Kanapaha Botanical Gardens – Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville, Florida is known for the University of Florida but just over on the west side of I-75 is the beautiful Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.  I had visited these gardens years ago so it was time to check it out again.

Here are some Wikipedia details:

The Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (62 acres, 25 hectares) is a botanical garden in Gainesville, Florida, operated by the North Florida Botanical Society. The name comes from nearby Lake Kanapaha. The gardens were established in 1978 when the society leased 33 acres (13.4 hectares) for a public botanical garden. Another 29 acres (11.7 hectares) were added in 1982. The gardens opened to the public in 1986.

As of 2005, the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens contain Florida’s largest public bamboo gardens and the largest herb garden in the Southeast.

There are many different areas with long paths winding throughout.   I wandered down path after path.

This gardens is known for their many types of bamboo and I saw many stands of it scattered about the gardens.

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens includes water gardens where I found more Water Lilies, which I love.

There were mounds of papyrus along the waterway.

The lily section was pretty much done for the season but there were still a few left to see.   I will need to run up there a bit earlier next year.

I saw a few anoles which are very prevalent in Florida.  They are found on various types of plants and sometimes match the background.

This one is trying to match the green!

The ferns were coming back from their winter dormancy.  The leaves were unfurling as the Florida rains had finally started.

I love the lines of some plants and Kanapaha Botanical Gardens has plenty of plants that could satisfy my lines passion!