Washington Oaks Gardens ~ A Little Piece of Paradise

I really enjoyed my walk through this park, but would recommend going in the spring, fall, or a nice winter day. NOT in the middle of a hot humid Florida summer! At least the gardens area...there was a nice breeze on the beach, and there's enough beach to set up a canopy. I will take one of my sun shades next time.

I'm only going to give you a glimpse of the gardens, as I didn't take photos of every copse of trees, or every grouping of plants....or the rose garden.

The entrance and property was once the private winter residence of The Young's, and was along the original A1A.

I love when natural elements are used in landscaping and building(s).

These came from the nearby beach.

Unfortunately I cut off some of the words.

One of my favorite things was this staghorn fern.

It was ENORMOUS!

There were several around the park just like this!

These are the feet. This plant propagates by growing a new one, called a pup. I would love to have a big staghorn!

Another thing that made me say WOW, was this palm growing in an old oak tree.

Nature!

The Koi Pond was another favorite~

These fish are big! There were a few big catfish in here, too.

Bamboo, many types of ferns & palms, tropical plants, and flowers are everywhere.

  Bananas!

This is Plumbago in front, and some type of Ginger or Canna's behind. Guess I need to go back and see for sure lol.

When you reach the end of the pathway, you are at the river/inlet.

I wanted to get down there, but it was blocked off. There were rocks covered with shells!

Probably would have hurt myself anyway, rofl!

Down the other side, people were fishing, and boats would go by.

We left from here, and made a beeline to the beach!