Gardens Blog
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Attendees of the 2022 World Bromeliad Conference got a bonus with this June’s event: access to one of the best scientifically documented collections of bromeliads in the world, right here at Selby Gardens! The biannual show, put on by the Bromeliad Society...
If you’ve ever prepared a batch of chocolate chip cookies or a classic crème brûlée, you know that vanilla extract or beans are must-have ingredients. You probably have some in your pantry at home right now. But have you ever thought about how that baking staple makes...
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Sarasota-Manatee EcoFlora Project is seeking partners and participants for this year's City Nature Challenge.  The City Nature Challenge is an international effort to get people outside to document their local biodiversity. Over the...
Written by Shawn McCourt, Ph.D., Plant Records KeeperFigure 1. Blooming flatwoods plum (P. umbellata) draped in Spanish moss on the perimeter of MSBG’s downtown campus (Photo by Sandra Robinson)Figure 2. Chickasaw plum (P. angustifolia) in bloom along Mound Ave. at...
Flowers of the pink trumpet tree at Selby Gardens' Downtown Sarasota campus (Photo by Bruce K. Holst)Written by Shawn McCourt, Ph.D., Plant Records Keeper Just beside the path south of the Children’s Rainforest Garden at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ downtown campus...
Photo by Dave VitoloPhoto by Dave VitoloAloe marlothii (Mountain Aloe) is a beautiful succulent that displays grayish-green leaves all year long. During the winter months, it is in full bloom and at the downtown campus of Selby Gardens, visitors can find this...
Written by Shawn McCourt, Ph.D. Plant Records Keeper On the west side of the Great Lawn that stretches southwards from the historic Selby House at MSBG’s downtown campus is a beautiful, golden-flowered small tree that is often overlooked by visitors until the winter...
 Written by Shawn McCourt, Ph.D.Plant Records Keeper Just a stone’s throw from some of the most popular beach destinations in the country, and mostly overlooked by the more than 2.5 million tourists who visit southwest Florida each year, a tall, slender, succulent...
By Elizabeth Gandy, Curatorial Assistant Celtis laevigata, commonly known as hackberry or sugarberry, is an easily overlooked small to large tree found in wet to mesic hammocks throughout Florida and much of the United States (Image 1). With an affinity for calcareous...
Cattleya percivaliana blooming in Wedding Oak at downtown campus (Photo by Aaron Fink) Blooming now in the “Wedding Oak” just west of the Payne Mansion at Selby’s downtown campus is a beautiful lavender-colored orchid with large flowers that is often underlooked by...