Sunken Gardens

St. Pete’s famous botanical gardens are alive and well —and home to a new History Center.

BY MARCIA BIGGS

There is a nip in the air on this bright winter morning, but it’s downright tropical in a 4.1-acre patch of paradise hidden off 4th Street North near downtown St. Petersburg. After nearly 100 years of ups and downs, Sunken Gardens thrives today as a cherished city landmark welcoming nearing 200,000 visitors annually.

At a morning ceremony in late October, extended family members of the original landowners, the Turner family, joined Mayor Ken Welch and Gardens staff in cutting the ribbon on a new History Center dedicated to telling the Sunken Gardens story. The building that holds the exhibit is a fitting space — it’s the original Mediterranean-style entrance on 18th Avenue N.

Inside, large storyboards, short videos and walls filled with vintage photos bring educational perspective show visitors a pioneering story that starts in the early 1900s with the Turner family and a roadside produce stand, eventually developing into a nationally renowned roadside attraction with exotic birds and an alligator show, then falling onto hard times until 1999 when the City of St. Petersburg came to the rescue.

It’s a blooming success story.

It all starts with a sinkhole

In 1911, George Turner Sr. and his wife Eula bought 4.1 acres of swampland one mile north from the city center of St. Petersburg. George was a prolific gardener, and Eula was also a horticulturalist. He devised a terracotta tile system to drain a large sinkhole on the property that was 15 feet deep, leaving rich mucky soil ideal for his gardens.

The Turners owned more property nearby filled with a variety of citrus trees and other vegetables. Fourth Street was a busy thoroughfare when the Gandy Bridge was built in the 1920s, with people traveling by car from Tampa to St. Petersburg. The Turners set up a roadside produce stand to sell their citrus and when travelers heading down 4th Street saw his tropical garden they always wanted to explore, so George started charging them a nickel to enter. By 1935, the Turners walled in the property and charged 15 cents to enter the “sunken gardens.” In 1936, “Turner’s Sunken Gardens” officially opened.

George’s sons and grandsons continued his vision, growing the attraction and Florida’s tourism industry along with it. In 1955, a flock of flamingoes was brought in, bringing much acclaim to the Gardens. A decade later, a walk-through aviary was added allowing visitors to experience up-close encounters with tropical birds.

In 1966, the Turner family bought the building owned by Coco Cola Bottling Company on 4th Street N. and transformed it into a new entrance. They built cave-like habitats and brought in monkeys, penguins, pygmy goats and even an alligator wrestling show. It was the heyday of Sunken Gardens, appearing on national television and radio shows, and visitors came from across the country.

Inside the new History Center

Photo by Marcia Biggs

In 1979, Ralph Turner retired and sold the property to his three sons. George’s son Ralph eventually become sole owner of the Gardens and promoted the Gardens as a “must-see” Florida roadside attraction.

But In the 1980s, with Disney World and other theme parks booming in Orlando, visitation fell off and maintaining the gardens became a financial burden for the Turners. In 1999, the City of St. Petersburg purchased Sunken Gardens for $3.8 million raised after citizens voted to tax themselves to keep the attraction from closing. The Gardens reopened in January 2000.

“We were very excited to have the Turner family members here for the grand opening of the History Center to see their legacy on display,” said education coordinator Jennifer Tyson. “Some still live in the neighborhood, they donated items for the exhibits and provided a lot of the information for the displays.

“It’s really through three generations of resilience and fortitude that we still have Sunken Gardens,” she adds. “For 10 years during the 1990s it was for sale, and only at the end of that time did the community rally together to save it. City Council agreed to put a referendum on the ballot for a one-time property tax to save the garden … it’s rare for people to tax themselves to save a historic property.”

Back to the future

On weekdays, the Gardens are peaceful as visitors meander walkways under arbors draped in jasmine vine. They stroll in the shade beneath royal palms and traveler palms, live oaks, even a rainbow eucalyptus. There are fruit trees including loquat and mango, banana and papaya, butterfly gardens, a cactus and succulent area, bougainvillea, bird of paradise, flowering ginger, tea bush, azalea, Japanese lantern plants.

Scattered throughout are benches for resting and ponds filled with fat, happy koi swimming in and out of small waterfalls.

“Something is always blooming year-round,” says horticulture specialist Maggie Jensen as we walk the grounds. “But the best time to visit is in spring when the gardenias and jasmine are in bloom, the fragrance is amazing.”

Jensen is one of four city staff who tend the property daily, along with a dedicated team of some 15 volunteers who are highly versed in horticulture. There is much to do, especially after a storm or windy day when leaves can fill the numerous koi ponds, and branches scatter debris along the walkways. Jensen proudly surveys a new orchid, air plant and bromeliad garden that took six months to design and build with hundreds of plants. During cold spells, a tarp needs to cover the orchid arbor, she says, and space heaters are brought in to keep them from freezing.

There is an ebb and flow but at any one time, the gardens can be home for up to 500 species of exotic, tropical and subtropical plants, trees and flowers. Cardinals, titmouse and sparrows flit about, but the once popular bird shows and aviaries are gone; these are drop-ins from the neighborhood.

“In the 1950s and ‘60s, we had a lot of animals,” says Dwayne Biggs, the Gardens’ supervising director. “The avian collection has always been a big draw here. But to have gardens and be able to incorporate tropical birds takes special staff and care.”

When the City purchased the property in 1999, safety, along with the budget, became a priority and the animal shows became a thing of the past. The only birds inhabiting the gardens now are six macaws, four amazon parrots, two cockatoos – all are rescues, says Biggs, highly socialized birds acquired after their previous owners died or could no longer provide care. They are walked throughout the gardens periodically to the immense enjoyment of visitors.

“We want to spread key conservation messages about exotic birds and what the commitment is,” says Biggs. “We are very attentive to their enrichment, traveling them around the garden, giving them playtime. Birds are social, they enjoy interaction with visitors.”

Then, of course, there is the popular flock of 21 Chilean flamingos who became national media stars last September after a staff member posted a photo on social media of them hunkered down in a restroom as Hurricane Ian was approaching Florida. The photo went viral, appearing in newspapers from USA Today to the Washington Post, on TV news and social media. It was an unexpected but welcome promotion for St. Pete’s Sunken Gardens.

“The magnitude of the storm was such that we moved the entire collection of animals into the admin building,” says Biggs. “It was perfect — a hurricane-safe building, with cement floors and clean running water. Visitors still want to see the bathroom the flamingos were in,” he adds with a smile. A new animal care clinic is planned for the future which would supply much needed veterinary and quarantine space, he adds.

Over the decades, Sunken Gardens has evolved and become more popular than ever. “During the pandemic, visitation increased,” says Biggs “Our attendance can reach 1,000 visitors a day on weekends and holidays and we’re the top wedding venue in the city.”

It’s something that George and Eula Turner would be proud of.

Sunken Gardens is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday from noon to 4 pm. Adults $15, seniors $12, children 2-17 $6. For more information, go to www.stpete.org/visitors/sunken_gardens.php Admission to the History Center is free with garden admission.

Upcoming events

March 16 – Florida’s Carnivorous Plants Talk & Plant Sale – 6 -7:30 pm.

April 2 – Orchid Festival – 10 am - 4:30 pm

April 22 – Earth Day Scavenger Hunt for All Ages – 10 am - 4 pm

Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays – Yoga – 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.