Remembering a visit to Bok Tower for the Florida Wildflower Symposium held in September 2014.

The Florida Wildflower Foundation held their 2014 symposium at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, on 19 & 20 September. Here starts a gallery of random photos from the two day event that will continue in future posts. We start with a view of the iconic Bok Tower itself whose construction and surrounding garden layout from the 1920s transports one to a different age and frame of mind. Bok Tower Gardens currently is undergoing a lot of construction to modernize and make the place more children friendly. Hopefully they won’t build away the charm that the original planners envisioned—because it looks like they might if things don’t work out.

Symposium participants tour the Florida’s Rare and Endangered Native Plant Collection & National Collection Beds.

Etonia Rosemary (Conradina etonia)

Florida Goldenrod (Chrysopsis floridana)

Bromeliads hanging from fishing line make for an unexpectedly attractive display.

Happily, the property is well populated with Golden Silk Orb Weaver Spiders.

Up on the trail during the geology of the Lake Wales Ridge tour. This was my most anticipated tour and it turned out to be the most disappointing.

Buckwheat growing in the ridge scrub.

Bok Tower Gardens sits atop “Iron Mountain” – as if Florida could have a mountain. At 298 feet above sea level the ridge, or mountain if you will, gives a nice view of the surrounding countryside including over citrus groves toward Lake Lewis (which may not be the name of the lake depending on the reliability of the guide). Iron Mountain is one of Florida’s highest natural locations.

A storm moved in during the last of the geology tour. Luckily we made it off the ridge before the storm hit. More to come from the symposium at a future date. . . .