Marie Selby Botanical Gardens provides 45 acres of bayfront sanctuaries connecting people with air plants of the world, native nature, and our regional history. Established by forward-thinking women of their time, Selby Gardens is composed of the 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus and the 30-acre Historic Spanish Point campus in the Osprey area of Sarasota County, Florida. The Downtown Sarasota campus on Sarasota Bay 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. There is a significant focus on botany, horticulture, education, historical preservation, and the environment. Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus features the world’s first net positive energy botanical garden complex, generating more energy than it consumes. The Historic Spanish Point campus is located less than 10 miles south along Little Sarasota Bay. One of the largest preserves showcasing native Florida plants and active archaeology that is interpreted for and open to the public, it celebrates an archaeological record that encompasses approximately 5,000 years of Florida history. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a Smithsonian Affiliate and is also accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Selby Gardens was named one of Time magazine’s “World’s Greatest Places 2024,” recognized in The Wall Street Journal as “Best of Architecture of 2024,” selected as USA Today “2025 Top 10 Botanical Gardens in the U.S.,” featured in Vogue Magazine 2025 “Best Botanical Gardens in the US,” and honored with a 2025 Global Vision Award by Travel + Leisure.
Selby Gardens is an important destination along Florida’s Cultural Coast.
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Affiliations
Accredited institution with the American Alliance of Museums
Member, American Public Gardens Association