This is garden two, the Tuscawilla Preserve at the (slightly odd) Museun of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Fl. The preserve is not truly a garden, but is a preserved area of a hydric hammock, that is, not quite wet enough to be a wetland, but the soil is mostly saturated. Trees growing in saturated soil must have some adaptations to live in these environments, like roots close to the surface, aerial roots, or these:
Buttress Roots, to increase stability in high winds.
After driving around the asphalt, concrete, strip-malled area around the preserve, I found it to be a refreshing echo of what interior Florida must have been in the pre-development era (the garden is 7-8 miles inland). From the boardwalk (which makes walking possible) you get a sense of the dense nature of palmetto scrub:
You can hear the world around you (traffic noises), but once you are in the scrub, you cannot see very far at all.
At the entry to the garden is a small water garden and planted area. It has a few small ponds and, of course:
An orange tree or three.
If you are in the area, it is a pleasant walk!
Happy garden visits!
1 comment:
Part II's, uh, garden, is more interesting than the first one. I'd definitely enjoy it, as it would be new and different. It has somewhat of a jungle look, based on childrens' book illustrations I've seen. :)
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