SARASOTA, Fla. — One of the largest collections of plants in the world is located on Florida's west coast.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, located serenely on Sarasota Bay, has become a model of sustainable design for institutions across the globe.
WATCH BELOW: Tropical beauty in bloom at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
This 30-acre, urban oasis boasts one of the most comprehensive plant collections in the world. Also, you'll find thousands of pieces of living art.
"The kicker is the 50,000 square feet of solar on the roof that makes us the first net positive energy botanical garden complex," Jennifer Rominecki, president and CEO of the venue. "We're really demonstrating the utmost in sustainability because in addition to the solar, under the project is a tremendous stormwater management system that allows us to collect the rainwater, clean it and return it to the bay."
She said it's been a banner year for the facility with a brand-new welcome center draped with awe-inspiring air plants.
"We are the only Botanical Garden in the world that focuses on the study of air plants," Rominecki said.
She said the best example of this is the vanda orchids that hang in the welcome center.
"You can see their exposed roots, and basically, they're perfectly happy hanging up there, not in the soil but in the air," Rominecki said.
The architecture of the venue is a perfect example of interior design colliding with nature.
"What have scientists found in the research that, when you do incorporate buildings with nature, what is the end result for the person"? reporter Kate Wentzel asked Rominecki.
"There's so many amazing outcomes, but certainly mimicking nature is important to mental health," stated Rominecki.
But their collection of plants didn't come easily.
"Our scientists have discovered or described more than 2,000 new species for science, and it fills this niche in stringing together the tree of life," Rominecki said. "Biodiversity research is critical, because all life depends on plants."
Angel Lara, the vice president for botanical horticulture at Selby Botanical Gardens, has spent two decades working at the botanical gardens.
"We didn't go to the store and buy (the plants at the venue)," Lara said. "I actually went to another country and had all the permits and all the work to get onto the field and bring them in."
Many consider the tropical conservatory, known as the "Jewel House," the highlight of the gardens.
"Everything that's in here is spectacular," Lara said.
Inside, you'll find a limited-time exhibit called "George Harrison: A Gardner's Life."
Most know Harrison as the iconic lead guitarist of the Beatles, but inside, you'll learn about his passion for gardening.
"People have been so surprised by this really untold aspect of George, and it was so important to his life," Lara said. "He actually spent more of his life gardening than being a Beatle, if you think about it."
The curators combined creative pieces like an album cover with botany.
"All these are rare palms that we purchased or had in our collection. We added the like the light and like in it, it's very sort of horticultural theater," Lara said.
At the exhibit is the "Ye Weeping Garden" with Stratocaster guitars
"What we decided to do is this sort of waterfall that sort of mimics, like rain or crying, right? But also all, like the plants around it are weeping," Lara said.
The hours and hours of manpower it takes to have this type of collection with species from around the world are almost unfathomable.
"That's why I said it's never a dull moment," Lara said.
Now a staple on the cultural coast, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens continues to be the perfect escape from the everyday life and a place to soak in the beauty of nature.
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