trip around Weedon Island we left just after low tide so we had to drag out boats a bit but the active birding made up for any troubles.  What a great spot, love the mangrove tunnels.



Wednesday was overcast a just right for spinning down around on part of City Trails, the St. Pete bike trail that runs in overhead caged tunnels offering exciting views over the city streets.  Even though this trail is along some rougher neighborhoods you would never know it, feels safe, looks good, well planted even seeing Rosette Spoonbills on occasion.



An afternoon trip to the new Dali Museum was big fun.  Sue has lived in the area for over 26 years so I had the privilege of visiting the old museum as well, the architecture of the new space is out of sight.  The spiral staircase, the modern exterior and the beautiful gardens will keep this spot in my heart.  Then there are the masterpieces of the artist himself that will blow your mind, make sure to take the free tour or use the free audio tour both are excellent.



Dinner at Woody's at the beach was fun and offered a great view along with knock your socks off chicken wings, hot but not melt your lips off, yum, yum.  An early fog kept the ocean at bay but the swirling mist kept offering sneak peaks.  We headed off to John's Pass and Maderia Beach for fudge and a last cocktail, seated at the railing we were entertained by a pod of dolphins and assorted shore birds.  A lovely time with good pals, thanks.

Naples Botanical Garden

When Naples Botanical Garden decided to open this year they could not know that Florida would experience the coldest December ever recorded. Miles of frost clothe and some 600 volunteers helped save some of the newly planted tender species. Some plants had leaf scorch and drop but overall the cold just slowed growth.

At 26th latitude north Naples subtropical location presents an opportunity to showcase gardens that represent countries and regions down to 26th latitude south. These areas include Asia, Brazil, the Caribbean and of course Florida. Located in East Naples on a remarkable 170 acres of which 35 are currently developed the garden is a testament to the vision of its many founders and supporters. A staggering 30 million dollars has been spent. The monies coming from private donations with many of the gardens named for their benefactors.

This is an interactive garden designed to be touched, smelled and played in. A forthcoming restaurant will give patrons an opportunity to catch their breath, eat and relax as you can easily spend most of a day exploring. Since the garden is relatively new some of the trees are still staked, shrubs need filling out a bit more and flowers certainly have room to grow. This is a garden that will mature into a stunning showcase and become a must see for every visitor to the region.

The Children's Garden features a splash pad where kids can dance and jump while water spouts shoot in the air. An interactive butterfly house, fantasy cottage, tree house and whimsical planters are only the beginning for children seeking an afternoon of fun while learning a bit of botany.

Certainly the standout feature of the Brazilian Garden is its stellar replication of the black waters of the Rio Nigro. The Burle Marx Plaza is a bold tribute to Roberto Burle Marx the renowned "father of modern landscape architecture". The black water is achieved by the use of dyes which have no environmental implications.

The Kapnick Caribbean Garden did an excellent job of representing the flora of the islands. It reminded me of Water Island in the US Virgins a kind of scrubby desert look where blowing sand drifted onto the roads. This garden will be interesting to watch develop.

The River of Grass is an outstanding representation of the Everglades. The designers faithfully reproduced a miniature ecosystem albeit the alligators. Cord and fraxahatchee grass were planted instead of saw grass so that gardeners would not be cut and scratched by the rough saw grass. But it looks marvelous and improves water quality by slowing down run-off and absorbing contaminants.

The Water Garden is truly inspired as you cross the bridge you are afforded a spectacular vista of the Asian Garden and the River of Grass. The color and variety of water lilies is outstanding. The King Tuts that line the bridge blow and wave as they invite you across the threshold.

One of my favorites the Asian Garden is full of sculpture, art, water, fountains, container gardens and colorful plants. There is a Javanese Ruin, New Asia Pergola, Thai Pavilion and Balinese Shrine representing temples and ruins. The garden was built by four workers from Bali, a team who follow the designer around the world completing his installations. The materials for this garden were imported from around the world. How exciting.

The extensive Florida Garden marries with the South Wetlands Preserve and Uplands Preserve to showcase all that is great with Florida landscape and design. The grove, pine crossing, palm circle and birding tower are all essential elements emulating the diversity that exists in the temperate Florida climate.

The Enabling Garden demonstrates many strategies that allow even physically challenged people to enjoy gardening. Volunteer Carolyn Smith described many of this gardens special features to me. Odoriferous plants, textural plants, low easy access walls, wide paths and a wheelchair drop off make this garden accessible to everyone.

