St. Petersburg turned an unwanted sinkhole into Florida’s coolest square block

St. Petersburg’s Garden Sits Below Ground

You’re driving through a regular St. Petersburg neighborhood, past shops and traffic lights, when you step through a gate and drop several feet below the street.

The air turns cooler right away, and the noise from outside fades fast.

Paths wind through ponds and waterfalls packed into about 4 acres, and more than 50,000 tropical plants close in overhead, some of them decades old. What grew here started as something nobody wanted.

A Plumber’s Sinkhole Turns Into a Garden

The land started as a soggy sinkhole with a shallow lake below sea level. In the early 1900s, plumber George Turner Sr. drained it using a maze of clay tiles.

The muck soil left behind grew tropical plants well. Neighbors loved walking through so much that Turner began charging a small fee for tours.

His wife, Eula, shared his passion for plants, and their children and grandchildren carried it forward for generations. The city now owns and preserves the Gardens as a landmark.

Royal Palms Planted Nearly a Century Ago

Some of the tallest royal palms in Central Florida grow right here, reaching more than 80 feet into the sky.

George Turner Sr. and his young son planted them as seedlings around 1930, back when each one stood barely taller than a person.

Nobody wanted to buy them once they grew too big, so they stayed and became a signature sight at the Gardens. You can stand at the base of one and look straight up the smooth gray trunk to the fronds far above.

A Tree That Peels Off in Rainbow Stripes

One of the most photographed trees at Sunken Gardens has bark that looks painted on.

The rainbow eucalyptus peels away in strips, showing streaks of green, orange, blue, purple, and pink underneath, and the pattern shifts throughout the year as new bark gets exposed.

This tree comes from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, and it grows fast, climbing well over 100 feet where conditions allow.

You’ll find it in the lowest, wettest corner of the Gardens, right where it wants to be.

A Live Oak Older Than the Garden

The Oak Pavilion sits under a southern live oak with a canopy wide enough to shade the whole structure. Arborists put its age at roughly 150 years, and its limbs stretch about 150 feet from tip to tip.

This tree was already standing when the Turner family built their homestead nearby in the 1930s. Live oaks are native to Florida, and few trees here support more birds and pollinators.

Under those mossy branches, you’ll find one of the coolest spots in the whole place.

Orchids Growing the Way Nature Intended

At the Orchid Arbor, you’ll find one of the largest plant families on Earth on full display.

Many of these orchids grow mounted directly onto trees and palms, the way they cling to bark in the wild instead of rooting into soil. Some come from tropical regions around the world, while others are native to Florida.

In their natural habitat, most orchids grow high in the treetops, so seeing them at eye level along the path lets you look closely at blooms you’d otherwise miss.

Bougainvillea Vines Older Than Most Visitors

Trellises and garden walls disappear under cascading bougainvillea in fuchsia, purple, red, and pink. What looks like flowers is mostly color, since the real blooms are tiny and hide inside colorful bracts.

Some of these vines went into the ground from small pots back in 1953 or earlier, and they’re still blooming decades later. Their stems have thickened into something closer to small tree trunks over that time.

Old plumbing pipes hold up several vines, a fitting nod to the founder’s original trade.

Bananas and Papayas From the Farm Days

In one sunny corner, banana and papaya plants still grow where the founder put them long ago. This spot was once known as Turner’s Papaya Farm, and the family sold fruit here by the pound.

The banana varieties range from sweet ice-cream bananas to deep red Abyssinian bananas that trace back to Ethiopia. Heavy clumps of fruit hang overhead and catch first-time visitors off guard every time.

Standing here, you’re looking at a working tropical farm that never really stopped growing.

Flamingos Wading at the Heart of the Gardens

A flock of pink flamingos has stood as the symbol of Sunken Gardens since the 1950s.

These are Chilean flamingos, one of six flamingo species on the planet, and you can watch them wade, filter-feed, and preen in their shallow beach habitat.

The Gardens brought in new birds to refresh the flock in 2016, and crowds still gather to watch them today. Look for them near the History Center and the Orchid Arbor, where they tend to cluster closest to the paths.

Rescued Parrots, Toucans, and a Kookaburra

Alongside the flamingos lives a colorful cast of rescued exotic birds. Macaws, cockatoos, amazon parrots, a toucan, and a kookaburra all call the Gardens home.

Every one of them arrived here after a previous owner could no longer care for them, since exotic birds can live for decades and outlast the people who raise them.

The Gardens give these birds a permanent home instead of passing them along again. You might spot them resting in their habitats or out with caretakers during enrichment time.

Koi Ponds and Tortoises Tucked in the Shade

Near the arched bridge, a koi pond glimmers with orange, white, and gold fish moving in slow circles. Their swirling patterns make this bridge one of the easiest places to lose track of time.

Two kinds of land turtles live nearby too: North American box turtles and red-footed tortoises, often found tucked under leaves or basking to warm up.

This shady turtle area sits between the Amphitheater and Coconut Grove, tucked away from the busier paths.

A Garden Built for Butterflies and Bees

A pollinator garden here bursts with native Florida wildflowers built to draw in wildlife. Watch for the zebra longwing, Florida’s state butterfly, fluttering around the passion vines that feed it.

Monarchs stop to sip nectar and lay eggs on native milkweed planted just for them. These native plants also feed local and migrating birds, bees, and other pollinators passing through.

Because this ground was once wetland, wild rabbits, woodpeckers, owls, and wading birds still pass through the grounds today.

Visiting Sunken Gardens in Florida

You’ll find Sunken Gardens at 1825 4th Street North in St. Petersburg.

It’s open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4:30 p.m., with last admission at 4 p.m. Admission runs about $18 for adults, $15 for seniors 62 and up, and $8 for children ages 2 to 12.

Give yourself about two hours for the Gardens, History Center, and Garden Shop. Nearly 200 free parking spots sit on site, with overflow parking at Crescent Lake Park.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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