These Tampa Bay Area Gardens Blossom with Spring Beauty

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Spring is my favorite season in Florida. I get so excited when I spot a cheerful golden trumpet tree in bloom in a Tampa Bay area garden. It’s a sure sign that spring is on its way.

Trumpet trees only show us their bright yellow (or pink) trumpet-shaped flowers for a brief period in late winter/early spring in Central Florida gardens. Spotting one always reminds me to slow down, get outside and appreciate the fleeting season.

If you want to make the most of the season and immerse yourself in the quiet beauty of spring, plan a visit to one of these stunning Tampa Bay area gardens.

There are some amazing places to enjoy the season’s blossoming beauty from Tampa botanical gardens to dreamy gardens in St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Lakeland.

Tampa Gardens

Eureka Springs Conservation Park

Keep an eye out for pixie dust when you walk through the boardwalk and botanical garden at Tampa’s Eureka Springs Conservation Park. Rumor has it that fairies flit around in the floodplain forest. Cypress tree stumps make for perfect Florida fairy homes.

First established in 1938 by botanist and traveler Albert Greensburg, Eureka Springs Park was designed as a Tampa botanical garden of rare and unusual tropical plants. In 1967, the 31-acre natural refuge and gardens became part of the Hillsborough County park system.

This Tampa botanical garden features the largest publicly owned collection of ferns in Florida, plus a rose garden and orchid room.

USF Botanical Gardens

Part of the University of South Florida (Go Bulls!) College of Arts and Sciences, USF Botanical Gardens serves the university’s education and research needs while providing education and recreation opportunities to the community.

Promoting environmental appreciation and stewardship of the local flora, the USF Botanical Gardens feature a collection of more than 3,000 of plants, animals and natural habitats. These Tampa gardens cover about 16 acres of the USF Tampa campus.

Tampa Bay Area Gardens in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County

Secret Garden of St. Pete Beach

At the northernmost tip of St. Pete Beach where the beach meets Blind Pass Inlet, a secret Florida beach garden oasis awaits.

By chance, I came upon it while walking along the beach one day and fell in love. It quickly became of my favorite “secret” places to admire the sunset glow over the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida Botanical Gardens

In the middle of Pinellas County, a 100-acre park managed by Pinellas County Parks and Resources Department welcomes visitors to enjoy their vast plant collections free of admission charge.

From butterfly and native plant gardens to topiaries and tropical plant features, the Florida Botanical Gardens offer much to admire.

Sunken Gardens

A hidden paradise on four acres near downtown St. Petersburg, 100-year-old Sunken Gardens is home to some of the oldest tropical plants in the region.

Created by a plumber named George Turner, Sr. who purchased the land in 1911, this St. Petersburg garden is considered sunken because Turner drained an ancient lake to uncover a rich muck soil ideal for gardening.

Featuring 50,000 lush tropical plants and flowers, winding paths, waterfalls, and a flock of flamingos, Sunken Gardens is a peaceful hideaway in the heart of St. Petersburg.

This Tampa Bay botanical garden’s highlights include bougainvillea, hibiscus, peace lilies, orchids, angel’s trumpets, redvein Chinese lantern flowers and more.

In addition to the fascinating flamingos, our family was captivated by this Florida garden’s giant brightly-colored koi fish, turtles and flowing ponds.

 

 

Tampa Bay Area Gardens in Sarasota

Bayfront Gardens at The Ringling

Once home to one of the wealthiest men in America in the Roaring ’20s, circus showman John Ringling and his wife Mable, The Ringling is now the State Art Museum of Florida.

The 66-acre waterfront estate on the Sarasota Bay includes the stunning Bayfront Gardens that connect the extraordinary Museum of Art, Circus Museum and the Ringling’s Venetian Gothic style mansion, the Ca’ d’Zan (“House of John” in Venetian dialect).

A stroll through these gorgeous Sarasota gardens takes you through a Level II accredited arboretum consisting of over 2,350 trees.

A lovely centerpiece of the estate, Mable Ringling’s Rose Garden is Italian inspired, lined with statues and patterned after a wagon wheel.

Next to the rose garden, a play space offers a refuge for kids to freely run around under the shade of the arboretum’s many trees.

Kids also enjoy exploring The Ringling Circus Museum, which features fun, interactive circus exhibits and a cool Ringling Bros. immersive experience celebrating the era of modern circus.

A visit to the Ringling Museum of Art will invite you to admire its courtyard Renaissance garden featuring bronze and stone copies of famous Classical, Renaissance, and Baroque sculptures.

