A statue of Pan playing his flute greets visitors
at the main entrance to the gardens.
Swamp lillies in bloom in the county’s only cypress stand east of the Intracoastal Waterway.
The leaves of a saw palmetto generate from the bud of the plant.
BELOW, INSET LEFT: The caterpillar of a monarch butterfly dines on the leaf of a milkweed plant.
BELOW, INSET RIGHT: When the seedpod of the milkweed matures, it releases seeds that drift away on silky filaments.
Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Deborah Hartz-Seeley
Step through the metal gates on which bronze ivy entwines steel bars. Just inside, you can’t miss the bronze statue of the mythical god Pan, who protects shepherds and flocks.
Playing a reed flute, he stands against a hedge of Florida privet with his feet atop miniature dolphins. They spout water into a half-moon shaped pool dotted with native lily pads.
Welcome to Pan’s Garden. It was established in 1994 by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach on a half-acre that once held a derelict house and parking lot.
“Today the garden provides a green open space between the upscale shopping on Worth Avenue and the more residential areas nearby,” explains Daniele Garson, who has been garden director since 1998.
It also provides visitors the opportunity to see how native Florida plants can be used in the landscape. It features more than 300 native species.
The garden is divided into a wetlands area complete with a manmade aerated pond; an uplands area, created with the dirt removed to make the pond and Florida capstone; and an open-air pavilion surrounded by educational plant beds.
Garson uses these to demonstrate how native plants can be used to add a little color to your garden. Of course, they are never as showy as exotics, but currently these beds are planted with Indian blanket. Their orange and yellow flowers attract butterflies and bees.
The garden is hidden from the street behind a hedge of nicely trimmed simpson stoppers. They replace waxy myrtles that used to hem the garden, but many were blown down in 2004 when Hurricane Frances swept across the island.
Today, plenty of red salvia, fire bush, torch wood, tropical milkweed, corky stem passion vine and native porter weed attract butterflies. And Garson has also seen a fox, raccoons and birds including water fowl and a red-shouldered hawk attracted by the native plants.
Even in the heat of the day, this garden is graced with a gentle sea breeze. And there’s plenty of shade under the live oaks. One of them was brought to the park on a flatbed from Central Florida. Today it towers 50 feet above you. Below it the Elliot’s love grass seems to sparkle when hit by a ray of sun.
Stroll the cypress-mulch and faux coquina paths and you’ll spot plenty of other natives including salt-tolerant dahoon holly with its bright red berries and the lignum vitae with its sunny yellow pods open to expose bright red seeds inside.
Stop a minute to enjoy the Casa Apava wall, a historic fountain that forms the western side of the garden. Rescued from a 1920s estate on South Ocean Boulevard, it is made from coquina and features steps covered in royal blue, mustard and sea foam green tiles over which water flows.
In the wetland area, swamp roses and swamp hibiscus with five-petal pink, white or red flowers grow near the pond. There also are two satin leafs that are volunteers grown from seed. Their leaves are green on top and iron-red below so they seem to change color in the breeze.
Both the pickerelweed and bent alligator flag, which is related to banana, take a dip in the water before sending out their purple flowers. Nearby a bald cypress tree gets its feet wet as it extends its knees.
Ask Garson about her favorite spot in Pan’s Garden and she’ll tell you it’s sitting on one of the wooden benches near this pond. “You can see the reflection of the water bouncing off the leaves, and I find it to be very tranquil,” she says.
Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a certified master gardener who can be reached at debhartz@att.net when she’s not in her garden.
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