The Sensory Discovery Garden at Lake Louisa State Park surrounds a wheelchair accessible boardwalk constructed from recycled lumber.  The garden allows visitors, regardless of their physical abilities, to be immersed in an experience of sight through the vast array of colorful flowers and resident butterflies, sound via the melodic wind chime and bees pollinating and creating beauty, touch through the different leaf and flower textures, and smell thanks to the inviting fragrance of honeysuckle, among other plant inhabitants.  The garden is not only a source of beauty but also of function, serving as a potential social, cognitive, and emotional therapeutic tool.  It is a living classroom, as well as a National Wildlife Federation certified habitat, displaying only Florida native plants and grasses and providing a haven of both host and nectar plants on which a variety of butterfly species may lay their eggs and find a source of nectar on which to feed.


The Sensory Discovery Garden was made possible due to funding from grant money awarded to Friends of Lake Louisa State Park board member Christy V. Conk, who was the recipient of Walt Disney World’s 2008 VoluntEAR of the Year award.  The money received as a result of that award paid for all boardwalk and planter box materials, as well as the dozens of plants throughout the garden.  Christy’s vision provided the design of the garden and volunteers from Walt Disney World and the Clermont community donated their time and effort to the construction of the boardwalk and planting of the garden to bring this vision to life.

Sensory Garden