The rain has stopped for now so one more stop before heading to my hotel. Naples Botanical Garden is an easy, short 20 minute drive from Seed to Table. The garden is quite different from Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota. It is set up into four distinct gardens, representing Brazil, Florida, Caribbean, and Asia.

There is also a hike into the Florida Uplands Preserve that leads you through a scrubland. It’s now getting too hot to be walking around in the steamy Florida weather. I explored it enough to get an idea and saw some Pond Apple trees.

Back onto the paved paths and starting with the Brazilian area, the beautiful water lily pond draws everyone there first.

Lots of unusual plantings throughout the garden, indigenous to the areas.

The Asian area also included some statues and art displays.

A pavilion near the end of the garden walk had a display of art by local artists. Their painting and photographs included many of the plants visible in the garden.

Definitely worth a visit in cooler weather when many more blooms will be visible. The variety and well designed gardens make the experience a delight.

A final tidbit I learned. These gardens were developed on reclaimed land from a torn down strip mall and designed from scratch opening in 2009. Harvey Kapnick, a Naples philanthropist, purchased the 170 acres of that land in the late 1990s and donated it to the Garden foundation. His gift provided the core property for what’s now the Garden. Harvey Kapnick was the CEO of Arthur Andersen & Co. in the 1970’s. And a strange life intersection…..I had met him when I was also working there in my early career.