The Garden Club of the Upper Keys is in its 70th year. Founded in 1952, the club was given a charter and non-profit status by the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs in 1956, then settled in its permanent Tavernier home — officially named The Francis Tracy Garden Center — in 1962. Per its website, the club even has a mission: “to foster, promote, develop, protect and conserve the natural beauties of the Upper Keys through education and publicity.”
The Garden Walk has been conducted since 1980, and will be held this year on Saturday, Feb. 19 — “rain or shine!” as stated on the flier — and is a way to educate the public about the club’s mission.
If this all sounds very formal and official, don’t let it get to you. The Garden Walk is a visual blast and a boost for a weary soul.
As Kathy Holmes, the Garden Walk chair, explains it, each of the five properties on the tour personifies, in its own way, “the Keys Disease.” And as locals know, the Keys disease ain’t formal.
“Once the Keys Disease is in your system, it’s hard to get out — the weather, the water, the island vibe, the style,” she said. “These five houses are all styled in a different way. It’s how different people interpret the Keys.”
For example, Villa Verde at MM93, the first garden on the tour, is a sprawling, six-lot hammock of trees with lots of private places to sit and enjoy artwork and greenery in peace and quiet. Two trees seem to be straight out of a fairy tale. They have wooden face sculptures placed on them that gaze out at passersby as if they wanted to have a conversation.
Many charming vignettes with sculptures have been placed across the Ville Verde property. 
In case you get tired walking the six-lot property at Ville Verde, there are plenty of places to sit to enjoy the peace and quiet. 
Worried about your short game? Don’t worry. If you’re a guest at Our Morada, you can practice on the putting green with sand trap. 
The homeowners at the Our Morada property like to have their guests paint rocks for a colorful collection in their garden. 
Even the kitchen herb garden is lush at the Our Morada property. 
Attendees of the Garden Walk will have a hard time resisting hanging out at the fire pit at the Our Morada property and gazing at the ocean. 
A date palm at the Our Morada property. 
The Native Oasis property is all about the wide variety of private places to hang out, such as this tiki lounge. 
Will attendees be able to stop themselves from walking down this lush garden path to this snug, colorful cottage at the Native Oasis property? 
The owners of the Keys Charmer garden love herons, as seen in these sculptures next to a water fountain. 
One of the owners of the Keys Charmer house made this entryway by hand. 
Attendees can pretend they are on a private island while looking at this nook on the Casa de Palma property. 
The owners of the Casa de Palms garden are — you guessed it — palm crazy. Over 30 different species of palms have been planted around the property. 
The next garden, called Native Oasis, at MM90, abuts a lagoon and has so many native plants that it has been designated a “Certified Wildlife Habitat” by the National Wildlife Federation. There’s also a major cool factor here: the property has a camper, houseboat and a tiny cottage in a unified color theme of juicy green and bright shades of blue. There are so many places to hang out and lounge that a party of the century could be hosted here with no problem.
The Keys Charmer, at MM 89, has a heron theme in its carved wooden entryway in the front and in its backyard sculptures, which are placed next to water fountains. And Our Morada, at MM86, is an unabashed showstopper. Spread across three and a half lots, it has a putting green with a sand trap as well as a lounge area with a fire pit and a capacious ocean view.
Finally, Casa de Palma at Revellations II, at MM 87, is, as its name suggests, palm crazy. Visitors can gaze at 30 species of palms while walking toward the tiki hut, which is sittin’ on the dock of the bay. And if an Otis Redding song just came to your mind, we don’t blame you. That means you’ve caught the Keys Disease.
The Garden Walk presented by the Garden Club of the Upper Keys will take place on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 on the day of the event. Tickets are available online at gardenclubupperkeys.org and at the Francis Tracy Garden Center, which is located at 94040 Overseas Hwy, Tavernier. No pets. Refreshments, the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck, an art show by the Art Guild of the Purple Isles, vendors and plant sales will also be provided at the garden center in addition to the walk.
