A retirement community with many unique small gardens is situated in Fort Myers, Florida. Spending the week in Siesta Bay along Summerlin Road was a wonderful experience. Couples from all over the United States as well as England and Canada are residents year around or throughout the winter months. Siesta Bay is a very close knit community with ages ranging from their fifties to eighties. There are many similar communities around the Fort Myers area, but I found Siesta Bay to be one of fun, relaxation and many activities available.

One of the highlights besides all the down home friendly people, was the creation of small individual gardens lining each street of this retirement community. If you have read pages of this Web site, you know that one thing that is very important to me is having someone be able to take their own personality and create a garden or landscape that reflects that individual. The folks at Siesta Bay have done just that. Tropical plants and containers are intermingled in a small space.

For some that are not interested in taking care of any type of garden, there is an option of having a larger grass or cement area. I am very excited to share all the pictures below with you. We took an afternoon and shot these photos so many of you that have never been in the Fort Myers area could see a few small gardens. I wrote a page in the garden project section on suggestions for a small retirement garden. It doesn't matter where you live, you can create a small and individualized garden for your enjoyment.

Siesta Bay also has an active garden club and you can tell that the residents take high pride in each of their homes. Lets take a look at some simple and innovative gardens.

The first shot is a full garden and shows the maturity of the shrubs. The second picture is a container garden with a small decorative fountain acting as a great focal point.

When we took this third shot, a formal garden came to mind. Two benches on either side as well as a statue situated in a bird bath. The fourth photo is one of natural beauty with the garden being full of bright colors.

The next picture is a small garden with the base of a Royal Palm in the center. I will be doing a page in the near future on a variety of different palm trees in the Fort Myers area. The sixth photo is a neat little garden and also a couple of chairs to relax and enjoy the view.

The seventh is another complete small garden in this wonderful retirement community. It is full of color and also notice the bikes in the pictures. Many people get around the streets of Siesta Bay riding their bikes. The next shot represents a very simple container garden. I love the look of these containers and the pretty flowers.

I love this next picture. As you can see a few planters can dress up the front of any home whatever the size of the structure. The tenth photo is a small rock garden that caught my eye. So simple with a couple of shrubs in a soothing little area.

As you can see in the next photo, three smaller palms take center stage. The next garden really shows you a unique personality and how using a variety of small shrubs can create a simple garden.

This shot is another full garden and is the pride of a couple from England. We talked with them for quite awhile and they love gardening and wanted to have a quaint special place for their winter home. The final picture is a younger couple from Wisconsin and the simplicity of a few roses and figurines gives this garden their own personal touch.