Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, located at 811 South Palm Avenue in Sarasota, feature 15 acres of rare tropical plants housed in under-glass displays or out in the open air.  The popular attraction includes numerous plants that are a sensory delight.

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens include an Orchid Display House with over 6,000 orchids; a colorful Koi Pond; an outdoor butterfly garden; a banyan grove; a bamboo garden, and a mangrove walkway.  The historic Selby House is open to visitors as well.  The Gardens complex also offers world-class exhibitions, breathtaking views of Sarasota Bay, and children’s programs that include "Wild Things," a poison dart frog collection, and an indoor rainforest composed of plants from rainforests worldwide.

 
The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens have received several awards and recognitions for the complex’s unique, outstanding collection and programs.  The Gardens have been voted Arts Organization of the Year by the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, Number One Garden in Florida by the readers of Florida Monthly Magazine, "One of America’s Top Ten Botanical Gardens" by Country Living Gardener Magazine, and Number One of the Top Ten "Must Do’s in Sarasota" by Sarasota Magazine.

The Marie Selby Botanical gardens are named for Marie Selby, an accomplished musician and the first woman in the United States to cross the country by car.  Marie Selby was married to Bill Selby, and together the couple purchased seven acres of land bordering the Sarasota Bay and the Hudson Bayou; they built their Spanish-style home on the property in the early 1920s, and Marie was responsible for planning landscaping.  The Botanical Gardens were officially opened to the public in the summer of 1975, as Marie Selby’s last wish.         

Today, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens cover 13 acres, and the elegant Mansion houses the Gardens’ Museum.  The Gardens’ plant collection includes over 20,000 greenhouse plants, and thousands more on display in the various outdoor gardens.  Over 180,000 guests visit the gardens every year. The Botanical Gardens also include a Center for Tropical Plant Science and Conservation, the headquarters for The Bromeliad Identification Center, the Orchid Identification Center, and the Selby Gardens’ Herbarium.  The grounds also feature a restaurant, Latitude 23.5, and two gift shops.

Admission times are daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the exception of Christmas Day.  Admission includes access to outdoor gardens, the Tropical display House, the Museum of Botany and the Arts, Wild Things, and gift shops.  Entry fees are $12.00 for adults and $6.00 for children aged 6-11; children under 6 years of age and Gardens Members are admitted free.  The regular admission price also includes access to exhibits in the Museum/Mansion, open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, and those in the Historical Selby House, open Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Special rates for groups are available on request.

The Botanical Gardens offer community classes that include art, photography, exploration, health and discovery, and exploration classes, programs for children and families, and internship programs.  The Gardens also hosts interesting and educational lectures, with topics that cover, for example, Australian Orchids and Conservation Efforts in the Amazon.  The Gardens has also hosted six international conferences since 1985.

More information about the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is available at the Gardens’ website, http://www.selby.org, or by telephone at (941) 366-5731.