For the first time in its 44-year history of dazzling master gardeners and novices alike, a local school is included as a stop on the highly anticipated Garden Walk 2025, presented by the Garden Club of the Upper Keys.
That school is Ocean Studies Charter School in Key Largo, where students, along with volunteers from the Garden Club, have cultivated beautiful habitat gardens representing the ecosystems found here in the Keys. From a hammock butterfly garden to a sawgrass prairie, just to name a few, it can be found on the campus located at MM 100 in Key Largo.
“Our biggest focus with the gardens is learning about native planting,” said Jessica Martinez, Ocean Studies vice principal.
“If you plant native, it will grow great and be good for the environment,” continued Martinez, who is thrilled to open up the charter school for this year’s Garden Walk on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Master gardener and volunteer Laura Brooks has been helping Ocean Studies students grow and learn about their gardens.
In addition to the ecosystem habitat gardens, there is a bed with six out of the seven palms native to the Keys, a peace garden and a rooftop food forest. The food forest is a favorite of many students and includes pineapple, papaya and sweet potato.
“There are a lot of cool plants up there; the kids get very excited about it,” said Brooks as she provided a media tour.
On the south side of Ocean Studies, six lots of preserved native hardwood hammock contain winding paths leading to two outdoor classrooms, also called ecopods, built and designed by University of Miami architecture students. The third and final ecopod will be built later this school year.
“They design it and build it on the University of Miami campus and take it apart and rebuild it here,” Martinez said.
“The cool thing is how they’ve done the construction, no heavy equipment,” added Brooks. “Everything gets walked in and built onsite without disturbing the hammock as much as possible.”
Besides the school, three private homes from MM 105 to MM 90 made the cut for this year’s garden walk.
The Artist’s Retreat in Key Largo is a lush and whimsical triple lot property owned by local artist Carmen Sotolongo Kelley and her husband Jack.
“I have a little bit of everything that is probably for this area,” said Carmen. “I’ve looked and bought plants that were native to South Florida as well as the Keys.”
When the Kelleys bought the house 30 years ago, there was a large, wild tamarind tree and pea rock in this garden and that was about it. Now the meandering pathways and the diverse mixture of plants create a serene, lush space. Carmen’s playful artwork is also peppered across the property.
This is the couple’s sanctuary.
“She plants, I clip, basically. This is all her creation. She lives out here,” said Jack of his wife’s passion for this space.
“It’s one of the few times that you get to go into a yard that you normally would not be able to go into or see a property that you wouldn’t be able to see, like this – who knew this great property was here?” said Garden Club volunteer Lonell Rice of the popular Garden Walk event.
Very close to the Artist’s Retreat, garden walk participants will be delighted by the almost 2-acre bayfront property appropriately called Old Florida Charm.
Janet Lee’s father bought this gorgeous property back in 1985. He has since passed away, but Lee and her wife Laura Wells have managed to preserve the charm of a bygone era. The main canopy of trees is made up of gumbo limbo, pigeon plum and buttonwood, with many more varieties.
On the open bay, coconut palms line the water’s edge. There are 10 different species of palms on the property.
The funky boathouse is definitely worth a walk through. Tere Kelley, whose parents own Artist’s Retreat, painted the colorful mural inside the boathouse.
“We call this the compound and the compound is basically an open property where people can come and just enjoy each other and enjoy the property,” Lee said.
Down the road about 15 miles is the third private home on the tour. It’s called Pareira-dise. The owners of the bayside retreat started building their gardens in the late 1980s. This property is bursting with color and character, with orchids and air plants adorning many of the trees.
Tickets for this year’s Garden Walk can be purchased at gardenclubupperkeys.org or until Thursday, Feb. 13 at Key Largo Chamber of Commerce (MM 106), Key Largo Flowers and Gifts (MM 100), Island Home Nursery (MM 88.7) or the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce (MM 87).
Advance tickets cost $32. Tickets on the day of the event will cost $35 and can be purchased at any of the private gardens or at the Francis Tracy Garden Center at 94040 Overseas Highway.
At the garden center, participants can enjoy an art show by the Art Guild of the Purple Isles. There will also be food trucks along with several vendors selling gifts and plants.
Garden Walk 2025 takes place on Saturday, Feb. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the private gardens and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Francis Tracy Garden Center.
Photos by SHERI GRIFFIN PHOTOGRAPHY/Contributed
