Our Florida days are winding down, and I realize that my posts have been few and far between. I said that I wanted to be free to share when I felt I had something worthwhile rather than on a schedule, so here you are, what is sure to be my last post before heading north.
The other day, we headed north to Vero Beach to walk through the McKee Gardens.
"In 1932, Arthur G. McKee and Waldo E. Sexton opened McKee Jungle Gardens
on an 80-acre tropical hammock in Vero Beach, Florida. The two land developers
employed landscape architect William Lyman Phillips, from the esteemed firm of
Frederick Law Olmsted, to design the basic infrastructure of streams, ponds and
trails while they focused their efforts on assembling one of the most
outstanding collections of waterlilies and orchids, augmenting native
vegetation with ornamental plants and exotic specimens from around the world.
By the 1940’s, more than 100,000 tourists were visiting the Gardens each year,
deeming it one of Florida’s earliest and most popular natural attractions." https://mckeegarden.org/
Aside from being able to enjoy the spectacular gardens, we were also able to take in a special exhibit of manmade animals.
IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE! Now through April 29, 2018
This amazing exhibition, created by The Ark Collective in Nairobi Kenya, features 24 beautiful sculptures hand-crafted specifically for McKee. Using reclaimed materials discarded from the car industry and old oil barrels, a group of 19 African artists, created this collection for McKee. Click on "It's a Jungle Out There!" for more information.
In the meantime, I was once again torn with how many photos to include. I was told by a garden employee that between the months of June-August are the most spectacular for blooms, and that they had recently planted over 400 waterlilies. I must say that the gardens were just lovely while we there at the end of March.
So - too many photos, but what could I do? I have no idea what type of flower these first two are, but I've never seen turquoise blooms before.
These stick structures were created under the guidance of Patrick Dougherty I have seen a number of his installations and they never fail to enchant!
A warm but lovely day as we prepare to say goodbye to Florida shortly!
