By Judith Czelusniak
Cultural Council of Palm Beach County
Special to Road Trips for Gardeners

Abundant arts districts, ecological experiences, museums, galleries, theaters and art festivals attract cultural tourists to The Palm Beaches, Florida’s Cultural Capital®. Here’s a look at gardens with art.

*The Four Arts Botanical Gardens and Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden – Palm Beach
Open every day 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach is home to a botanical garden tucked away just off Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach. Strolling through the lush greenery, visitors will find demonstration gardens originally designed in 1938 to display the diversity of tropical plants suitable for landscaping in the South Florida climate. Adjacent is the Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden.

*The Norton Museum Central Courtyard – West Palm Beach
Open Tuesday-Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The Norton Museum of Art Central Courtyard is a hidden gem with sculpture and lush plantings. In early 2019, the museum’s expansion will reveal additional outdoor vistas. A “museum within a garden” setting with verdant spaces for art and programming and works by Keith Haring, George Rickey and Mark di Suervo, will be the first public garden designed by architect Lord Norman Foster,

*Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens – Delray Beach
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is a place to explore the ancient art of Japanese garden design, music and art. Visitors enjoy the six distinct gardens called Roji-en. An open-air Japanese eatery that overlooks the gardens, an authentic teahouse for learning the art of tea, art and music exhibitions, and a shop complete the experience.

*Restoration Hardware Gallery at CityPlace – Downtown West Palm Beach
Open every day 10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Downtown trekkers exploring the West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District can relax in style at the outdoor public seating area at Restoration Hardware Gallery building. The outdoor space features a 14-foot-high wall of water and a tropical garden with pergolas and chandeliers where guests are welcome to relax among the store’s outdoor furniture collections and take in the 70-by-140-foot ancient-text-based installation by renowned contemporary muralist RETNA that covers the building.

*Flagler Drive Waterfront– Downtown West Palm Beach
Walk along Flagler Drive to experience views of the Intracoastal Waterway and its bridges to Palm Beach. It is a tradition to take selfies at the outdoor murals and interactive art installations that dot the waterfront, including “Stages of Love,” an iconic six-paneled mural by WRD SMTH at the Kid’s Art Park.

*Pan’s Garden – Palm Beach
Open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This treasure is located at the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach. Pan’s Garden is a whimsical delight, from the bronze statue of Pan of Rohallion created by Frederick MacMonnies in 1890 to the 1920s-era Casa Apava tile wall. This half-acre garden contains more than 300 species of native trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers.

*Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County – West Palm Beach
Open every day 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Mounts Botanical Garden is a 14-acre living plant museum with 23 gardens including a water garden, butterfly garden, a rain garden, and a fragrance garden. Some 2,000 species of native Florida plants, exotic and tropical fruit trees, herbs, palms and bromeliads await visitors. The Washed Ashore – Art to Save the Sea exhibition through June 3 presents stunning giant sea life sculptures made from marine debris collected from the world’s beaches.

*Project Space at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County – Lake Worth
Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In the heart of artsy Downtown Lake Worth, visitors to the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County art galleries will find Project Space – a grassy arts venue just around the corner from main street Lake Avenue. The site is home to an original “Love Wall” installation by global street artist WRD SMTH and a two-ton 25-foot replica of a paper airplane by Los Angeles-based welder Griffin Lupe. The space offers a bird’s-eye view of a giant Martin Luther King, Jr. mural by Brazilian street artist KOBRA that covers the rear wall of the Cultural Council building.

For a complete calendar and information on visiting Palm Beach County cultural venues, go online.

The Palm Beaches, Florida’s Cultural Capital®, is a collection of 39 cities and towns stretching from Boca Raton to Jupiter and Tequesta, with 47 miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches. The destination has more than 200 cultural organizations that produce 42,000 events, exhibitions and performances annually.

(Photo courtesy of Morkami Museum and Gardens)

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