Bok Tower Gardens
Encyclopedia
Bok Tower Gardens is a botanical garden
and bird sanctuary, located north of Lake Wales
, Florida
, United States
. It consists of a 250-acre (1 k2) garden, the 205 feet (62.5 m) tall Singing Tower with its carillon
bells, Pine Ridge Trail, Pinewood Estate, and a visitor center. The tower is built upon Iron Mountain
, one of the highest points of peninsula
r Florida, estimated to be 295 feet (89.9 m) above sea level
. It is a National Historic Landmark
that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Bok Tower Gardens is open daily and an admission fee is charged.
, editor of the popular women's magazine Ladies Home Journal and his wife, Mary Louise Curtis Bok
, who would found the Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia in 1924, were spending the winter beside Florida
's Lake Wales Ridge
and decided to create a bird sanctuary on its highest hill (298 feet above sea level, 91 meters).
Bok commissioned noted landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
to transform what then was an arid sand hill into "a spot of beauty second to none in the country". The first year was spent digging trenches and laying pipes for irrigation, after which soil was brought to the site by thousands of truck loads and plantings began. The Olmsted plan included the planting of 1,000 large live oak
s, 10,000 azalea
s, 100 sabal palm
s, 300 magnolia
s, and 500 gordonia
s, as well as hundreds of fruit shrubs including blueberry
and holly
.
Attempts were made to introduce flamingo
s to the sanctuary several times, which is why early renderings of the tower show flamingos at the reflection pool rather than swans. These early efforts were unsuccessful, however, as the flamingos were not native to central Florida and could not survive the winters that were cooler than those of southern Florida where they may be found.
Under construction for over five years, Bok Tower Gardens was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge
on February 1, 1929. Edward Bok died in 1930, and was interred at the base of the tower.
s, tree fern
s, creeping fig
, yaupon and dahoon holly
, Asiatic jasmine, justicia
, crinum and spider lily, monstera
, wax myrtle, date and sabal palm, papyrus
, philodendron
, blue plumbago
, and horsetail rush (Juncaceae
). The site is a refuge for more than a hundred bird species, the most prominently featured of which is the pair of swan
s, who tend to stay near the reflection pool. Wild turkey and groups of sandhill cranes are also often seen wandering the grounds.
The Singing Tower is the centerpiece of the gardens. The tower was built at the highest elevation of the site, south of a reflection pool that allows the water to reflect its full image. A 60-bell carillon
(cast by Taylor) set within the 205 feet (62.5 m) tall, Gothic Revival
and Art Deco tower that was designed by architect Milton B. Medary. Construction on the tower began in 1927 and was completed for the dedication of the gardens in 1929, when it was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge. The tower is 51 feet (15.5 m) square at its base, changing form at 150 feet (45.7 m) high to an octagon with 37 feet (11.3 m) sides that include sculptures designed by Lee Lawrie
. The tower is surrounded by a 15 feet (4.6 m) moat that serves as a Koi
pond. It is built of pink Etowah marble
and gray Creole marble
, mined in Tate, Georgia
, and Florida native coquina
stone, from Daytona Beach, Florida
.
Although the tower's interior is not open to the public, it contains the Anton Brees Carillon Library, said to be the largest carillon library in the world.
Inside the bell chamber is a playing room that houses a clavier
, or keyboard, that is used for playing the carillon bells. Recitals are given daily from the 60-bell carillon set.
and a dense groundcover of perennial grasses that includes a nature trail that extends for three-quarters of a mile, a bog garden, an open glade, and a sandhill
forest community.
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 bird sanctuary, located north of Lake Wales
Lake Wales, Florida
Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,194 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 11,802 . It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, 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...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It consists of a 250-acre (1 k2) garden, the 205 feet (62.5 m) tall Singing Tower with its carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
bells, Pine Ridge Trail, Pinewood Estate, and a visitor center. The tower is built upon Iron Mountain
Iron Mountain (Florida)
Iron Mountain is one of the highest points in peninsular Florida, USA and a prominent point of the Lake Wales Ridge. The mountain contains citronelle, a hematite-containing rock that oxidizes when exposed to air and is responsible for the red-brown color of the earth. The ridge is located just...
, one of the highest points of peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
r Florida, estimated to be 295 feet (89.9 m) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. It is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
that is listed on 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...
.
Bok Tower Gardens is open daily and an admission fee is charged.
History
The gardens began in 1921 when Edward W. BokEdward W. Bok
Edward William Bok was a Dutch born American editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He was editor of the Ladies Home Journal for thirty years...
, editor of the popular women's magazine Ladies Home Journal and his wife, Mary Louise Curtis Bok
Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist
Mary Louise Curtis Bok , was the founder of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She was the only child of the magazine and newspaper magnate, Cyrus Curtis and Louisa Knapp Curtis, the founder and editor of the Ladies Home Journal...
, who would found the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
in Philadelphia in 1924, were spending the winter beside 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...
's Lake Wales Ridge
Lake Wales Ridge
The Lake Wales Ridge is a low ridge running for about 150 miles south to north in Central Florida. The greater part of the ridge is in Highlands County and Polk County, but it extends north into Osceola, Orange and Lake Counties. It is named for the city of Lake Wales, roughly at the mid point of...
and decided to create a bird sanctuary on its highest hill (298 feet above sea level, 91 meters).