Adventure-Seeking Mom Tip: Plan to visit this Sarasota garden with your family on a Monday when admission to the Bayfront Gardens and Museum of Art are free to the public. Take along The Ringling family guides and Bayfront Gardens Scavenger Hunt to help you explore The Ringling’s many wonders.

For more details on the Ringling Museum of Art and all the things to explore at The Ringling, check out this Ringling Museum guide.

Sarasota Jungle Gardens

Just a mile away from The Ringling, the Sarasota Jungle Gardens is a family-oriented “Old Florida” attraction featuring 1.2 miles of winding jungle trails through 10 acres of lush tropical landscaping.

Native and exotic animal exhibits are a unique highlight of this Sarasota garden attraction. Kids love the opportunity to feed, touch and interact with a variety of wildlife including reptiles, small mammals, flamingos, parrots, macaws and other birds. Educational animal shows occur daily.

Our family’s favorite parts of our Sarasota Jungle Gardens adventure were the flamingo feeding area, bird interaction area, butterfly gardens, petting zoo and jungle playground.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

With two sanctuaries on the Sarasota Bay, one in downtown Sarasota and another in historic Spanish Point, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens offer 45 acres of botanical bliss.

Selby Gardens’ 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus showcases rare and beautiful tropical plants. It is the only botanical garden in the world dedicated to the display and study of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads and ferns, and other tropical plants.

At the downtown Sarasota campus, a thoughtfully-designed Children’s Rainforest Garden invites families to relax, explore and play. With a 100-year-old banyan tree as its centerpiece, the rainforest garden features a waterfall, forest pool, canopy walk and rope bridge, a rock canyon and more.

Selby Gardens’ 30-acre Historic Spanish Point campus on Little Sarasota Bay in Osprey is one of Florida’s largest waterfront preserves showcasing native Florida plants. This campus features a Native Butterfly Garden and the region’s only Butterfly House designed to educate and delight families.

 

 

Central Florida Gardens

Bok Tower Gardens

Amid rolling hills of citrus groves between Tampa and Orlando, Bok Tower Gardens feels a world away from I-4 traffic and theme parks. Created as a place to “touch the soul with its beauty and quiet” by editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Bok, Bok Tower Gardens is a truly serene retreat.

This Central Florida garden features nearly 50 acres of Olmsted gardens, a 2.5-acre children’s garden and a majestic 205-foot Singing Tower featuring a 60-bell carillon.

Originally called Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower, these awe-inspiring Florida gardens and Singing Tower were gifted to the American people in 1929 by Bok. He presented them as a lasting token of his appreciation for the opportunities he was given as an immigrant.

Visit these Tampa Bay area gardens during the spring for peak bloom season highlighted by azaleas, camellias and magnolias.

Kids enjoy exploring the Hammock Hollow Children’s Garden complete with climbing features, musical activities, fairy houses and refreshing water play.

The centerpiece of Bok Tower Gardens is the enchanting “Rapunzel” Tower, as my daughter called it. The Singing Tower captivates children and adults alike. It’s surrounded by a moat filled with vibrant Koi fish. Fish food is available to purchase. 

Hollis Garden

One of the top things to do in Lakeland, Hollis Garden is a picturesque Tampa Bay area garden overlooking Lake Mirror.

Set over 1.2 acres in formal neo-classical architectural design, Hollis Garden showcases over 10,000 flowers, ornamental shrubs and shade trees. Patterned flower beds, an elegant swan fountain and glittering lake views captivate this Florida garden’s visitors.

Maintained by the City of Lakeland Parks & Recreation, Hollis Garden is free to the public. Note that the garden is closed on Mondays and hours vary by season.

Cypress Gardens: Tampa Bay Area Gardens at LEGOLAND Florida

While channeling my inner five-year-old at LEGOLAND Florida in Winter Haven a few years ago, I had no idea that I’d find a historic Florida botanical garden nestled within the theme park.

Florida’s first theme park where electric boats once glided through tropical canals, Cypress Gardens is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Originally opened in 1936 and maintained by LEGOLAND Florida since 2011, the tranquil Central Florida botanical garden includes LEGO tributes to Cypress Gardens’ iconic Southern Belles.

LEGOLAND Florida also continues the tradition of Cypress Gardens’ water ski shows that began in the 1940s. The shows now feature a LEGO pirate theme.

A perfect place to take a breather during a LEGOLAND Florida family adventure, these long-loved Tampa Bay area gardens feature exotic plants from all over the world including palms, banana trees, azaleas and camellias.

A giant banyan tree that was planted as a seedling in 1939 is a breathtaking highlight of the garden.

 

 

Which one of these lovely Tampa Bay area gardens are you most interested in visiting? Let me know in the comments.

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