We have a very dedicated crew of gardeners here on our campus in Pioneer Park. If you are interested in native plants, Florida-friendly gardens, or just messing around in the dirt, we’d love to have you join us!

HSoSC vice-president Marsha Fottler sent along these photos of our garden to tempt you into visiting and enjoying the Historical Society:

Below: The rain lilies in our members garden at the Historical Society were a gift from past president Viola Goldberg. They mingle with gerbera daisies, pentas, and a crape myrtle. Members who want to donate plants to the garden should call Marsha Fottler at 371-8593. It’s how our garden grows.

Below: We have two pineapple plants in our HSOSC garden. They were planted by a member, Phil Stevens. The local squirrels are watching them as closely as Linda, our site manager. Last year those clever thieves got to enjoy a pineapple before we could harvest it. Pineapples are easy to grow. Cut off the top, let it dry out for a day and then plant it. Slowly, over the next year or so, a pineapple will emerge.

Below: Around the pine trees at Pioneer Park, the landscape committee has installed bromeliads and dwarf heliconias. They are hardy, need little water or care and reward us with wonderful color and texture. All of these plants were donated to the HSOSC members garden by friends of the Bidwell-Wood House and the Crocker Memorial Church. We strive to keep the garden Florida-friendly.

Below: Perhaps you’ve noticed the brick walkways in our garden. You can be a part of the garden with your sponsorship of a brick, in your name, your family;s or friend’s name, or as a memorial tribute to someone you loved who loved history and Sarasota. Click to learn more.

Stay tuned! More information on the gardens at the Historical Society of Sarasota County coming soon…. and meanwhile, drop by Pioneer Park anytime to see what’s growing!

It’s been a thrilling springtime around the Historical Society, planning for our next year.

The 2014 Giving Challenge this month was such a thrill and raised much needed funds. Our portion of the over $3 million raised was Continue reading →

Baseball fever has gripped the Sarasota area for years, beginning around 1923.  Baseball has helped to shape Sarasota’s identity as a spring-training tourist destination and has had a significant impact on growth, politics, real estate and culture of both the city and county.

Image courtesy of legendaryauctions.com

Come learn how and why we became linked with professional baseball when three baseball experts gather for a lively Conversation at The Crocker on Tuesday, March 11, starting at 7 p.m. at the Crocker Memorial Church.

The Conversation features journalist and baseball fan Charlie Huisking; Sarasota Herald-Tribune sports writer Doug Fernandes; and author and baseball historian Ray Sinibaldi. This event is free to Historical Society members and $10 for guests.

Everyone is encouraged to wear a baseball-theme shirt or team logo cap. Bring your own memories of baseball in Sarasota and share photos. There will be baseball snacks for all and after the panel discussion, Ray Sinibaldi will be signing copies of his book,  Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota.

The Historical Society’s High Tea & Paintings Off Easel in the Crocker Memorial Church on Sunday, Jan. 12th from 2 to 4 in the afternoon is always an artistic affair, and even more so this year!

Plein Air Artists will be painting outside while we sip tea inside. Artwork may be purchased off the walls or “off easel.” This group of artists from Light Chasers, says leader Terry Mason, are dedicated to using their talents to help local non-profits.

Most of the paintings that will be for sale are in an affordable size that makes perfect home decor, hostess gifts, and remembrances of your loved ones’ and visitors’ time in Florida.

The theme for this year’s event is “Tea & Flowers” and guests will each receive flower cards, donated by hostess, for the third year in a row, Judy Alexander. In addition to the art sales, there will be a Silent Auction during the event and music will be provided by Sal Garcia. Be sure to wear your best hat!

Last year’s High Tea was a sell-out so get your reservations now, by calling the Historical Society, at 941-364-9076, Monday through Friday from 10:00 – 2:00. Tickets are $25.00 per person and all monies raised go towards the maintenance of two of Sarasota’s oldest buildings, the Bidwell Wood House (1882) and the Crocker Memorial Church (1901).

