Pro tip: always grab a bottle of water before you start your tour of a 50-acre botanical garden in central Florida, even if it is February.  Otherwise, you may end up at the opposite end of the garden — surrounded by stunning Camellia blooms — when a part of your brain starts whining, “Are we done yet? I’m thiiiirsty.”  Trust me — it’s a tough task to fully appreciate the 230+ cultivars of Camellias Leu Gardens has on display when your brain is acting like a three-year-old at an art museum, so just make sure to bring water along.

Not that I ever need an excuse to visit a botanical garden, but if I did, the Camellias would have been it.  I had been dying to see the legendary winter bloomer since my fall visit to the Mobile Botanical Garden, where a staffer told me about their amazing “winter garden,” in bloom from December-March.  As soon as I learned I had a few hours to spare after a conference in Orlando, my early February trip to Leu Gardens was pretty much a done deal.

I can only imagine the eye rolls I must have received from the locals when they saw the giddy look on my face as I left the welcome center and headed towards the tropical stream garden.  As a midwesterner who is used to brown and boring scenery during the winter months, I get way too excited at the sight of green plants December thru February.

Along the short walk to the garden entrance, I came across the first of 13 garden-themed sculptures made out of LEGO bricks, part of a traveling exhibit titled “Art with LEGO Bricks” by Sean Kenney.  Very cool, and I would recommend you visit if the exhibit comes to a garden near you.

As I entered the garden, I was immediately reminded of why I love visiting gardens when I travel.  Right in front of me was a Dracaena Marginata — a houseplant where I’m from — growing happily in the ground as part of the tropical garden.  And then I looked up to see a tree straight out of a fairy tale’s evil forest:

A few other shots from the tropical stream garden, below. The one downside to a more natural planting of a botanical garden is fewer markings, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to find the specifics on these.  Any ideas?  Let me know in the comments.

I continued on my journey through the idea garden, vegetable garden, herb garden, and white garden until I reached the area where light was streaming from heaven and the angels were singing: the Camellia garden.  I apologize in advance if you’re not a Camellia fan (though I have to wonder what’s wrong with you) — if that’s the case, just scroll for awhile.

It was somewhere right about here where I realized I was parched.  (Why did I think it was a good idea to wear a long-sleeved shirt?  It was 75 degrees!)  Luckily, I came across this beautiful gazebo where I could sit and enjoy the blooms for awhile.

After leaving the Camellia gardens, I wandered through the more formal rose garden.  While it wasn’t in bloom this time of year, I can only imagine how pretty it must look when it is.  I’m not a huge fan of roses in my own garden after several  fights — I mean prunings — with overgrown Double Knock Outs at my old house (long sleeves did nothing to protect my arms), but I can sure appreciate their beauty when someone else is dealing with the maintenance.

Next up were the bamboo and palm gardens, another reminder that I was far from home.  At one point when I lived in town, I was so tired of feeling like I lived in a fishbowl that I actually thought about using hardy bamboo as a privacy screen around the backyard.  Can you imagine what that would have looked like in the middle of a subdivision in Kansas?

If you happened to be visiting the gardens at the same time, I was the annoying one who kept stopping to take pictures OF EVERYTHING.  I may or may not have ended up with over 150 pictures.  But how do you not take pictures of a giant tree with ferns growing on the branches or Crepe Myrtles that look like “ghost trees”?

The last stop on my tour was an overlook over the small lake, complete with wetland stream, water lilies, and fish.

As I sat to gather my thoughts on a bench overlooking the lake, I felt so grateful to be outdoors, in a garden.  At Leu Gardens, I was enchanted by the vibrant colors, unusual plants, and incredible blooms; the chirping of the birds, rustle of the leaves under scampering lizards, and whisper of the wind through the palm trees; the fragrance of flowers in bloom and the smell of sweet earth.  Yes, the sights, sounds, and smells of a garden may be a little different depending on the location of the garden; but for me, when I’m in a garden, stress melts away and I’m home.

Luckily at my ACTUAL home I have easy access to water when I’m in my garden– because my serene moment of gratitude was  cut short by my screaming toddler brain begging for a drink.  Oh, well.  It was a lovely visit; time to pack up, head back to the welcome center, and find some H20.