Bay Oaks Seniors on the Go: Naples Botanical Garden - Unearthed: Dinosaurs in the Garden

The normally serene and peaceful Naples Botanical Garden has been taken over by life-sized animatronic (animated by electronics) dinosaurs that move, snarl, roar, open their jaws, blink their eyes, move their arms and one that even spits water at people. The dino designers have done their research, too, getting tips on movement, sound, skin texture and more from world-renowned dino experts. The ten dinosaurs have steel skeletons and a realistic, urethane-compound skin. Each dinosaur has its own power source and a computer “brain” that controls its movements. Some are located in the Brazilian Garden, but the Florida Garden, with its open, grassy space seems a more natural location for the dinos. The exhibition’s dinosaurs span the Mesozoic era, with species from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. In addition to the dinos, the garden strategically placed and planted era-appropriate plants like cycads and ferns with Triassic species, and flowering plants with Cretaceous period species.

This entrance to the Event Plaza faces the parking lot.

Bay Oaks Social Seniors, Becky, Richard, Marilyn, Martha, Carmen, Marlene, Pauline and Carol in front of the newly-opened Eleanor and Nicholas Chabraja Visitor Center.

Welcome to “Gardens with Latitude,” latitude meaning the same geographical band and also freedom of choice to enjoy the garden in different ways.

Dinosaurs Exhibit Sign

The exhibit dates are March 14 through July 5, and it is open from 9:00AM to 5:00 PM.

The new entrance to the Naples Botanical Garden leads visitors from a shaded pavilion on an elevated walkway past 2 gardens, Kathryn’s Garden, and Irma’s Garden. Kathryn’s Garden includes a palm-fringed jungle stream and lush tropical foliage.

The meandering watercourse unites the 2 gardens, one with a “jungle” atmosphere and the other with an emphasis on unique plants. Both gardens are bordered by walkways, making them visible from all sides.

The most appealing aspect of the new entrance is that visitors immediately enter a jungle landscape, surrounded by gardens before they are officially IN the garden. The fountain in the background is a primeval-looking rectangular fountain, made from Florida’s oolitic (oolitic = made up of small, egg-shaped particles) limestone.

A tropical water lily in the pool

The Butterfly House in the Children’s Garden has colorful local butterflies and the native plants that can attract them into your garden.

The Zebra Longwing (middle of the photo) is the official state of Florida butterfly.

Richard and Marilyn, sitting on, what else?-- a butterfly bench.

A lot of Buckeye chrysalises in the Chrysalis House and one newly-hatched Buckeye butterfly

A Garden Guide shows us a leaf on which a butterfly has laid eggs.

The unusual flowers of a Dutchman’s Pipe vine, host plant for the pipe vine swallowtail butterfly

Carmen in the Children’s Garden in front of a child-sized cottage

A mosaic-decorated tub of succulent plants in the Children’s Garden

The first dinosaur that Carol, Carmen, Marlene and Pauline saw was the Brachiosaurus.

The brachiosaurus’s long neck and head rise 18 feet into the air, and its body stretches 85 feet long.

The head of the brachiosaurus high among the tree branches

It was plant-eating and well-suited to be a “high browser”

Brachiosaurus Information Sign

A Dilophosaurus mother, a Jurassic period predator, is notable for having a pair of rounded crests on its skull.

Martha in front of the Dilophosaurus

This is the baby Dilophosaurus. Even though there was no evidence that these animals spit poison, this one sprays water on unsuspecting passersby.

Dilophosaurus Information Sign

The Triassic period star, the Coelophysis, is a primitive bipedal carnivorous dinosaur that may have hunted in packs. The plants that lived in this timeframe were cycads, ferns, and non-flowering plants.

One Coelophysis, a small (by dinosaur standards), slenderly-built, fast and agile runner

The other Coelophysis in the exhibit

Coelophysis Information Sign

The LaGrippe Orchid Garden will rotate hundreds of species of orchids and feature some of the world’s smallest and largest varieties. Oftentimes, orchid exhibits at botanical gardens are in a hothouse environment. These orchids are displayed in an open-air, more naturalistic way.

The floor is paved with Florida coral rock. Huge oolitic (made up of small, egg-shaped particles) limestone boulders are planted with orchids and other epiphytes.

Medinilla, sometimes called “Malaysian Orchid”

Cattleya Orchids

Another rectangular limestone fountain continues the theme from Kathryn’s and Irma’s Gardens and also provides the cooling sound of moving water.

In the Brazilian Garden, a bloom on a water chestnut tree, commonly called the “Money Tree,” supposedly because it will bring prosperity to your home.

In planning the Naples Botanical Garden, it was decided that the Garden should reflect the plants of areas that are the same latitude as Naples. Brazil is one of these areas, so building the Brazilian Garden was a logical decision. In addition, Brazil is the homeland of Roberto Burle Marx, widely considered to be the father of modern landscape architecture.

The plaza is atop an infinity pool from which waterfalls cascade into a lake.

The centerpiece of the Brazilian Plaza is an original Burle Marx ceramic mural, a massive 7-by-18-foot piece. The Garden Guide is speaking with our group about the Brazilian Garden.

A tropical water lily in the infinity pool of the Brazilian Plaza. The water looks black because it is dyed black, with a natural vegetable dye.

A Wisteria promenade leads visitors to the Florida Garden, where the rest of the dinosaurs are located.

The Edmontonia dinosaur was bulky, broad and tank-like.

Edmontonia Information Sign

“Tyrannosaurus” is ancient Greek for “tyrant lizard.” It is the true star of the exhibition.

The 40-foot life-sized Tyrannosaurus Rex might well have pursued the well-armored Edmontonia, some 75 million years ago.

Was the T-Rex a predator or scavenger? Probably a bit of both, but unquestionably, it could exert one of the largest bite forces among all terrestrial animals

T-Rex Information Sign

The Styracosaurus may look menacing, with its six-spiked frill and a two-foot-long nose horn, but looks can be deceiving. It is herbivorous.

It is speculated that the fearsome appearance of the Styracosaurus was needed to fend off enemies, or that bigger frills and sharper spikes may have attracted more females of the species.