Beloved botanical gardens in Tampa started as man's passion for botany

Now that we're in Fall and seeing somewhat cooler temperatures with less humidity, it can be the perfect time to get outdoors and enjoy nature. 

Eureka Springs Conservation Park is where one man's passion for botany became one of Tampa's most beloved botanical gardens. It's a natural spring fed botanical garden on the East side of the city. 

It all started with Albert Greenberg in the early 1930s. He came to the area looking for a place to grow aquatic plants and tropical fish, and that's when he found what's now known as Eureka Springs. 

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Greenberg gave the botanical garden to Hillsborough County in 1967. Before that, he used it to grow tropical fish and aquatic plants to distribute all over the world. 

"The main thing Albert Greenberg wanted was to share the beauty of nature with the people of Hillsborough County and the people in the world of what he got to experience in his life, with his opportunity to travel the world and bring things back of beauty. That's what drove him to share it with others," Ross Perry at Eureka Springs Conservation Park said. 

Visitors can experience things from old and things from new. There are plants at the park that belonged to Greenberg himself. 

Eureka Springs Conservation Park is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.