Gardens

Vis­i­tor in our But­ter­fly Gar­den. Photo by Gail Peck

The Polasek is a liv­ing museum, with out­door gar­dens dat­ing to 1949. The three-acre gar­den is a pas­toral oasis within the city of Win­ter Park. It is also a his­toric land­scape on Lake
Osce­ola with many of the plant­i­ngs orig­i­nally placed by Mr. Polasek and his family. 

The museum’s gar­dens are a delight­ful retreat any time of the year with their labeled trees and shrubs, beau­ti­ful flow­ers and sweep­ing lawns. Dur­ing the spring the gar­den fea­tures camelias, bego­nias and gin­gers, while sum­mer boasts bouganvilla and hibis­cus. Autumn high­lights angel’s trum­pet and can­nas. Win­ter show­cases beau­ti­ful poin­set­tias, snap drag­ons and orchids. 

Spe­cial areas to explore include the but­ter­fly gar­den, our two water gar­dens, the cycad col­lec­tion along the museum’s front drive and the many indi­vid­ual con­tainer gar­dens found through­out the property. 

    

Land­scape Cura­tor Randy Knight and Gar­den Vol­un­teer Coor­di­na­tor Pam Paisley