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Sunken Gardens

Photo: Brenda J Bowman (Jenda9904) / CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

🌺 Gardens & wildlife

Sunken Gardens

St. Petersburg, FL · Tampa Bay

About

A plumber named George Turner drained a shallow lake here in 1903 and planted what grew into four acres of dense subtropical jungle, sunk well below street level so the city seems to disappear once you step down into it. Brick paths wind past cascading waterfalls, koi ponds, and a flock of Chilean flamingos descended from birds that have lived here since the 1950s, under a canopy of royal palms and century-old plantings. It is one of Florida's oldest roadside attractions, a survivor from the era of hand-painted highway signs that the city of St. Petersburg now keeps as a living museum.

Highlights

Four acres of subtropical jungle sunk below street levelChilean flamingos descended from a 1950s flockCascading waterfalls and koi pondsOver 500 plant species, some more than a century oldOne of Florida's oldest roadside attractions

Getting there

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Florida Attractions44 places

Florida Attractions

For much of the world, Florida means the attractions. The theme parks that built Orlando, a working spaceport on the Atlantic coast, mermaids who have performed underwater since 1947, and a coral castle one man carved by hand. This is the big statewide guide to what people fly to Florida for, the giants and the roadside icons alike, from the Keys to the Panhandle.