Kissimmee Trip Part II

Hi Friends,

I wanted to share some photos I took at the Harry P.  Leu Gardens in Orlando. This 50 acres of gardens and historic home were donated to the City of Orlando in 1961 by Harry P.  Leu and his wife, Mary Jane.  The Leu house museum is Orlando’s only historic home open to the public. It is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

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Mary Jane Leu loved roses.  She saw the garden as a place of beauty and education.  This is the largest formal rose garden in Florida.

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The White Garden is a popular site for small weddings.  Only plants with white blooms or greens with white variegated foliage make up this garden.  We saw a beautiful bridal party while we were there.  Little girls in their long dresses running in the gardens and the bride was beautiful.  Her dress was one of the prettiest I have ever seen. Over 300 weddings take place at Leu Gardens every year.

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Paved walkways make touring these gardens a real pleasure.

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Leu Gardens is home to the largest documented camellia collection in Eastern North America. 

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The porches were so inviting.  Reminds me of the Old South.

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Tropical  Gardens included plants like bananas, birds of paradise, bromeliads, calathea, gingers, beliconias, palms, tree ferns and vines. Many of these were new to me so I had to read and copy the plant labels.

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A lot of beautiful statuary. I have included these throughout this post.

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This is called Citrus Workers.  You can see the orange tree in the background.

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The House provides a unique venue for receptions, meetings, retreats, art exhibits and classes.  There is a botanic library.  I so wanted to spend time in the library but that will be for another trip,  

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Bob was trying to locate something for me on the map.  He could not keep up with me at times.  You know how crazy we photographers can get.  We will do most anything to get our picture!

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Takes my breath away!

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Art with Lego Bricks by Sean Kenney was part of the garden presentation during this time….over 450,000 Lego Bricks.  I am presenting just a few.  AMAZING!  Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed….39,708 lego bricks

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Birdbath 14,802

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Buck, Doe and Fawn 84,442 Lego bricks

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Hummingbird and Trumpet Flower (Take a Guess!) This was my favorite. There were thirteen Lego brick exhibits.

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Rows of gigantic live oaks!

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“Just as Lego pieces interconnect, everything in nature is interconnected in a delicate balance.” (copied)

I hope you have enjoyed this short tour with me.

Dianne

4 thoughts on “Kissimmee Trip Part II

  1. Dianne, what gorgeous gardens! The flowers are stunning. Statuaries always add so much interest to a garden. But, the Lego sculptures are truly amazing. This was a beautiful tour and thanks for inviting me to join you. Happy Thursday~

  2. Pam, thank you for touring with me. It was more beautiful than I could capture. Snowed here this morning. I hope our plants can stand this cold.

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