Naples Botanical Garden is the #1 rated attraction on tripadvisor, and i know why…because it’s fantastic. i took a more ridiculous amount of photos than usual, and did my best to whittle them way, way down, but there are still a preponderance of them. because i loved it so much.
it’s a pretty new garden – it was founded in 1993, and in 2000, a guy bequeathed $5 million to create the garden, they completed the garden master plan in 2006, and it wasn’t finished till 2014! so it’s very new.
here’s the first batch of photos.
i saw this beautiful flower right as we were walking in.
this is a big open space with a lily pond and an infinity pool and a lovely piece of sculpture in the back.
we were especially lucky because until april 10th, there’s an instillation of lego sculptures all over the park – they’re done by Sean Kenney, the “world’s first LEGO certified professional.” hmm, i wonder how he got this very professional certification? Lego university, i assume?
here’s the first one we saw, and they were all awesome.
i’d never seen a silk floss tree.
lego eagle!
i have no idea what this plant could be…these red pods were kind of fuzzy.
here’s the infinity lily pond from the other side.
lego gardener
all over were so many vibrantly beautiful flowers! there were definitely a lot more people here than at the swamp sanctuary, but because we weren’t all on one path, it never felt too crowded.
lego bird on a lego sundial
lego lawn tractor
i love this plant – in the background is a lake, which you could walk all around, but we didn’t choose to. maybe we’d have seen an alligator? it would have been pretty hot out there. in the garden there was plenty of shade, plus lots of places to sit and enjoy it all.
ok, enough pictures for now…lots more to follow!
mrs. g. hughes.