Palma Sola Botanical Park

ABOUT THIS PLACE

The ground was the Manatee County Nursery and was saved by local effort in 1990, with a foundation incorporated to run it in 1993. It sits in a sheltered warm pocket that does not get frost, and that one accident of geography is what the whole collection rests on: plants are grown here that would be killed a few miles inland in a cold January. The holdings are rare palms, flowering trees and subtropical species, and since 2008 the Manatee Rare Fruit Council has kept a section of exotic fruit trees, which is the part most visitors linger in. Ponds run through the grounds with benches beside them. The Galleria building takes events and classes and the Baden building holds the offices and further event space. It is run by a nonprofit with volunteers rather than by the county, so donations do the work that an entrance charge would. It is a garden to walk slowly in rather than a day out