Bok Tower Gardens

 garden, carillon

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1151 Tower Boulevard
Lake Wales, FL 33853
(863) 676-1408
www.boktowergardens.org/

Bok Tower Gardens (250 acres, 1 square kilometer) are botanical gardens located on the grounds of the Historic Bok Sanctuary, 1151 Tower Boulevard, Lake Wales, Florida, United States. Bok Tower Gardens is a National Historic Landmark. The gardens are open daily; an admission fee is charged. Historic Bok Sanctuary comprises the gardens, the Singing Tower (with carillon bells), Pinewood Estate, Pine Ridge Trail, and a Visitor Center.

The gardens began in 1921 when Edward W. Bok, editor of the popular women's magazine Ladies Home Journal, was wintering beside Florida's Lake Wales Ridge and decided to create a bird sanctuary on its highest hill (91 meters, 298 feet above sea level). Bok commissioned noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to transform what was then an arid sandhill into "a spot of beauty second to none in the country". Olmsted planted some 1000 large live oaks, 10,000 azaleas, 100 sabal palms, 300 magnolias, and 500 gordonias, as well as hundreds of fruit shrubs including blueberry and holly. It is a refuge for more than 100 bird species: the most prominently featured birds are the swans who tend to stay near the reflection pool. The gardens provide an assortment of native wildlife, birds, reptiles, and butterflies.

The Singing Tower is the centerpiece of the gardens. The tower was built at the highest elevation of the site. A 60-bell carillon set within the 205-foot tall, Late Gothic Revival tower. Construction began in 1927 and was completed for the opening of the gardens in 1929, when it was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge.