Today begins National Public Gardens Week, which starts on the Friday before Mother’s Day – with this year’s celebration May 6-15, 2022. I enjoyed a visit to the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens today to honor this special week by photographing beautiful flowers and plants, and to show support for this public treasure.
I’ve visited Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens many times over the years, and it never disappoints with its historic tropical garden created in 1919 by botanist Dr. Henry Nehrling, with zoo animals added in 1969 by well-known zoo operators Jungle Larry and Safari Jane.
Rich History of Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens
There’s a rich and fascinating history for Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens, including consultations with the renowned Dr. Nehrling who was sought out by Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Edison, to name a couple.
Be sure to visit the “History” page on the Zoo’s website to read about this icon of Florida attractions – both zoological and botanical. It’s a fascinating read!
The Value of our Public Gardens
Today’s blog post for The Daily Artisan features the Zoo’s botanical aspects I photographed, but I’m planning a future post in my VISIT series that will focus on the complete property including the zoo and animals. At the end of this post, you’ll find the contact information for the Zoo.
Wandering through this beautiful place with camera in hand – especially during National Public Gardens Week – was a great reminder of the value our communities receive from our public gardens. Southwest Florida, where I live, is blessed to have many such places, and they exist all over the country and the world.
The educational outreach and conservation focus are significant to us as individuals, a community, and a global society. It’s important for us to support these gems and remember to enjoy them for celebrating and preserving all the beautiful nature around us.
Extra Green and Light in Southwest Florida Today
In Southwest Florida, we’ve unusually had a good bit of rain over the past week, and it’s made green trees and grasses particularly lush. I noticed this today at the Zoo, where there was an abundance of bright, full green for photos.
In addition to the green, the light today was especially pretty and interesting. There were times I would just stand and wonder at its beauty, and other times in surprise.
This photograph shows dreamy orange and blue water from a quiet moment today. I couldn’t quite get my mind around it until I realized it was tannins from the mangrove trees that had turned the water orange, and the blue was the sky reflecting onto it.
There are a couple of foreground leaves photographs with an almost foggy background that I like. I had ducked under branches to get close to the water’s edge, and this magical scene just opened up. It was so pretty, and also gave a moment of coolness from the unseasonably hot day!
Here are some more of the photographs I took while walking in Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens. Please remember to support these special places all year long, and especially during National Public Gardens Week!
Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens is located at 1590 Goodlette-Frank Rd, Naples, Florida, 34102. Telephone: 239-920-2085. Website: https://www.napleszoo.org.
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