The Alfred B. Maclay State Gardens is a 1176 acres (4.8 km²) Florida State Park

Florida State Parks

The Florida State Parks encompass the majority of the lands that fall under the authority of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. There are 160 such entities, including nature reserves, recreation areas, and historic sites, which can be found in every corner of the state...

, botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 and historic site, located in Tallahassee

Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...

, in northwestern Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. The address is 3540 Thomasville Road.

The gardens are also a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 historic district

Historic district (United States)

In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...

 known as the Killearn Plantation Archeological and Historic District. It received that designation on August 16, 2002. According to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, it contains 18 historic buildings, 4 structures and 4 objects.

History

The gardens began in 1923 when Alfred Barmore Maclay (1871–1944) and his wife, Louise Fleischman, bought the site. Maclay named his gardens Killearn, after the birth place of his great-grandfather in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and developed them continuously until his death. His wife continued their development, opened them to the public in 1946, and in 1953 donated some 307 acres (1.2 km²) of their estate, including the gardens, to the Florida Board of Park Service. In 1965 the gardens were renamed in Maclay's honor.

Biology

The backbone of the garden plantings are azalea

Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...

s and camellia

Camellia

Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Korea and Indonesia. There are 100–250 described species, with some controversy over the exact number...

s. Trees include bald cypress, black gum, cyrilla

Cyrilla

Cyrilla racemiflora, the sole species in the genus Cyrilla, is a flowering plant in the family Cyrillaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southeastern United States , south through the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America to northern Brazil and...

, dogwood

Dogwood

The genus Cornus is a group of about 30-60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most dogwoods are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen...

, hickory

Hickory

Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...

, holly

Holly

Ilex) is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones world wide....

, Japanese maple, oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, plum

Plum

A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one...

, redbud, Liquidambar, and Torreya taxifolia

Torreya taxifolia

Torreya taxifolia, commonly known as the Florida torreya, gopher wood, stinking yew, or stinking cedar , is a rare and endangered species found in the Southeastern United States, at the state border region of northern Florida and southwestern Georgia.It is the type species of the genus Torreya...

. Other plantings include Ardisia

Ardisia

Ardisia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Myrsinaceae , native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, Asia, and Australasia...

, Aucuba

Aucuba

Aucuba is a genus of three to ten species of flowering plants, now placed in the family Garryaceae, although formerly classified in the Aucubaceae or Cornaceae....

, Zamia integrifolia

Zamia integrifolia

Zamia integrifolia is a small, tough, woody cycad native to the southeast United States , the Bahamas and the Caribbean south to Grand Cayman and Puerto Rico ....

, Rhododendron chapmanii

Rhododendron chapmanii

Rhododendron chapmanii, also known as Chapman's Rhododendron, is an evergreen shrub which is endemic to Florida.-Description:Chapman's Rhododendron is an erect shrub that grows up to 2 metres in height. The bark of new growth is reddish-brown, turning graywith age. The leaves are elliptic and are 3...

, Gardenia

Gardenia

Gardenia is a genus of 142 species of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Oceania....

, ginger

Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

, jasmine

Jasmine

Jasminum , commonly known as jasmines, is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family . It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World...

, Oriental magnolia

Magnolia

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....

, mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia

Kalmia latifolia

Kalmia latifolia, commonly called Mountain-laurel or Spoonwood, is a species of flowering plant in the blueberry family, Ericaceae, that is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretches from southern Maine south to northern Florida, and west to Indiana and Louisiana. Mountain-laurel is...

), Nandina

Nandina

-Description:Nandina domestica commonly known as nandina, heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo, is a suckering shrub in the Barberry family, Berberidaceae. It is a monotypic genus, with this species as its only member. It is native to eastern Asia from the Himalaya east to Japan.Despite the common...

, palmetto

Palmetto

-Botany:Members of several genera of small palms:*the genus Sabal of the Arecaceae family**Dwarf Palmetto**Sabal palmetto*Saw Palmetto, Serenoa repens*Silver saw palmetto, Acoelorraphe wrightii-Place names:United States...

, sago palm

Sago Palm

Sago Palm may refer to:* Metroxylon sagu, also called the True Sago Palm* Cycas revoluta, also called the King Sago Palm* Cycas rumphii, also called the Queen Sago Palm* Cycas circinalis, also called the Queen Sago Palm...

, Selaginella, Wisteria

Wisteria

Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, that includes ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and to China, Korea, and Japan. Aquarists refer to the species Hygrophila difformis, in the family Acanthaceae, as Water Wisteria...

, and Yucca filamentosa

Yucca filamentosa

Yucca filamentosa, commonly known as Adam's needle, is a medicinal plant native to eastern North America.Usually trunkless, Yucca filamentosa is a multisuckering plant with heads of 30 inch long, filamentous, blue green strappy leaves. The plant is fully hardy...

.

Lakes

• Lake Hall
  Lake Hall
  Lake Hall is a small lake located in central Leon County, Florida, USA. It is located just north of Interstate 10 and slightly west of U.S. Highway 319 and within Tallahassee city limits....
  
  
• Lake Overstreet
  Lake Overstreet
  Lake Overstreet is a small lake located in central Leon County, Florida, USA.Lake Overstreet is in size and falls within the property of Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park and is just northwest of Lake Hall by . Access to the lake is only by hiking trails....
  
  
• Lake Elizabeth or Gum Pond

Maclay House

The 1909 Maclay House has been furnished to appear as during the residence of the Maclays. The house is open for tours during high blooming season from January through April.

Recreational activities

The park has such amenities as bicycling, birding, boating

Boating

Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or water skiing...

, canoeing

Canoeing

Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

, fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

, hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

, horse trails, kayaking

Kayaking

Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

, picnic

Picnic

In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...

king areas and swimming. It also has a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

with interpretive exhibits.