Sarasota Garden Club celebrates five years of Gardens in Paradise
Visitors took part in a garden-gazing tour through six private gardens on March 17.
By
Shane Donglasan
| 6:40 p.m. March 18, 2018
Sarasota
Neighbors
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Six private gardens opened their gates to visitors on March 17 as part of the Sarasota Garden Club’s annual Gardens in Paradise Tour. Enthusiasts took a self-guided tour of gardens in homes located along flower-named streets of the West of Trail neighborhood. The gardens featured a spectrum of horticultural diversity with gardens growing native Florida species, tropical plants, succulents and other plant varieties.
“We like to take the tour all over Sarasota and we never brought the tour to this neighborhood,” said Jackie Cutrone, a Sarasota Garden Club volunteer. “We were pleasantly surprised to see how many unique and well-thought-out gardens there were.”
The tour raises money for scholarships, as well as conservation efforts and civic beautification programs.
Sarasota Garden Club members Debra Kealkahn, Jackie Cutrone, Karen Pariser and event chairwoman Randi Broida
Katrina and Charlotte Breen explore a garden on Datura Street.
Sarasota Garden Club members Kay Weber, Susan Kershaw and Carol O'Conner
Irene McCarthy and Jane Smith answer questions visitors have about a garden on Clematis Street.
Karen Pariser's garden features 75-year-old elephant ear plants.
Karen Pariser opened her private garden to the public for the Gardens in Paradise Tour.
Karen Pariser informs visitors about her garden's native Florida plants.
Andye Healy and Deborah Kostroun
An epiphyte, also known as an air plant, grows in the garden of a home on Hibiscus Street.
A rare traveler palm in a Hibiscus Street garden.
Melissa Littlewood, Jay Price and Andy Knisley explore a Hibiscus Street garden.
Jay Price, Leslie Juron, Melissa Littlewood and Andy Knisley
Garden owner Cindy Slaalien underneath an arbor cascading with pinkish coral trumpet vine.
A statue and flowers greet visitors of Cindy Slaalien's garden.
The garden of Cindy Slaalien features a park-like setting.
Debbie Huckaby of Birds of Paradise Sanctuary and Rescue introduces visitors to Acquiel, a Moluccan cockatoo.
Acquiel, a Moluccan cockatoo from Birds of Paradise Sanctuary and Rescue, says hello to visitors at a garden on Hibiscus Street.
Visitors take in a view of the Sarasota Bay at a Hillview Drive garden.
