The main picture to bring us into the spirit of the sweet sytem—is from Publix Bakery at the #1428 store at the Springs Plaza,  Longwood, FL 

and the second is from Aroma Coffee Café on 5th Ave West in Mt. Dora.  brings you the first seasonal picture for Christmas….and yes I do do Christmas—if you remember that I like things that do no harm and bring out the fun and good things of life—and tis the season—-I am not excusing excesses done in the name of Christianity, but few religions can say they are free of similar bad moments—so please join me in the season of peace and love at least for me and mine…enjoy the good with me and let’s be jolly.

I have been stating that I am going to do a session or two on Bok Tower Gardens and I figure with all the breaks, holiday detours and the like I’d just get this one in–especially since they do such a lovely job celebrating Christmas here.  The tree below by the way is also Mt. Dora —Julianne’s Coastal Cottage

East 4th Street—she has bunches of tropically themed Christmas items.

Edward W. Bok, Dutch-born publisher and author, editor of The Ladies Home Journal, wanted to make America more beautiful because he had lived in it….he donated to the American people Bok Tower Gardens (…3 miles north of Lakes Wales on Rt 27A).  The tower built of pink and gray Georgia marble and coquina stone from St  Augustine, sits on Iron Mountain, the peninsula’s highest point and once a scared Indian site.  Its 57 bronze bells range in weight from 17 pounds to nearly 12 tons.  There are recitals daily at 3 pm.  Clock music can be heard half-hourly from 10 am.

Exploring Florida

by Anne Ramkin

Clear Cut- Glass 3″ Tall Bell Topped by Bird

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Bok Tower Gardens

https://boktowergardens.org/

1151 Tower Blvd,

Lake Wales FL 33853  •

863-676-1408

I have visited Bok Tower off and on for years and though I have enjoyed it all year round—wandering the beautiful grounds is both peaceful but also implants a energy that only the beauty of nature can impart to us  I find it particularly most wonderful during the Christmas season.

Bok is old Florida—the beauty we have hidden behind theme parks—and by passed by interstates and down graded on our lists because they were not electronic or internet generated.  This middle part of the state sets along a ridge and is it’s highest elevations (which for a girl who grew up in W.V doesn’t appear that high)—is impressive for those who have lived their entire life here and there are some interesting views from the mount that the park sets on.

The 128 acre attraction has dozens of gardens that are lush with azaleas, camellias, ferns, magnolias, oaks and 126 bird species.

Adventure Guide to Orlando and Central Florida

One of the highlights to me is the tour of Pinewood that goes on from Nov (23rd this year) thru January 6 (2019).  The house’s entry area above all decked out for Christmas is full of decoration (this is an extra cost Holiday Home Tour Combo ticket pricing: $25 Adult Admission –which is $10 more than for-General Admission Adults $15, Children (5-12) $5, Children under 5 are free.  During the rest of the year you can walk thru the house on your own and the Combo Admission Adults $21, Children (5-12) $10, Children 5 are free.

The house was not originally part of the park but was acquired and open to the public visiting the gardens in 1970 thru efforts of one of Bok’s daughter-in-law Nellie Bok.  It is 20 room (12,900 sq. ft) Mediterranean-style home with many characteristics of an antique villa.  Outside there is even a Spanish Frog fountain that leads into a stone grotto.

as you can see here the entire house is decorated and if the tour doesn’t put you in a holiday spirit I don’t know what will.

Reminiscent of the early 1930s, Pinewood Estates is a 20-room Mediterranean-style home that allows guests of Bok Tower Gardens to go back to Edward Bok’s era and experience the illustrious lifestyle of C. Austin Buck, an early 20th Century industrialist. The sanctuary purchased the home in the 1970s. Guided walking tours are available daily.

Before C. Austin Buck built his home, which is now the Pinewood Estate exhibit, he hired landscape architect William Lyman Phillip, from the same firm as Frederick Law Olmstead Jr., to design a sanctuary garden. While it may seem odd to build a garden before a home, Buck, like Bok, admired the area’s longleaf pines and other native plants. Philip and architect Charles R. Wait collaborated on this home, as well as many other residences in neighboring Mountain Lake Estates, which is a gated and closed to the public.

History of Bok Tower Gardens

May 20, 2014 | South Tampa Magazine

Bok Tower Gardens boasts one of the greatest works of famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. The meandering, historic landscape garden was designed to be a contemplative and informal woodland setting offering a series of romantic recesses and tranquil resting spots, picturesque vistas and breathtaking views of the Singing Tower. Acres of ferns, palms, oaks and pines fashion a lush backdrop for flowering foliage and the spectacular seasonal color of azaleas, camellias and magnolias (a highlight of our spring peak bloom season) showcasing an ever-changing work of art.

One of the wonderful attributes of the Gardens and natural habitats is its wildlife population. It includes 126 different species of birds as well as the threatened gopher tortoise and endangered eastern indigo snake. The grounds of Bok Tower Gardens is a designated site on the Great Florida Birding Trail.

From Bok Tower Garden’s Web site

By 1911, the area attracted the attention of a group of Florida businessmen, who subsequently formed the Lake Wales Land Company and purchased 5,000 acres of forested land surrounding Lake Wales.

The Lake Wales Land Company believed the rich wilderness surrounding the lake would serve as an excellent center for the booming lumber and turpentine industries. Additionally, the region’s soil, with its sandy composition, had great potential for growing citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruit, something the area is still known for today.

The city’s (Lake Wales)original settlers arrived that first year and quickly got to work setting down the foundation for a thriving metropolis.

The History of Lake Wales, Florida

National Church’s Residence