COUNT THE "P"s!

BLOGGER'S NOTE: This is another in a series of guest-written blog posts. Guess who??

It’s so easy here for me to find other People Passionate about Plants.  This time it was visits to the Sunken Gardens and the Gizella Kopstick Palm Arboretum --- both started from nothing by personal passion. The Sunken Gardens was created in 1903 by a plumber who drained a lake and grew a rare tropical plant collection. Since 1924 visitors have come to see papayas, citrus and rare tropical plants.  Through a resident approved 1% tax called Penny for Pinellas, this site is now publicly owned. This is my favourite kind of Florida theme park --- a unique collection of 50,000 plants, and some exotic wildlife who call this garden home.

Nearby, the shoreline of Tampa Bay practically begs us to be active on the many recreational trails, parks, sports fields and swimming pools.  Two blocks away from us on this trail in downtown St. Pete’s is the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum.  Once the site of a city owned mini golf course it is now an arboretum.  With a passion for palms in 1976 wheelchair-bound Gizella donated 60 palms representing 10 species to create the arboretum.  Donations have continued and today the count is 500 palms representing 150 species.

What’s your passion? What would you start from scratch??