Bok commissioned noted landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. was an American landscape architect best known for his wildlife conservation efforts. He had a lifetime commitment to national parks, and worked on projects in Acadia, the Everglades and Yosemite National Park. Olmsted Point in Yosemite and Olmsted Island at Great Falls...
to transform what then was an arid sand hill into "a spot of beauty second to none in the country". The first year was spent digging trenches and laying pipes for irrigation, after which soil was brought to the site by thousands of truck loads and plantings began. The Olmsted plan included the planting of 1,000 large live oak
Live oak
Live oak , also known as the southern live oak, is a normally evergreen oak tree native to the southeastern United States...
s, 10,000 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, 100 sabal palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
s, 300 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....
s, and 500 gordonia
Gordonia
Gordonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, related to Franklinia, Camellia and Stewartia. Of the roughly 40 species, all but two are native to southeast Asia in southern China, Taiwan and Indochina. The remaining species, G...
s, as well as hundreds of fruit shrubs including blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
and 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....
.
Attempts were made to introduce flamingo
Flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus , the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae...
s to the sanctuary several times, which is why early renderings of the tower show flamingos at the reflection pool rather than swans. These early efforts were unsuccessful, however, as the flamingos were not native to central Florida and could not survive the winters that were cooler than those of southern Florida where they may be found.
Under construction for over five years, Bok Tower Gardens was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
on February 1, 1929. Edward Bok died in 1930, and was interred at the base of the tower.
Gardens
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. designed the meandering gardens of Bok Tower Gardens to feature acres of ferns, palms, oaks, pines, and wetland plants. The plantings also include camelliaCamellia
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, tree fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s, creeping fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
, yaupon and dahoon 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....
, Asiatic jasmine, justicia
Justicia
Justicia is a genus of flowering plants in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. The roughly 420 species it contains are native to tropical to warm temperate regions of the Americas, with two species occurring north into cooler temperate regions...
, crinum and spider lily, monstera
Monstera
Monstera is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas. The genus is named from the Latin word for "monstrous" or "abnormal", the members of the genus are distinguished by their unusual leaves with natural holes.They are herbs...
, wax myrtle, date and sabal palm, papyrus
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
, philodendron
Philodendron
Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants in the Araceae family, consisting of close to 900 or more species according to TROPICOS . Other sources quote different numbers of species. According to S.J. Mayo there are about 350-400 formally recognized species whereas according to Croat there...
, blue plumbago
Plumbago
Plumbago is a genus of 10-20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort...
, and horsetail rush (Juncaceae
Juncaceae
Juncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants. There are eight genera and about 400 species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range...
). The site is a refuge for more than a hundred bird species, the most prominently featured of which is the pair of swan
Swan
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
s, who tend to stay near the reflection pool. Wild turkey and groups of sandhill cranes are also often seen wandering the grounds.
Singing Tower
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
(cast by Taylor) set within the 205 feet (62.5 m) tall, Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
and Art Deco tower that was designed by architect Milton B. Medary. Construction on the tower began in 1927 and was completed for the dedication of the gardens in 1929, when it was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge. The tower is 51 feet (15.5 m) square at its base, changing form at 150 feet (45.7 m) high to an octagon with 37 feet (11.3 m) sides that include sculptures designed by Lee Lawrie
Lee Lawrie
Lee Oscar Lawrie was one of the United States' foremost architectural sculptors and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II...
. The tower is surrounded by a 15 feet (4.6 m) moat that serves as a Koi
Koi
or more specifically , are ornamental varieties of domesticated common carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens....
pond. It is built of pink Etowah marble
Etowah marble
Etowah marble, also called Georgia pink marble, is a marble with a characteristic pink, salmon, or rose color that comes from quarries near Tate, Georgia.-Notable buildings with Etowah marble:*Carillon, Boks Tower Gardens, Florida...
and gray Creole marble
Creole marble
Creole marble, also called Georgia creole or Georgia marble is a marble from quarries in Pickens County, Georgia. It is coarse-grained, displays a white or gray background while veins or clouds are black or dark blue...
, mined in Tate, Georgia
Tate, Georgia
Tate is an unincorporated town in Pickens County, Georgia, United States. Originally called Marble Works post office by the United States Postal Service, then Harnageville after Ambrose Harnage, it was the first county seat for Cherokee County, which functioned as a large territory rather than a...
, and Florida native coquina
Coquina
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...
stone, from Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
.
Although the tower's interior is not open to the public, it contains the Anton Brees Carillon Library, said to be the largest carillon library in the world.
Inside the bell chamber is a playing room that houses a clavier
Clavier
Clavier is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Clavier had a total population of 4,172. The total area is 79.12 km² which gives a population density of approximately 53 inhabitants per km²....
, or keyboard, that is used for playing the carillon bells. Recitals are given daily from the 60-bell carillon set.
Pine Ridge Trail
The Pine Ridge Nature Preserve and Trail is an ecosystem typified by an over-story of Longleaf PineLongleaf Pine
Pinus palustris, commonly known as the Longleaf Pine, is a pine native to the southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast Virginia extending into northern and central Florida....
and a dense groundcover of perennial grasses that includes a nature trail that extends for three-quarters of a mile, a bog garden, an open glade, and a sandhill
Sandhill
A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and become more oak dominated.Entisols are the typical...
forest community.