Citrus

If you missed the kumquat festival this weekend in Dade City, you can always stop and admire the fruit trees at the gardens. There are several that are bearing fruit right now--include a couple of kumquat trees.

Gingers

The shade garden on the property contains some beautiful gingers. Here's one that happened to be blooming this January.

Workshops in the Gardens

On Saturday 1/20, we held a Craft & Create Day. Participants learned through hands-on workshops how to make rain barrels, growing boxes (similar to Earth Boxes) and very creative stepping stones.

Butterflies

The butterfly garden is a great spot to see butterflies flitting about.

Water Feature

This is the waterfall and pond built as part of the Jon Gifford Meditation Garden. It is located near the Hukyu Bonsai Society Bonsai Exhibit, near Lake Behnke.

Carnivorous plant bog.

Sarracenia flava, yellow pitcher plants in the carnivorous bog at the Gardens. Taken in the summer. These are mostly dormant now, but will be coming up again around March and April (maybe earlier if our weather stays so warm). The pink flowers in the foreground are Rhexia.

More January Bloomers

Antique Roses

The garden has some beautiful and very fragrant antique roses near the herb garden. Enjoy the smell!

Flame Vine and Bromeliads

If you drive on the outside of the Botanical Gardens these days you will see a beautiful orange flame vine in bloom. Also, there are a variety of bromeliads blooming in the bromeliad bed.

Best Blue Ever

The color on this plant is the best blue ever. It is an electric blue and it draws lots of beautiful butterflies in the butterfly garden.

Orchids

The gardens have an amazing collection of orchids. You can check out several that are in bloom in the conservatory.

Entrance to the orchid conservatory

You can find this nice bloomer at the back entrance to the conservatory.

Blooming Vines

These nice vine bloomers are polinated by bats! You can find them by the carnivorous plants. There are some available for sale in the plant shop.

Succulents in Bloom

The succulents are doing great this time of year. Many are in bloom.

Shade Garden

There are a number of plants in bloom in the shade garden right now. The camelias are really starting to come in, but there are surprises at every turn.

More January Photos

More January Blooms

Here are some more photos of what's blooming now.

Garden Blooms

There are many beautiful things to see at the Botanical Gardens this time of year. Over the next several days, I'll post some photos of things in bloom this January. Here are a few.

Vegetable Plots

The vegetable plots at the gardens are currently rich with winter crops. The cabbages and onions are doing quite well. Plots are available for USF students, faculty, and staff. Please contact the garden if you wish to try your hand at vegetable growing on campus.

Beginnings

A wise person once said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep.

Today, we are taking the first step on a journey to bring the USF Botanical Gardens to the Internet through this blog. We hope you enjoy the experience!

Here is a picture to set the tone for the journey.