Enter for a chance to win an overnight stay at Chalet Suzanne for two, a picnic dinner at Bok Tower Gardens and two tickets to Concert Under the Stars. Since 1931, the Hinshaw Family has been welcoming guests to the 26 room inn and five-star restaurant. Dine amidst antiques and artifacts from far away places, gift shop, swim and tour the Soup Cannery, home of soups that went to the moon. Also, visit the ceramic artist in the History House.

About the Concert

Guitar virtuoso Frank Vignola and his Quintet will perform along with the American Irish band Solas during Bok Tower Gardens’ 22nd annual Concert Under the Stars. A favorite Central Florida outdoor gathering, the concert draws thousands of visitors who enjoy a picnic with family and friends as the sun sets over Iron Mountain. Food and refreshments including beer and wine will be available for sale at the concert site. The Visitor Center and gift shop will remain open until after the concert. Concert tickets include general Gardens’ admission so guests may enter anytime during the day. Underwritten in part by Bunting, Tripp & Ingley, Ledger Media Group, WEDU and WUSF.

Ready to learn a new skill, meet new people and have fun? Join the staff of Bok Tower Gardens at its annual Volunteer Job Fair January 20 from 2 – 3:30 p.m. Information will be available from a variety of Gardens’ departments that offer volunteer opportunities. Call Lisa Allen at 734-1211 to R.S.V.P.

“This is a great opportunity for individuals of all ages to learn new things, make wonderful friends and have a rewarding experience all while having fun,” explains Lisa Allen, Gardens’ Visitor Services manager.

Garden guides will be trained to lead daily tours of the historic Olmsted gardens and docents are needed to conduct tours of Pinewood Estate, a 20-room Mediterranean-style mansion. Other volunteer opportunities include: Information Desk greeters; weddings and special events; security and shuttle drivers; tour guides for children; photography; and assistance with clerical, office and special projects as well as the Café, Gift and Plant Shop.

An online Volunteer Application form is available to sign up online.

Just as millions of “leaf peepers” watch in awe as trees begin their magical transformation every fall, we have “peak bloom peekers.” It’s an annual rite of spring as more than 150 varieties of camellias and hundreds of azaleas along with nun’s orchids, irises and other flowering plants create an explosion of color. The exact date, however, is hard to predict.
“Cold weather delays the on-set of flowering and this winter has been unseasonably warm,” says Nick Baker, director of horticulture. “We expect azaleas to peak the third week in February and continue through March.”

What began as nearly 50 acres of woodland gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. has grown to more than 600 acres of woodland gardens, nature trails, conservation lands and groves.

Mother Nature mixes up her palette as violas, snapdragons, dianthus, delphiniums, hollyhocks and other annuals escort the arrival of spring with glorious displays of color. Trees in bloom include native plums, pink and yellow tabebuia, and deciduous magnolias. “We have a special breed of Gresham hybrids that are crosses of different species of magnolias,” Nick adds. “They have exceptionally large blooms and put on a showy display of pink, white and lavender colors.” With so many citrus groves surrounding the Gardens, the scent of orange blossoms adds a sweet fragrance to the air during March.

Another spectacular exhibit features air plants that require no soil. The display around our Visitor Center features more than 30 different species of Tillandsia. Many of them have been specially treated to bloom all at once and are available for purchase in our gift shop. With more than 550 species of Tillandsia, the genus is the largest and most diverse of the entire bromeliad family, accounting for approximately 550 of the over 2,500 species of bromeliads. Tillandsia are native to warmer climates of the Americas.

by Cassie Jacoby, Director of Communications

Free! Spring Garden Tours

Join one of our volunteer Garden Guides for an insider’s look at the Gardens! These are great opportunities to ask questions or learn the names of our current blooming plants. Offered at noon and 2 p.m., these free 45 minute tours take you from the Visitor Center fountain through the Gardens before ending at the carillon viewing area in time for the 1 and 3 p.m. carillon concerts. Tours are subject to availability.

Tower Lawn Viewing Area

We opened a new section of the original Olmsted-designed Gardens on the north side of the Singing Tower moat that will give you a better perspective of the Great Brass Door.

Weighing 1,000 pounds with 30 brass repousse panels, the door was designed by Polish immigrant Samuel Yellin who specialized in Renaissance-style iron sculpture and design. The door depicts the Biblical story of creation, the Book of Genesis, starting with the creation of light and ending with Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden of Eden.

Garden Adventure Guide

Our free guide is designed to be shared with the whole family. Filled with fun facts and activities, everyone in your family can enjoy learning about the cultural and natural history of the Gardens. Use the map and clues to hunt for the hidden tile posts on your way to the Singing Tower.

The Garden Adventure Guide and our Family Discovery Backpacks are on loan free of charge at the Visitor Center.

Wanted: People who enjoy learning about plants, history and/ or music and are interested in sharing their knowledge in our Great Outdoors!

Bok Tower is hosting its annual volunteer Garden Guide training on January 10, 2012 from 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Our training program for new volunteers is flexible and no previous experience is necessary!

