Who knew you could fit 12 different gardens on a small 3.5-acre plot and still have room for a nursery?
The Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, 1489 Parker Avenue, Spring Hill, Florida, has done just that.
A wide brick path heavily shaded by tall trees meanders the acreage. The Gardens are open daily from dawn to dusk. There is no charge. On Mondays, Wednesday or Fridays volunteers will give you a tour in the mornings.
Or do it on your own – that is what three of us did on a recent weekday. We parked in their well-shaded lot and walked toward an Entrance sign. Immediately we were distracted by a sign on a fence saying: Spring Hill Garden Club Nursery & Plant Sales: Hours: 9-12 Saturdays and Mondays.
We stared greedily at the rows of blooming flowers lined up on long tables behind a chain link fence. How cruel to put the plant sales section right there before getting to the Gardens then compound the pain, as it is not Saturday or Monday!!
But we got lucky. Volunteers (more about them later) were about and let us in the chain link fence.
We met neat people and I found a beautyberry in a small pot – just the thing I’ve wanted for my back garden. The birds will love it.
My recommendation: Show up at Nature Coast Botanical Gardens on Monday or Saturday mornings OR come to one of their events –
Saturday, March 23, a garage sale on the street in front of the Gardens from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Garden club members are donating stuff (read treasures). All proceeds go to support the gardens.
Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., their 2019 Spring Plant Sale. This is big
Our plant cravings satisfied we wandered into the Gardens, past a waterfall that stood above a garden railroad. Seriously, there is a train on the track. Does it work? We didn’t find out. Seated nearby were artists, colorful in their own right with straw hats and bright blouses, enjoying the variety of garden groupings. The Gardens are popular with artists and it is easy to see why.
A little further on we were torn between going into a Desert Scape on the left or a Butterfly Garden on the right. We opted for butterflies.
I so like this area. It isn’t picture perfect with clipped hedges and no weeds. Instead the Butterfly Garden is a bit on the wild side, and I suspect the butterflies like it that way.
Just past the Butterfly Garden is a sign saying Secret Garden. I have expected to see a hidden garden gate. When you were growing up did you read “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett? It first appeared in 1911 and has charmed children ever since – a secret garden where transformation restores the spirit.
Not unlike this place – each garden at Nature Coast Botanical Gardens is a transformation into its own special place. Like the Asian Garden or the children’s favorite – the Fantasy Garden.
As we moved through the different gardens I couldn’t help but wonder – how do they do all this in a small space?
Their secret?
A creative volunteer cadre made up of some 60 dedicated people do all this work at Nature Coast Botanical Gardens and they’re looking for more.
“We need young people,” said Vicki Buetcner, a volunteer, speaking as she sliced thick roots from a root-bound muhly grass.
Donations of time and money always needed. And seriously volunteers are always welcome. Just show up – work individually or on larger projects. But I have to forewarn you – arriving here means a very good chance you will be taking home something on a pot, or two, or three . . .
Did you know?
A large number of private gardens in Florida have labyrinths you can visit. Read all about it, and find labyrinths in your area in “Circle the Center Labyrinths in Florida” by Lucy Tobias.