This cheerful bird decorates the front garden at the Bidwell-Wood House

Many members of the Historical Society make donations, large and small. Some donations are green (as in cash!) but very few are red.

Red as in Continue reading →

Some of the events this season at the Historical Society of Sarasota County require a bit of pre-planning, as we talked about our Schedule of Events in this post.

Others, all you need to do is show up and enjoy!

Just come as you are.

• Our treasured Conversation at the Crocker series opens Tuesday evening, October 8 at 7 pm. See the entire series of Conversations this season.
• That same evening, Tuesday October 8, will see the Grand Opening of the Gift Shop at 5:30. Come browse the unique local crafts, art and books, enjoy a glass of wine and a nibble or two, and maybe even spot one or more of the talented Sarasota County artists and authors on our Back Porch. We do take checks, cash, and credit cards, so maybe you can get your holiday gift-giving all sewn up as you help the Society preserve and protect Sarasota’s historic buildings.
• Pirates & Pioneers Day is Saturday November 16. Come early and stay late (and if you want to take the Historic Downtown Trolley Tour from 10 til around noon, you do need to make a reservation in advance.)

Click for a link to our Calendar, our Classes in the Park, and a map to the Historical Society.

It’s long been a concern of members and event attendees that the steep shallow steps to the front porch of the Crocker Church are not the easiest to navigate. Well finally, after much “historic review” and permissions and permits and the like (not to mention budget-jingling and the most generous donation of the funds for this project from a cherished member of the Historical Society, we now have handrails!

Here, Board members (left to right) Jane Kirschner-Tuccillo, Meade Ferguson and Linda Garcia try them out. They report that the rails work fine, and will be able to withstand SRO audiences for the upcoming season’s Conversations at the Crocker, the hordes of marauding pirates and pioneers, and a full slate of students including yoga goers and watercolorists!

Now is an ideal time to stop by the Historical Society of Sarasota County garden at the historic Bidwell-Wood House and enjoy the local color.

Have a seat on a bench and feel all stress disappear.

Our members’ garden is a lovely spot for relaxing and maybe reading a book or enjoying a beverage. Everything is in glorious bloom. You’ll find pentas, rain lilies and gerbera daisies as well as a young American holly tree, a gift from a local master gardener.

We also have bromeliads, yellow lantana, iris, spider plants, Indian Hawthorne, ferns, fire spike (red and purple), dwarf heliconia, and a bleeding heart vine that struggled the year we planted it, but seems to have taken off recently. Three pineapples are growing under a pine tree and it will be a race to see who harvests them first – us or the squirrels. Phil Stevens planted pineapple tops from fruit he bought at Publix.

If you’re thinking about planting a Florida-friendly garden at your house, our HSOSC garden is a good one to replicate or to study for inspiration. Everything here is Florida-hardy and does well with erratic or minimal watering (except for the gerbera daisies which wilt if you look at them funny). The large and sheltering tree at the entrance to the garden is a pig nut hickory. We did not plant it. That tree was at Pioneer Park long before we arrived in 2006. It sheds its leaves in winter and looks so frail we always think it is on death’s door. Then in the Spring, it surprises us all and it’s glorious all through the summer providing shade for part of the garden and a gigantic playground for squirrels, birds and lizards.

The members’ garden at HSOSC is always growing and expanding. Lynn and Alex Harding recently donated a small grove of Lady Palm trees to the east side of the house that are thriving and at the back of the house, bromeliads and orange dwarf heliconia are staking a claim to the sandy soil. Within the next two years, we are planning to redesign the parking lot on the west side of the Crocker Memorial Church and install a car park arboretum of Florida-friendly flowering trees. Parking will be convenient and the view will be lovely. Board member Bill Kleber is working on that with a survey and preliminary drawings. If you have suggestions for flowering trees you’d like to see in that space, let us know and if you’d like to

donate a tree or plant to the garden in memory of a loved one or as a gift

to a history-garden-loving friend, the Landscape Committee is ready to make that happen. Contact Marsha Fottler, Landscape Chair at fottler@verizon.net