Harry P. Leu Gardens

Harry P. Leu Gardens

Harry P. Leu Gardens
1920 N. Forest Ave.,
Orlando, FL  32803

(407) 246-2620

www.leugardens.org

 

AT A GLANCE:  Harry P. Leu Gardens
Date of Visit:	Saturday, January 21, 2017
Parking	Free, onsite parking.  The parking lot can fill up quickly with popular exhibits, such as the current Dinosaur Invasion.
Amount of time needed to peruse garden:	2 – 4 hours
Amount of time needed for gift shop	25 – 35 minutes
Online shopping	None.  If you like it, buy it.
Dress code	Shorts and t-shirts are fine.  Wear comfortable footwear for walking.
Be sure to…..	Pick up a map showing the locations of the dinosaurs, then set out to find them all.
Nearby/other establishments to visit	·         Orlando Fire Museum No official website ·         Orlando Science Museum www.osc.org ·         Mennello Museum of American Arts * http://www.mennellomuseum.com/ * The Mennello Museum is currently under construction to install a new exhibit. ·         Nearby places if you feel like wandering about:  http://omart.org/visit/loch_haven_park/
Walkability, general downtown area / amount of traffic	You’ll need a car or other transportation for lunch or other nearby attractions.
Safety, in terms of type and number of crimes committed in general area	Generally safe, but be alert, as you will encounter many tourists visiting the museums.  Still, stow your valuables out of sight and lock your car.

Mission Statement:
“…inspire visitors to appreciate and understand plants.”

The Leu Gardens are a strong supporter of all things having to do with plants and Central Florida.  For example, they host garden classes and plant clinics.  They are also the headquarters for the Central Florida Rose Society, the Central Florida Orchid Society, the Florida Native Plant Society, and the Sierra Club: Central Florida Chapter.  If it’s green and grows in the ground, you can be certain that the Leu Gardens supports it in some way or other.

Florida has four cities with populations over one million (Jacksonville, Tampa, Orland, Miami), and has grown to be the fourth most populous state, after California, Texas, and New York.  Construction and highways consume vast amounts of land, and the original flora is disappearing.  Like the McKee Botanical Gardens ,the Leu Gardens seeks to preserve some of Florida’s natural history.  Why?  We’re not saving native Florida because it’s pretty, because it really isn’t.  We’re saving it as a statement of what was once was Florida history.  Even though it’s conserved in separate little chunks throughout the state, it’s enough to give us an idea of what things used to look like.  Preservation and conservation are similar, but they have slightly different meanings.  

Preservation = No Use

Conservation = Wise Use

I know you are waiting to impress someone with this extensive knowledge.  Good job!

Let’s visit the Gardens first.  You have 50 acres of rose gardens, camellia collections, and a boardwalk over part of Lake Rowena, all waiting to inspire your appreciation of plants.  Speaking of

Florida Hospital, Orlando

the boardwalk, expand your view to include several high rise buildings in Orlando.  That funky looking, pointy building off in the distance is the Florida Hospital, Orlando, about two miles away.  It’s as you are standing there staring that you begin to comprehend the importance of conserving native land.

Dinosaurs!

We visited early one Saturday, and received a shocker when we were directed to the overflow parking area.  We’ve visited Leu Gardens several times over the past few years, and never had to park in overflow.  The fog lifted off our confusion once we saw posters for the “Dinosaur Invasion.”  We

passed so many families with young children, and these young ones carried a vibe of excited curiosity

as they scampered about.  They were having a ball checking out the dinosaurs and sharing their vast dinosaur knowledge with their folks.  These families were having a great day.  The Leu Gardens upheld their end by facilitating appreciation and understanding of the natural areas.  Exactly like they said they would in their mission statement.  

Go ahead and wander randomly through the Gardens, taking the time needed to calm and refresh

your soul.  Don’t worry about losing you way, as all paved paths lead back to the ticket area and gift shop.  Talking of the gift shop, let’s head there now.  I know you’re smiling because that first peek of the gift shop was enough to promise some quality shopping opportunities.

