Saturday, February 27, 2016 -- There's a garden show today, and because it's cool (about 65 degrees) and windy, we decided to go.  

The start point was a garden club just up the road toward Key Largo from us. 

There was a festival of crafts and art objects as well as free coffee, tea, basil lemonade, as well as cookies and brownies. 

Well, after the $25 per person donation, maybe the cookies were not so "free."

The Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center was also on the list of places to be visited, but we've seen enough of that recently.  We moved on to the first garden on the tour, "Zen" fandel at 158 Rushton Lane, a short walk away.

"Zen" fandel

This garden featured a lot of small spots with an Asian flair, and good explanations of the plants and their characteristics.  I liked the way the owner used what came to hand, and seemed to trust Mother Nature to decide.

Next was "Villa Verde" at 603 Burton Drive, also not far away from our marina. I've run by here in the mornings on the way to Harry Harris Park and noticed all the painted crab trap floats hanging in the trees.  It apparently  belongs to a family who have been in Tavernier many years.  They have six lots backing up to a lake.

I kind of liked the cactus garden here (above) as well as the plaque with instructions for how to survive a hurricane (right).  They also had a nice firepit and outdoor grill area built of brick retrieved from a sunken Spanish ship -- the brick had been ballast.





The last garden on the tour was a spectacular one up the road toward Key Largo.  At 106 Point Pleasant Drive, it was a little hard to find, but a spectacular location for a house.

Entrance to Point Pleasant

 The artificial turf made a lot of sense under the tree canopy which the owner admitted made growing grass a challenge.  I was surprised the garden club allow a site with artificial grass on the tour, but it was beautiful, with orchids growing in the water oaks in the front yard.

However, the back garden facing the bay is dramatic.