Downpours didn't stop families from packing Marie Selby Botanical Gardens on Saturday, Aug. 1, for the final installment of Bubbles Under the Banyans, a four-Saturday summer series that turned the downtown Sarasota campus into a playground of oversized bubbles and mud-splattered kids.
Performer Blaise Ryndes, a four-time Guinness World Records holder, ran the Spheres Bubble Show that morning, blowing enormous bubbles beneath the garden's canopy. When rain swept through, Ryndes kept performing. Younger children seized the moment, stomping through the muck that formed on the grounds while parents retreated to the terrace to save their shoes.
The kids didn't mind.
The Stone Foundation, a longtime supporter of the gardens, sponsored the series. General admission to the downtown campus served as the ticket price — $28 for adults, $12 for ages 5 to 17, and free for children 4 and under. Members entered free.
After the show, many families walked over to The Green Orchid by Michael's on East, located on the downtown campus, for brunch.
The Aug. 1 event capped four consecutive Saturday performances this summer, according to photos shared on X by the Herald-Tribune. Photographer Janet Combs documented the scene.
What's next at Selby Gardens
The gardens' current summer exhibition, "Lynn Goldsmith and Patti Smith: Flowers and Friendship," remains on view through Sunday, Sept. 13, at the downtown Sarasota campus at 1534 Mound St. The gardens are open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Selby Gardens' expanded downtown campus includes 188,030 square feet of solar-powered facilities, according to the gardens' 2025–2026 season announcement. Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO, has called it "the world's first net-positive energy botanical garden complex."
Upcoming community events
- Lights at Spooky Point — Saturday, Oct. 3 through Sunday, Nov. 1, at Selby Gardens' Historic Spanish Point campus in Osprey
- Lights in Bloom — Saturday, Dec. 5 through Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027, at the downtown Sarasota campus
