Despite a battering from hurricanes in 2024, Marie Selby Gardens continues to present joyful sensory and learning experiences.
Centered on a “rainforest under glass,” it is home to many specialized gardens.
Orchids are their specialtyThese range from succulents and cycads to a banyan grove, mangrove walkway, and tropical fruit and medicinal gardens.
Its delightful Children’s Rainforest Garden isn’t just for kids. Enjoy a canopy walkway among splashing waterfalls and educational stops on rainforest research.
Canopy walk among the banyansSeasonal displays bring additional color and ornamentation to the gardens. Our most recent visit was just as the Christmas displays opened.
While the gardens are not inexpensive to visit, consider a membership if you live within an easy drive. Membership includes nearby Historic Spanish Point as well.
An immersive seasonal walkwayResources
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Overview
Location: Sarasota
Entrance: 27.328352,-82.539812
Address: 1534 Mound St, Sarasota
Fees: $28 adults, $12 ages 5-17
Restroom: Near the entrance
Phone: 941-366-5731
Open 10-5 daily, 10-3 on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Closed Christmas. Leashed dogs welcome; pick up after your pet.
Directions
From Interstate 75 exit 210 in Sarasota, take Fruitville Rd east 7 miles into downtown. Turn left on US 41 and drive south 0.9 mile to Palm Ave. Look for signage pointing you to parking.
About the Gardens
Opened in 1973, Selby Gardens exists thanks to Marie Selby, heiress to an oil fortune and quite the adventurer in her day.
The spirit of adventure lives on with the gardens’ focus on epiphytes, “plants that grow on plants” from around the world.
Learn about Marie along the orchid walkway and in the Selby HouseKnown for its orchids, Selby Gardens also studies and displays bromeliads and gesneriads.
Its collection of more than 96,000 plant specimens makes it one of the world’s top research destinations for the study of epiphytes.
One of many orchids overheadFor the visiting public, this translates to gardens graced with tropical trees and an abundance of orchids. Their Tropical Conservatory is a must-see.
Across 15 acres fronting Sarasota Bay, thematic garden spaces range from butterfly attractors to desert plants. Views of the bay are some of the best in the city.
Bayfront lawnAlthough the shoreline boardwalks and pathways were badly battered in 2024 and require rebuilding, most grand trees proved resilient.
Intimate niche gardens offer quiet spots for reflection.
A well-hidden niche near the Selby HouseAt the north end of the gardens, the former Christy Payne Mansion is now a museum housing rotating displays of botanical art.
A smaller structure nearby provides a classroom setting for workshops.
Christy Payne MansionAt the south end of the gardens, their Children’s Garden is a world-class immersion into a re-created rainforest.
It has swinging bridges, splashing cascades, and plenty of outdoor play spaces beneath a canopy of massive ficus trees.
Ramp into the rainforestExplore the Gardens
Start your garden stroll upon exiting the parking garage, walking below the cascading vines of the Matson Vertical Garden.
On the opposite side of the courtyard is the Welcome Center. For entrance to the main gardens, head here for tickets.
Welcome Center complexA gallery space within the breezeway showcases research by the botanists of Marie Selby Gardens.
During our visit, a highlight was orchid blossoms suspended in glass jars from the gardens’ collection of spirit specimens, a method of preserving flowers in fluid.
Spirit specimentsNumbering 35,000 jars, their spirit specimen collection is the second largest in the world.
The adjacent Plant Research Center has restrooms and a movie theater presenting an overview of the gardens and its history.
Relaxing garden space in front of the Research CenterPassing a Cascade Garden on one wall of the Welcome Center, cross a courtyard of garden spaces with clusters of seating and a city street.
Join a sidewalk adjoining Palm Avenue along the outer fence of the main gardens. Enter through the new main entrance.
Plantings adjoin the sidewalkTo the left, banyan trees planted in 1939 crown the multi-story Children’s Rainforest Garden. Straight ahead is the Selby House.
It serves as a cafe, with restrooms on the far side. Inside are a series of panels celebrating Marie Selby’s adventuresome life.
Selby HouseTo start a counterclockwise circuit of the gardens, turn right. A waterfall splashes into a pond within a secluded grotto.
