Category: Uplands

Music, beautiful gardens, knowledgeable staff, and a setting that will take your breath all work together to make Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales a worthwhile visit. While you’re there, it’s well worth learning about their rare plant conservation program, and you may want to consider a membership as well. The Gardens have frequent special events, and provide a beautiful spot to breathe and enjoy splendid scenery in a national historic park.

Edward Bok was an immigrant to the United States from the Netherlands, and grew up to be an author and very successful editor. He edited Ladies Home Journal for 30 years, and then retired. He was an anti-suffragist, believing that women belonged in the home and should neither vote nor be educated. I won’t belabor that point, but did find it very interesting that a man so well-regarded held these antiquated views. I suppose they were not antiquated in his time.

The gardens are located on the Lake Wales Ridge. Many years ago, when most of our state was under water, the Lake Wales Ridge was a series of islands. Now, the ridge comprises some of Florida’s oldest habitat, and stretches from Clermont south to Sebring. Because it is land that is high and dry, by Florida standards, the land is highly regarded by developers. The view from Bok Tower Gardens is highly unusual because there are still large expanses of undeveloped and grove lands.

In 1921, Mr. Bok bought the land at the top of the area known as Iron Mountain, and retained Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr., to design the garden. Work began digging the trenches that would house irrigation pipes, and thousands of loads of rich soil were brought in to create the right conditions for this subtropical garden. Interpretive signs throughout the garden tell the story of how the gardens and the Singing Tower came to be. The park was originally named Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower.

The tower houses a 60 bell carillon with the bells ranging in weight from 16 pounds to over TEN TONS! Every day at 1 and 3 pm, a concert is presented, and on the hour and half hour, short selections are played. Live concerts by carilloneur Geert D’hollander can be heard from October to May on Thursday-Sunday. There is a viewing area where you may watch video of D’hollander playing, but you can hear the music throughout the entire 250 acre park. The concerts include Americana, standards, and contemporary selections.

The visitor center houses great exhibits providing background on the construction of the gardens, Bok’s career and philosophy, and plant conservation. There is also a good exhibit on the carillon tower and how it works.

On the day we visited, the furry buds of Japanese Magnolia (pictured above) had opened into glorious pink blooms. These flowers demand that you walk a bit slower and breathe a bit deeper to fully appreciate their beauty and aroma.

There is much more to explore at the Gardens. There is a native plant area, a children’s area with the coolest sandbox ever (it’s a snake!), an outdoor kitchen that is often used by UF/IFAS to present classes. . .oh, and the Exedra. The Exedra is, I think, my favorite feature. An Exedra is an outdoor seating area, usually semicircular in shape. The Bok Exedra is marble, and was a gift to Bok from neighbors who appreciated his garden.

The Exedra is a great place to enjoy a shady interlude. I’ve always thought it would be fun to bring a book or some needlework and sit here for several hours. It also looks like a good spot from which to enjoy a sunset.

You are welcome to picnic on the grounds, or you can get a good lunch at the Blue Palmetto Cafe. There is a 3.5 mile hiking trail on Bok property, but outside the gardens. I’ve not yet hiked it, but it’s part of the plan for my next visit.

I may not like Bok’s view of women, but I appreciate his view of Florida and the wonders of Iron Mountain. Bok Tower Gardens is one of my favorite places to visit again and again.

TITLE PHOTO CREDIT: “Florida Panther RX 04-04-14” by USFWS/Southeast is marked with CC PDM 1.0

The good news about the National Panther Wildlife Refuge is that it exists at all. This Refuge was established in 1989, and comprises over 26,000 acres of pine forest, oak hammock, and cypress strand habitats on public lands and large private ranches. The bad news is that only a very small portion of the Refuge is open to the public. This severely restricted access is necessary to properly manage the acreage to protect the panthers, so it’s a fair trade. Management efforts include a regular program of prescribed burns and removal of invasive plants. Removal of invasive plants sounds odd in a panther protection scheme, but it is a critical component of habitat management. Invasive plants actually impact how well the burns work to protect the habitat, so managing them is very important to protecting panthers.

Panther Habitat

Panthers must have huge amounts of land to meet their needs. The pine forests and oak hammocks of the Refuge meet these needs, and provide habitat for the deer, wild hogs, and other smaller mammals who make up the bulk of a panther’s diet. They routinely travel through the Refuge to pass from Big Cypress National Preserve to Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve and back. Female panthers often raise their kittens within the preserve.

Public Access

There are two trails that are open the the public. One is a half-mile loop and the other is a 1.3 mile loop. If you visit during the wet summer months, you can expect both trails to be flooded in areas, and you may notice vegetation overgrowing the trail in many places. During the dry months, the trails will still have places that are noticeably damp. A visit in January left us with dry feet. Because it was so cool the week we visited, there were not even mosquitoes! In general, you should always bring plenty of water, bug spray, and sunscreen if you plan to walk either or both of the public trails. Leave your pets at home, because they are not welcome within the Refuge.

We saw a few birds on the trail, but the most interesting feature was the variety of plant life. The signage left a little to be desired, but we reminded ourselves that the Refuge is more for panthers than humans, and panthers don’t need signage.

This recently opened trail is short but a great indication of how much fun we are all going to have when Lake County’s system of trails is connected. And the experience of riding it is a reminder to myself that the longer I put something off, the harder it is to do – not riding my bike for a while turned in to 15 years of missing the wind in my face and the pleasant tremble of muscles that have worked really hard.