Two worlds collide in South Florida, and they aren’t always complementary: natural habitats and landscaping.
In the old science fiction novels they called it “terraforming” when someone was going to change a planet’s surface so humans could live on it.
Entrance to Naples Botanical GardenIt used to be that homebuilders struck a harmonious balance with Florida’s habitats, tucking ranch homes under the oak canopy and putting houses on pilings in Florida. No more.
The bulldoze, ditch, and fill mentality took over sometime in the past twenty years and with it, we’ve watched uncounted acres of natural habitats scraped off the earth. Permanently.
Boardwalks of sustainable woodStrolling through Naples Botanical Garden, we found proof that buildings, landscaping, and nature can live in harmony.
The LEED-certified structures are both indoors and outdoors at once, using wood that evokes the region: cypress planks salvaged from cypresses sunk long ago in Florida’s rivers.
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Overview
Location: Naples
Length: Up to 2 miles
Trailhead: 26.10608, -81.77112
Address: 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples
Fees: $27 adults, $12 ages 4-17
Restroom: At the main building
Phone: 239-643-7275
Open 9-5 daily; members can arrive an hour earlier.
Directions
Follow US 41 east from Naples to Bayshore Drive. Continue south on Bayshore Drive to the gardens entrance.
About the Gardens
Leaving the entrance pavilion to launch into the carefully crafted gardens, we could see a ribbon of wetlands.
It stretches to the horizon, dividing the formal landscapes in two, evoking views along the Tamiami Trail farther east in the Big Cypress Swamp.
Central wetlandsWe were drawn to a tunnel formed from mature saw palmetto, much like we’d see on many trails.
It led into the first themed area, a Children’s Garden with a butterfly garden, Cracker house, and chickees between big trees.
A native Florida trail winds its way to shell mounds, wetlands, and a cypress swamp, with plenty of places to play and get wet along the way.
Shell mounds and chickeesBeyond: a choice. Brazil, or the Florida Uplands Preserve? Eventually we did both.
Naples Botanical Garden has a clever theme, “Gardens with Latitude,” under which both fit: from 26* North (here) to 26* South (there).
Gardens with Latitude mapFocusing on tropicals within this zone means there is something in bloom all year.
As we discovered as we wandered, the formal gardens are buffered with wild spaces. And yes, there are hiking trails through those native habitats.
Florida Uplands PreserveIn the Florida Uplands Preserve, a boardwalk over a pond apple forest forms the gateway to the pine flatwoods and beyond, the scrub.
These well-drained sands are home to patches of Florida rosemary and sand spike moss, as well as gopher tortoises.
Scrubby flatwoodsTrail’s end is with an intersection with a perimeter trail along a chain of wetlands including Lake Tupke, a tribute to a Seminole herbalist.
The perimeter trail leads to another wild area: the South Wetland Preserve.
South Wetland PreserveActive removal of melaleuca has been going on for some time through this vast open space.
The birds certainly appreciate it, as do the birders who visit the boardwalk and birding overlook.
Wetlands with islands for the birdsWe also found places to slip out of the hot sun and rest. John kicked back in the Enabling Garden while I visited the extensive plumeria plantings.
When I returned, he pointed to the sign. “It says this all over the garden, and yet no one came over to me!”
The Enabling Garden encourages touchWe haven’t seen a Florida garden as extensive as this one other than at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables.
But the twist here is one they didn’t have there: this is a young garden. The year they opened, there was only a tiny garden next to a mosaic wall.
Donated one-of-a-kind mosaic in the Brazilian GardenMost of their acreage was covered in a heartbreaking assortment of invasives. How did the Naples Botanical Garden grow so well since?
It doesn’t hurt to have kindly donors. Willing volunteers. Members who frequent the gardens because it’s a great place to read a book or paint.
The gardens are full of niches to kick back and relaxBut an unexpected key to their success in growing thematic gardens was individuals willing to part with mature tropical trees and plants.
Already established in the rich Everglades soil, they rooted quickly. The results speak for themselves.
A mature PlumeriaExplore More!
Slideshow
See our photos from Naples Botanical Garden
Nearby Adventures
Rookery Bay NERR Protecting vast mangrove forests and coastal habitats between Naples and Ten Thousand Islands NWR, Rookery Bay NERR encompasses a mind-boggling 110,000 acres.
Gordon River Greenway Get a new perspective on Naples along the Gordon River Greenway, where you can hike, bike, or paddle through the city's urban mangrove forest.
Dr. Robert H Gore III Preserve In a lesser-known corner of the Big Cypress Swamp, Dr. Robert H Gore III Preserve immerses hikers in truly wild South Florida landscapes on its nature trails.
Collier-Seminole Prairie Hammock Trail A parade of habitats awaits in a lesser-visited corner of Collier-Seminole State Park on this multiuse loop utilizing portions of the Old Marco Road built in the early 1900s.
- Hal Scott Yellow Trail - November 3, 2026
- Hal Scott Preserve - October 28, 2026
- Tradewinds Park - October 27, 2026