By Christy Swift
Highlands Today
AVON PARK, Fla. -- Just outside of Avon Park is a secret garden most people don’t know about. A quiet pond surrounds an island landscaped with ferns, palms, banana plants and ginger. Stepping stones beckon the visitor to duck beneath an arch of foliage to discover a butterfly garden, a hibiscus garden, bamboo.
It feels more like Hawaii than Avon Park. There is even an orchid nursery and a rose garden. An old canoe-turned-planter sits at the water’s edge. An oak canopy shades scenic walkways and a pond where the tilapia are spawning.
Where is this secret garden, and why don’t more people know about it? Because it’s in a prison.
The nursery, as it’s called, is on five acres of property at the Avon Park Correctional Institute. It’s run by corrections officer Tommy Sauls, who has worked at the prison for 17 years and been in charge of the plant therapy program for three.
Full story: Corrections officer offers ‘plant therapy’