It's spring, and that means it's hard to go anywhere in Sarasota without seeing something in bloom - a tree, a shrub, or a whole garden. Check out the following public

Relax among dozens of varieties of blooming roses at the Ringling Museum of Art

gardens, where budding botanists, photographers and anyone who appreciates a beautiful bloom can realize their floral fantasies.

Orchids and Education
No garden tour of Sarasota is complete without a visit to The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. It's one of Sarasota's premier attractions, and its collection of orchids is one of the finest in the world. At the gardens, the emphasis is on rare tropical plants, particularly epiphytes like orchids and bromeliads. There are more than 20,000 plants in all - 6,000 of which are orchids - in both outdoor and greenhouse gardens.

There's also a museum of botany and the arts, located in the Selby mansion, as well as an outdoor café, a poison dart frog collection, and a shop selling plants (including orchids, bromeliads, ferns and succulents), and gardening supplies and books. The gardens also offers ,b>classes, workshops and lectures.

Ringling's Roses
At the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, which is also home to the Ringling's mansion, the Cà d'Zan, walk through Mable Ringling's Rose Garden, which was supposedly her favorite part of the Ringling's 66-acre estate. The garden was completed in 1913 and is filled with roses of all colors and

A pair of flamingos pose at Sarasota Jungle Gardens

types.

Exotic Gardens
At the Sarasota Garden Club, you can follow a meandering brick path through a butterfly garden, where you'll see lots of the winged beauties, as well as colorful flowers and trees. The garden club is also home to exotic hibiscus and bromeliad gardens. And its enclosed "Falling Water Patio Garden" features a waterfall and lots of tropical foliage. All gardens are free and open to the public.

Flora and Fauna
Like fauna with your flora? Visit Sarasota Jungle Gardens, where you'll walk a brick path that winds a shady course through the entire tropical zoological park, passing by 100 different species of palms, as well as bamboo, hibiscus, and even roses. There's also a butterfly garden. Of course, you'll also see parrots, spider monkeys, alligators, turtles and flamingos.

The Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary on Lido Key contains a butterfly garden, but really, the whole sanctuary is like one big garden. Walk through lush tropical landscaping, past palm trees, fountains and a wishing pond. And of course, you'll get to see the birds, mammals and reptiles that have been nursed back to health at the sanctuary.

History in Bloom

The Sunken Garden and Pergola at Historic Spanish Point overlook Little Sarasota Bay

Back in the early 1910s, Historic Spanish Point in Osprey was the winter estate of Bertha Palmer, who designed its gardens. Check out the formal Sunken Garden and Pergola, which overlook Little Sarasota Bay. There's also the Duchene Lawn, which features two rows of Queen Palms, Phoenix Reclinatas and a Washington Palm. Stroll along the Jungle Walk, a path through tropical vegetation, by a miniature aquaduct. Duck under the aquaduct to get to the Fern Walk, where you'll see ferns, palms and sansevieria. The 30-acre site also features a butterfly garden, a prehistoric Indian burial mound, two shell mounds and a pioneer homestead.

At the Crowley Museum and Nature Center, there's a small wildlife garden, with plants native to Crowley, as well as a pioneer vegetable garden, with sugar cane, carrots, sweet potatoes, gourds and peanuts. The center, located on 190 acres adjacent to the Myakka River, contains both a nature preserve and a pioneer history area.

Native Plants
At Oscar Scherer State Park, also in Osprey, walk the half-mile Lester Finley nature trail, which meanders along South Creek. It will take you past two butterfly gardens, home to butterfly-friendly plants like beautyberry, hog plum and dotted horsemint. All the plants in the gardens are native to Florida, and can be found growing wild in the park.

The Florida House Learning Center is home to several demonstration gardens that feature plants native to Florida's coastal, pine flatwoods and wetlands communities. There are grasses, wildflowers, herbs, vegetables and fruit trees. And there's a butterfly garden, a wildlife garden and a water garden. Pick up literature on the different plants at mailboxes spread throughout the expansive site.

Kid-Friendly Gardens
Even without kids in tow, a visit to The Children's Garden, a whimsical acre-and-a-half of land with a maze, pirate ship, tree fort and 12-foot dragon, is fun. Adults come to see the butterfly garden, roses in the secret garden and orchids.

If you go:
The Children's Garden: 941-330-1711, www.floridasecrets.com

Crowley Museum & Nature Center: 941-322-1000, www.crowleymuseumnaturectr.org

Florida House Learning Center: 941-316-1200, sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/FHLC/flahouse.html

Historic Spanish Point: 941-966-5214, www.historicspanishpoint.org

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art: 941-351-1660, www.ringling.org

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens: 941-366-5731, www.selby.org

Oscar Scherer State Park: 941-483-5956, www.floridastateparks.org/oscarscherer

Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary: 941-388-4444, www.pelicanman.org

Sarasota Garden Club: 941-955-0875, hometown.aol.com/sgcgarden

Sarasota Jungle Gardens: 941-355-5305, www.sarasotajunglegardens.com

Originally posted 3/28/06