Pinecrest Gardens

Preserving a remnant old-growth Baldcypress slough and mesic subtropical hammock, Pinecrest Gardens displays a great diversity of tropical trees and understory woody shrubs in a horticultural zone 11a landscape. The fourteen acre site’s near-coastal proximity and diverse garden environments shelter fine collections of garden crotons and palms. Woody plants from seasonally dry tropical climates grow in two unirrigated gardens, and various native species grow under Southern Live Oaks in a large children’s play area. Noteworthy specimen trees include a large Banyan planted in 1939, several tall Elaeocarpus grandis, a Talipot palm, and three different baobab species. The Gardens originally opened as a Depression Era tourist attraction, Parrot Jungle, featuring tamed and trained birds on display. Meandering paths through the dense plantings featured plant species and cultivars that were, at the time, new to horticulture. Propagations of the original introductions, and in some cases, the mother plants still grow on site today.