Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County to Host
Annual CONNOISSEURS GARDEN TOUR
A Mother’s Day Tradition – May 13-14

Visit Nine Beautiful Private & Public Gardens in Atlantis,Lake Worth, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens & West Palm Beach, Including a Sneak Preview of the New Windows on the Floating World: Blume Tropical Wetland Garden at Mounts

(West Palm Beach, FL – April 24, 2017) Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden today announced that it would be hosting the 13th annual Connoisseurs Garden Tour, a Mother’s Day Tradition, May 13-14.

From 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, May 13, and from 11 am to 4 pm on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14, participants can visit eight extraordinary private gardens: two each in Lake Worth, North Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens and one in both Atlantis and West Palm Beach. The ninth featured garden is a sneak preview to the new Windows on the Floating World: Blume Tropical Wetland Garden, which is scheduled to open at Mounts in June.

“What is unique about our annual Connisseurs Garden Tour is that guests can visit the gardens at their own pace and sequence,” says Rochelle Wolberg, Mounts Botanical Garden’s Director of Programs/Interim Operations Manager.

The nine private and public gardens on this year’s Connoisseur Tour include:

Leeann & Tim Whelan Garden
15603 86th Way in Palm Beach Gardens
This country property has a jewel hidden behind the house, a pond that is surrounded by a natural split wood fence filled with cascading orchids and tillandsias. The pond, surrounded by cypress and maple trees, serves both as an irrigation source and an area to store excess rainwater. On the side of the house there is an herb garden, a quaint chicken coop and massive plantings along the property line. Along the way, there are areas filled with bright color.

Kat & Chuck Rahla Garden
4131 Beech Avenue in Palm Beach Gardens
Wild and rambling, this Certified Florida garden is filled with natives, orchids, bromeliads and eight-foot curtains of Spanish moss that protects shade-loving plants from the sun. Wind chimes and bird songs, unusual scents, and multitude of butterflies fill the air. Dead trees protect a large flock of painted buntings and other birds, tillandsias cling to every surface, and birdbaths too deep for the birds become bog gardens.

Julie Criser Garden
837 Fathom Road in North Palm Beach
Winding brick paths encourage visitors to meander through this colorful garden filled with fruit and flowering trees and the smell of herbs. A lovely pool, capped by a waterfall, is the centerpiece of this informal garden. Gardeners will be filled with envy when they see the “potting palace” surrounded by Begonia odorata used as ground cover. There are orchids everywhere, hanging from tree branches, sprouting from tree crotches and massed on the inviting dining patio.

Suzann & David Mauroner Garden
130 Fathom Road in North Palm Beach
This charming back yard is centered by a water feature and flanked on either side by grassy areas surrounded by tropical gardens filled with bromeliads, palms and bamboo with orchids growing from the trees. The center section showcases a row of Bromeliad imperialis that is breathtaking. The garden is a lesson on how to use hedges, both formal and informal, while using hedging materials of enormous disparity in color, texture and size. The owners have created a garden that withstands wind and drought while maintaining its beauty.

Sneak Peek
Mounts Botanical Garden’s Windows on the Floating World: Blume Tropical Wetland Garden
531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach
Be the first to view the new Windows on the Floating World – Blume Tropical Wetland Garden opening in June. This new Garden features transparent, open-gridded, 4-foot wide walkways on the surface of the wetlands giving visitors the feeling of walking on water. Within these walks are four windows of aquatic plants and seasonal botanical exhibits growing from submerged containers. Additional highlights are waterfalls flowing over natural stone, an area for wading birds, and a wall covered with bromeliads, and benches for quiet reflection and study.

Todd MacLean & Geoff Darnell Garden
815 Nathan Hale Road in West Palm Beach
The enticing entrance hides a tropical paradise. What appears from the road to be a small intimate garden is actually a world of rare palms, bromeliads, orchids and other tropical plants all interwoven with an artistic eye and a skilled hand. The walkways of old Chicago brick lead you by a waterfall, wonderful sculptures, and around an old Edwards mango that hold a fabulous collection of very large staghorn ferns. The behind the scenes area is just as interesting, with raised vegetable gardens and an area for orchids.

Benjamin Burle & Debra Yates Garden
128 North O Street in Lake Work
Less is definitely much, much more. This very unusual native landscape literally takes you through the 1945 historic cottage that is now the studio of Burle Yates Design. This property is a showcase for rare and unusual native plants many of which may be new even to those who collect natives. Many different surfaces are used and the hardscape materials are varied and interesting. The rear garden and alley area are a combination of art and plants.

Paton White Garden
731 Murfield Circle in Atlantis
This garden is an example of what can be done with cuttings, seeds, saplings, bromeliad pups and begonia leaves in four years using no herbicides or pesticides. It is also one of the few gardens in South Florida that has a steep 60’ long hill as one border that is filled with tropical plants and lined with native ageratum. Native plants are incorporated along the borders to draw both birds and butterflies and color is added everywhere. There is a small cutting garden that at its seasonal prime can fill vases throughout the house.

Ruth & Terry Lynch Garden
2802 Lake Osborne Drive in Lake Worth
This one-acre garden is full of uncommon tropical flowers, fruit trees and surprises. The garden starts at the very edge of the road, with beautiful strands of dune sunflower, native tropical mimosa and colorful bromeliads. Farther into the garden visitors will find mature specimens of many palms and flowering vines rarely seen outside of botanical gardens.

How to Get Tickets for the Connoisseurs Garden Tour:
The cost to participate in the annual Connoisseurs Garden Tour is only $20 for Mounts members and $30 for nonmembers. Children 12 and under are free.

Tickets may be purchased at the Garden Shop at Mounts Botanical Garden or online via www.mounts.org, Amelia’s Smarty Plants in Lake Worth, Art By Nature Garden Center in Palm Beach Gardens, the Delray Beach Garden Center and Johnny Mango’s Produce in Delray Beach, Giverny Gardens in Jupiter, and Uncle Bim’s Garden Center in West Palm Beach.

For more information, please call 561.233.1757 or visit www.mounts.org.

About Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County:
With a mission to inspire the public, Mounts Botanical Garden is Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest botanical garden, offering gorgeous displays of tropical and sub-tropical plants, plus informative classes, workshops, and other fun-filled events. The Garden contains more than 2,000 species of plants, including Florida native plants, exotic and tropical fruit trees, herbs, palms, bromeliads and more. Mounts Botanical Garden is a facility of the Palm Beach County Extension Service, which is in partnership with the University of Florida and the Friends of Mounts Botanical Garden. Mounts is located at 531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach.

Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County is open everyday (except Palm Beach County recognized holidays) from 10 am to 4 pm. The suggested donation for entry to the Garden, including the new Windows on the Floating World: Blume Tropical Wetland Garden, is $5 per person. For more information, please call 561.233.1757 or visit www.mounts.org.