Sarasota's Marie Selby Botanical Gardens got even more bragging rights Thursday when Time magazine released its annual list of “The World's Greatest Places.” On the list of 100 places, Selby Botanical Gardens was one of only eight to be found in the United States.
The botanical garden on the list is the only site and the only botanical garden in Florida in its category, according to a news release from the botanical garden.
To compile the list, TIME asked correspondents and contributors to nominate hotels, attractions, restaurants, museums, parks and other venues, and it also has an open submission process.
Time's announcement also highlighted the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the Sarasota Art Museum, praising the city's cultural scene.
But it was Selby Gardens' downtown campus on Sarasota Bay that stole the show: The announcement called the gardens “a lush oasis of banyan trees and mangroves” and noted their recent expansion and that their 57,000 square feet of solar panels will make them the world's first net-positive energy botanical garden.
“The visitor experience is equally impressive,” the release states. “A new Welcome Center will usher arrivals into an outdoor structure covered in stunning air plants and showcase the gardens' many wonders, including their world-renowned collections of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, bay laurels and ferns.”
The feature article covers The Green Orchid, a new restaurant that uses electricity and induction equipment and “sources its ingredients from a rooftop garden maintained by a group of military veterans.”
Also of note will be the stormwater management system that cleans millions of gallons of water each year before it is returned to the bay, and the upcoming restoration of the 1920s Payne Mansion.
“For now, this 45-acre parkland is more than worth a visit, containing some of the world's most remarkable plant life,” the article said.
For more information, visit selby.org.
