Join in on the secret: Selby’s Secret Garden

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a wonderful oasis on Sarasota Bay. On any typical day, visitors can stroll through several gardens including a tropical conservatory, a fern garden, a banyan grove, a bromeliad garden, butterfly garden, fragrance garden and much more. This time of year, however, Selby Gardens has even more to offer with a special exhibit.

Secret Garden

Selby Gardens offers a unique experience through Nov. 27 with their Secret Garden. Transport through time to the Victorian-era and wander through a 1880s hot house with vignettes of tropical plants and fanciful statuary. Make your way through open air gardens to an exhibition of botanical illustrations from the 18th and 19th centuries. These pieces, part of the secret vault of Selby Gardens, illustrate the science of botany. It’s a collection, typically hidden in the institution’s research library, that is rarely seen by the public.

Sunsets

There’s more, however, to enjoy. Each Wednesday evening till Nov. 23, join in on Sunsets at Selby’s Secret Garden. Stroll through the conservatory and garden with cocktail in hand to the sound of live music. The price of admission includes lite bites, beer, wine and a signature cocktail, as well as complimentary on-site parking. It’s an affair you won’t want to miss!

#ShowYourSelby Contest

When you visit, be sure to #ShowYourSelby and enter into a photo contest currently running. Selby Gardens is giving away weekly prizes of orchids for photos submitted in its contest, and will give away an annual membership to the grand prize winner! Enter through the end of November.