The Leu Gardens have an exceptional gift shop.  It’s smallish in comparison to the size of the Gardens, but they make up for it in the diversity and quality departments.  I can see where you would pass the gift shop on your way in, taking a quick peek at it as you scurry past.  While you can certainly see all the way to the back wall, I doubt that you can see all of the displayed items for sale.  That’s a good thing, creating mystery.  A few simple pillars add extra space for merchandise while giving your eyes something appealing to settle on.  These pillars also prevent you from seeing the entire shop; you must step inside to do that.  Well done, Leu Gardens.

Along with their amazing gardens, the Leu Gardens gift shop is equally as impressive.  My first

impression of it was that of enjoyable anticipation.  The dinosaur books and t-shirts will immediately catch your eye, as it’s in a desirable retail position:  right up front.  I liked how they used this space, because it supports the current Dinosaur Invasion.  What a great way to lure…oops, I mean “invite”…folks into their shop.  If you are visiting with a young child, dinosaur merchandise will get you either on the way in or on the way out.  By the way, the dinosaur t-shirts are available in adult sizes, too.  Pick one up as an unusual gift for a friend or family member, but remember the rule:  

If you buy a gift for someone else, you must purchase something for yourself. 

Seriously, it keeps the universe in balance. 

Shopping begins before you physically enter the gift shop, with a spinning rack with seeds for the

colorful and unusual flowers found in Central Florida.  If the gardening bug is starting to nibble and bite, take a look to your left for the latest fashion in gardening hats.  Aren’t they great?  You’re not even in the door, yet you already have a strong gardening feeling. 

For the whimsical in all of us, spend some time in the gift shop’s front corner.  Bird houses are shaped like a polite Southern gardening hat for the lady of the house, and wind chimes hang sonorously close by.  I was ready to purchase a few sets of wind chimes, along with the adorable bird house when I felt a murmur on my right side.  Ignoring it didn’t

work, because the muttering turned into a short, well-formed sentence:  “Dear, we have no trees in the backyard.”  I returned my loot to the shelves while feeling a tinge of loss.

Note to self:  Step at Home Depot or Lowes and buy trees for the backyard.

It’s apparent that the Leu Garden’s gift shop was well-thought out.  In addition to the pillars blocking the view to the back, it seems as if there’s a conscious effort to mix children’s merchandise with items for adults.  It lacks a separate children’s section, which I like.  In my mind, families that shop together, stay together.  There are so many items that are appropriate for children to buy for themselves, or for you to buy as a gift. 

Two of the main purposes of a gift shop are to carry merchandise that supports the museum / garden’s mission statement, and to be able to sell that merchandise at a profit.  The gift shop at Leu Gardens does both of these things in a pleasing and fanciful way.

Photos from the Leu Gardens gift shop:

Calendars and dinosaurs

Funky wind chimes

Dinosaur signs for children, and

Garden signs for adults

Gift shop clothing usually has a Bohemian edge. 
Go for it if your budget allows.

Welcome mats

Branded wearables

"Pedestrian" jewelry

The glass counter. 
I absolutely love the necklace on the left.

Colorful bird / butterfly baths

Straw gardening hats

Dinosaurs and home goods.

Refrigerator magnets are on the top shelf

Good placement of impulse items
(the round, brown things that look like potatoes are "dinosaur eggs")

No shot glasses, but some dinosaur-worthy, branded coffee cups.

How about some lunch?  Let’s head 1 ½ mile north to the Black Bean Deli (BBD), located at 1835 E. Colonial Dr. in Orlando.

This is one of our favorite places in Orlando for lunch, and anyone who comes to Florida to visit us gets taken here.  If you haven’t had a Cuban sandwich yet, for goodness sakes, try one here.  There are plastic cups next

to the cashier, along with a jug of water.  There’s no charge for any of that, or for refills.  Just promise me that you will do the polite and socially acceptable thing and order a beverage off the menu if you feel that you’ll need more than one refill.

BBD is a popular place with the locals, and there have been times when the line reaches its indoor capacity.  Give it 10 – 15 minutesto get to the cashier and place your order.  They’ll give you a number placard to place on your table, so grab a seat and wait for your meal.  Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

I leave you with a gentle word of advice:

Try and avoid Colonial Road and Highway I-4 if possible.  I don’t know if it’s the basic design of these roads or if all bad drivers congregate on these two roads, but there’s always something on the evening news about bad things happening in these areas.