The garden calendar of events includes Tai-Chi instruction, dog walks, artists, theatre, wine tasting and movies just to name a few. This fabulous new community asset is sure to be a money maker bringing flower lovers, nature seekers, photographers and tourists on a yearly trek to see what's new and blooming in Naples.

Roji-en, Morikami Japanese Garden

Roji-en ("Garden of Dew Drops") has six distinct gardens which represent the past 1000 years of Japanese garden design, each garden inspired by a famous garden in Japan. This was the second location Cass and I visited on our garden hopping road trip last week. Morikami is ranked the 13th best Japanese garden in the world outside Japan. If you have opportunity to tour this garden make sure you put your brakes on, slowly stroll, stop and sit on a bench, watch, smell, listen and you will melt into the good vibrations and intentions of its designer Hoichi Kurisu.

The wide gravel pathways meandered from garden to garden with seamless transition. Ample shade and a variety of benches invited us to sit while we watched lizards, turtles and birds. We got there right at opening but people were be filing in steadily,despite that the paths never seemed over crowded. One group we passed was joined by an unlikely companion, an egret who followed them on foot for two thirds of their walk. We watched amused as he stepped off the path, snatched and ate a lizard then actually trotted to catch back up with his new human pals.

The Late Rock Garden is from the 15th and 16th century style, it is a dry landscape with rocks arranged in a bed of raked gravel and plants are secondary. This style was perfected at Zen Buddhist temples.

A design technique known as "borrowed scenery" (shakkei) is used liberally though out the gardens. This method employs incorporating outside elements into a specific space. Being able to view the stone pagoda from the museum terrace and the rock garden.

Pruning is king in all Japanese gardens and Morikami pushes the envelope. All manner of ropes and bamboo are present as the gardeners twist, turn, shape and manipulate their living, green quarry into the stylized, delicate works of art they are or will become. No bush, rock or stone is left untamed.

Several stone lanterns provide focal points through out the gardens the most famous is the Ishidoro Stone Lantern (1681), it made it's way from Kan'eiji temple in Tokyo to a shipbuilder in West Palm and then the South Florida Science Museum before taking permanent residence at Morikami. Other lanterns have various animal silhouettes and represent different elements in Japanese culture. There is also one other special lantern, the one dedicated to the seven challenger astronauts who perished including the first of Asian ancestry.

Green in every shade is present at Roji-en the most prominent flowering plants are azaleas and they were just beginning to bloom. The bonsai ("tray-planting") display of living art emphasizes species that flourish in Florida's climate.

When we decided to visit Morikami I was not aware that the fabulous American Orchid Society garden was just down the street. We missed eating at the Cornell Cafe' which The Food Network rated as one of the top three museum dining experiences in the country. But my next trip I will work that one in between the orchids and Morikami. What a lovely way to spend a day's vacation in Florida.

Mounts Botanical Garden

This past week in southwest Florida was brilliant, finally time to put on shorts and cruise on my bicycle, also a good week for a road trip. My sister Cass and I drove to the east coast to tour three well known gardens; Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach , Morikami Japanese Gardens and AOS (American Orchid Society) Botanical Garden in DelRay Beach. My trips to the east coast in recent years have been limited to flying in and out of Miami and driving down to the Keys. I had forgotten how lovely the beaches are and how cool it still is to roll down AIA looking at the McMansions and high end landscaping.

Since we were going to West Palm first we drove across on 80 and stopped at Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston for lunch at a sweet little spot called the Tiki Bar, a Roland Martin marina and restaurant. It is an open air, pole barn type structure with plenty of seating, a large stage, a great big bar with simple homemade bar stools. There are docks for those arriving by water, you can sit on the deck and watch the lock operate as large boats move through the inter coastal waterway. The food was really delicious, the decor funky and Jimmy Buffett was on the stereo a good beginning to our trip.

Mounts in located at the Hutcheson Agricultural Complex part of University of Florida (UF) extension service and houses a Master Gardener Help Desk. Allowing a couple of hours for a leisurely stroll through the nine different gardens will give you plenty of time to see everything. They are experimenting with an information system through your cell phone, ( Oncell System) by calling their number you can get a brief introduction to the garden and as you proceed numbered wooden stakes correspond to the phone tour.

The gardens include fragrance garden, tropical forest, palms, herb garden, butterfly garden and a veggie garden. My favorite plant was the beautiful Angel's Trumpets with their papery, hanging blooms from a linen color to the dusty apricot they were a sight to behold.