Spending time in Sarasota at Selby Gardens

Whether you are making plans to visit Sarasota while on vacation this holiday season or you are trying to figure out how to spend some of your free time in your own hometown, you may consider spending a lovely afternoon exploring Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. This is one of the most beautiful and memorable attractions in Sarasota, and it is well worth exploring for a few hours with your family this holiday season. Even if you have already explored the gardens and the mansion in the past, this is a beautiful venue worth visiting repeatedly with your family.

Selby Gardens is a magnificent, 14 acre estate that features an amazing range of horticultural displays as well as 12 historical buildings and seven greenhouses. The botanical gardens are best known for housing over 6,000 fragrant orchids, but you will also find other types of vegetation here. In fact, with a stroll through the botanical gardens, you will find hibiscus, cycad, bonsai, cacti, bamboo, ferns, bromeliads, gesneriads, various fruit trees, mangroves and other domestic and exotic plants. In addition, you can also explore the beautiful Christy Payne Mansion. The mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and boasts a collection of artwork and spectacular Southern Colonial-style architecture.

You and your family can lose yourselves for hours this holiday season strolling through the fragrant gardens and exploring the mansion. With the mild winters in Sarasota, the weather will be perfect for spending time outdoors. If you are traveling into the area from a colder region, a stroll through the botanical gardens can give you an almost spring-like experience. The botanical garden is open to the public year-round except for Christmas Day. Be sure to bring your camera along so that you can capture the beauty of Selby Gardens on film!