Reaching a pergola draped in orchids, turn right to reach the entrance into the Tropical Conservatory to immerse in its botanical bounty.
Since another phase of renovations are underway, it may not be open at this time.
Orchid passagewayA left at the orchid-draped passageway leads to a red archway. Beyond it is a small outdoor room.
Inside this intimate space are classic bonsai, including some unexpected species like ficus and sea grape.
The Bonsai RoomContinue along the pathway through a bamboo garden and a palm garden to reach the waterfront along Sarasota Bay.
Cactus and Spanish bayonet emerge from a spill of oyster shells, a midden marking the transition to a natural mangrove shoreline.
Bayfront middenPassing in front of the Event Center, walk beneath tall pines and under gnarled sand live oaks to the botanical museum at the former Christy Payne Mansion.
On the bay side, a fountain burbles in a shallow cove where a natural surface nature trail loops into the coastal mangroves.
Cove along Sarasota BayA pavered path leads to the city-facing side of the mansion, guarded by large live oaks laden with tropical bromeliads.
If the mansion is open, wander inside to see the current displays; if not, relax on a rocking chair on the porch.
Front of the mansionBacktrack along the bayfront to a fork in the path and bear right to stay along the natural waterfront.
While roughed up by Hurricane Milton, it’s undoubtedly rebounded since. Hopefully the Mangrove Observation Boardwalk has been rebuilt, too.
The damaged waterfront was fenced off during our visitPass by the restroom end of the Selby House, continuing along a lengthy lawn towards a showy wedding pavilion.
In front of it is the windy point where Hudson Bayou meets Sarasota Bay. The outer path now turns to parallel the bayou.
Wedding pavilionWalk under the canopy and among the prop roots of a banyan tree of significant size. Spiky plants rule at the Succulent Garden, protruding from its terraces.
A respite from the barren desert habitat, the waterfront deck on Hudson Bayou provides a place to pause among the mangroves
Succulent GardenContinue through a garden of hibiscus on the approach to the Selby House and an iconic grove of banyan trees.
The Children’s Rainforest Garden is neatly fitted among them. A broad boardwalk provides a grand entrance culminating at a waterfall.
Waterfall in the gardenTurn left to sweep around into a descent into a canyon. Bamboo huts and musical sculptures invite hands-on play.
Behind the banyans are a Savage Garden of carnivorous plants and a tiered garden with vegetables.
Play huts lining the pathwayAscend out of the canyon and make a left to a ramp leading up into the faux cliffs, which have niches with cave paintings and plants.
Rise to canopy level among the branches of the immense banyan trees, with views of Hudson Bayou through them.
Hudson BayouA hut serving as a “research station” helps visitors understand how Selby’s botanists do fieldwork. Epiphytes occupy niches in the “rock” walls.
Swinging bridges connect thatched observation towers. Descend through a garden of bromeliads back to ground level.
Swinging bridgesExiting the Children’s Rainforest Garden, visit the Selby House for a snack or continue out the gates to Palm Avenue for a more substantial lunch.
The entrance complex houses a garden shop and an upscale restaurant, The Green Orchid, which uses greens and herbs grown here.
Including the walk from the parking garage, the circuit of this 15-acre complex is roughly a mile and will take at least two hours to explore.
Lunch at the Green OrchidExplore More!
Video
Exploring Marie Selby Gardens
Slideshow
See our photos from Marie Selby Gardens
Nearby Adventures
Phillippi Estate Park A historic mansion and farmhouse anchor this 60-acre county park with paddler access to Phillippi Creek, fishing piers, and shell paths along a coastal hammock.
Historic Spanish Point A prominent peninsula in Little Sarasota Bay at Osprey, Historic Spanish Point fascinates with its layer cake of Florida’s past, both human and floral.
Urfer Family Park Share nature with the kids along Bee Ridge on 1.4 miles of family-friendly trails in a popular county park with four playgrounds surrounding a 1905 home open for tours.
Celery Fields A historic agricultural area transformed into a haven for birders, Celery Fields offers easy walking, running, and biking on paved and unpaved trails built around restored wetlands.
- Hal Scott Red Trail - November 13, 2026
- Baseline Trails - November 7, 2026
- Hal Scott Yellow Trail - November 3, 2026