by I was excited to visit the Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida, as they were very well-rated and…well…flowers. Plus a historic home to tour and decorations for their Halloween events! I expected it to be my favorite site of the day.
But I was to be underwhelmed. I wanted to be wowed by the flowers, but instead found large areas with hardly a flower to be seen. I mean, very large areas with no flowers. And of the flowers I did see, very little was unusual. The site is supposed to feature 2,000 Camelias, which the brochure said were on bloom starting mid-October; even though it was near the end of that month, I didn’t even see any buds, never mind flowers.
The gardens are set on nearly 50 acres, with 200-year old trees providing shade. They were started in 1936 by Mr. and Mrs. Harry P. Leu, who planted many exotic (supposedly) plants from their international travels.
The gardens today include an Annual Garden with 7,000 plants, an Arid Garden (drought tolerant plants), an Azalea Collection (we were definitely out of season for that), a Bamboo Collection, a Daylily Collection (also out of season for us), a Palm Garden containing 400 species, and a Rose Garden with 650 specimens, among many other areas.
Sadly, the Butterfly Garden had hardly a butterfly to be seen
The house was a fine example of the period, but nothing especially glamorous. It was built in 1888 and saw four different families in residence over its period of use. Though the Leus are the ones who donated the gardens to the city in 1961, the rooms are set to represent all four of the families who had lived there. The furnishings were mostly “of the time”, not originals.
At any rate, I did take some photos of flowers as well as of the home interior! Please enjoy!