Please contact education coordinator Shannon Burgess at sburgess@boktower.org for more information or to reserve a space.

Buy Tickets

Bok Tower Gardens will offer free admission to the Pinewood Estate holiday home tour on Sunday, December 25 from 1 to 5 p.m. The Gardens will be open Christmas Day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Visitor Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Blue Palmetto Café as well as the Tower and Garden Gift Shop will be open from noon to 5 p.m. General admission is $12 for adults and $3 for ages 5-12.

“Edward Bok, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, humanitarian and an advocate of world peace, gave this National Historic Landmark as his gift of gratitude to America in 1929,” Gardens President David Price explains. “On December 25, for the first time in our history, we are delighted to continue our founder’s tradition by opening the doors of Pinewood Estate free to visitors as our gift to celebrate this special day.”

One of Central Florida’s favorite holiday events, the 17th annual holiday home tour has been expanded to include festivities throughout the Gardens continuing through January 1, 2012. This year’s theme, “Picture Perfect,” brings holiday classics and other award-winning films to life with a diversity of creative themes in the 20-room, 1930s Mediterranean-style winter retreat.

On Christmas Day, half-hour Singing Tower carillon concerts will be performed by guest carillonneur Lee Cobb at 1:30 and 3 p.m. His concerts throughout December will feature traditional holiday favorites including “Away in a Manger,” “Christmastime Is Here,” “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” “Frosty the Snowman,”“Jingle Bells,” “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “O Holy Night,” “O Tannenbaum,” “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” “Silent Night,” “Sleigh Ride” and “Winter Wonderland.” Cobb also will perform selections he arranged including “Hanukah, O Hanukah,” “Carol of the Birds” and “Auld Lang Syne,” as well as his original composition, “Winter Carnival.”

Visitors will be able to watch the concerts in a special seating area with a video monitor located behind the Japanese Lantern near the Tower. Cobb will be available to meet visitors at the Tower moat gate near the Information Booth following the concerts. Seasonal music will play every half hour for visitors to enjoy during strolls through the historic Olmsted-designed gardens.

Also new this year, holiday movies will be shown in the Visitor Center weekdays at 10 a.m. The movies include “Elf,” “Home Alone,” “The Grinch,” “The Polar Express” and “The Santa Clause.” Model A and other vintage cars will be on display at Pinewood Estate on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free 45 minute guided garden tours will be offered daily at 11:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. with one tour available at 1:45 p.m. on Christmas Day. The tours begin at Pinewood Estate and conclude at a newly opened viewing area across the moat from the Singing Tower’s Great Brass Door. Throughout the holiday season, unique varieties of poinsettias will be displayed at the Visitor Center with more than 200 red and white poinsettias at Pinewood Estate.

Calling all friends of Bok Tower Gardens! We are inviting a few friends to join us at our open house to be among the first to experience this year’s Holiday Home Tour!

Designers will be on hand to discuss this year’s theme, “Picture Perfect” and how they incorporated it into their room designs as you tour the 20-room mansion. A guitar group from Harrison School for the Arts will perform during an outdoor reception following your tour. Light hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine and other drinks will be served.

The event will take place from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 1. To enter, send your RSVP via the form below.

The deadline to submit an RSVP has expired. All selected guests have been notified by email.

Most Original Picnic – Newlywed Picnic by Joshua & Lauren Freeman

Best Fall Picnic – Around the World by Kathy Yacoboni & Anita Riley

Tower Tour for Six – 073368

Pinewood Dinner for Six – 073204

$100 Gift Certificate – 375824

Read the article at orlandosentinel.com.

Bok Tower Gardens gives two thumbs up for the Singing Tower replica constructed at LEGOLAND® Florida. Wearing a hard hat walking through construction areas as workers put finishing touches on buildings in the park’s Miniland USA, Bok Tower Gardens President David Price smiles with appreciation for a job well done. “The attention to detail is amazing and we’re honored that our National Historic Landmark is being represented in the Florida Miniland section.”

Using approximately 200,000 LEGO® bricks, master builders took 120 hours to design and 359 hours to construct the 200 pound model. Price notes LEGOLAND’s authentic depiction of the Singing Tower’s marble carvings, colorful ceramic tiles grilles, hand-wrought iron gates and Great Brass Door. Dedicated in 1929, the original 205 foot neo-Gothic and art deco Singing Tower was completed in two years. “It’s hard to fathom how, more than eight decades ago, our founder Edward Bok was able to build one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures so quickly.”

One of the best things to do near LEGOLAND, Bok Tower Gardens will allow children with LEGOLAND® Florida tickets free admission to Bok Tower Gardens. “We hope visitors to LEGOLAND will extend their vacation to experience the natural and cultural attractions that Central Florida’s Polk County has to offer,” Price adds.

By having lunch at Bok Tower Gardens during Share Our Strength’s Great
American Dine Out®, you can help end childhood hunger in America. From 9/
18/11 through 9/24/11, the Blue Palmetto Café and thousands of other
restaurants nationwide will support the fight against childhood hunger. We will
donate a percentage of our revenue for the week to this cause.

For more information visit www.greatamericandineout.org.