Each morning along Lake Mirror when the iron gates swing open, song joins the flowers in the heart of Lakeland.

"It's a small park, but we try to put a lot of interesting plants in this small area," Stacy Smith said.

In just 1 acre, Hollis Garden is sprawling, thanks in part to a promise Smith made to his third-grade teacher.

"My first garden was a little square patch in the backyard, at age 11," he recalls.

Today, Smith cares for everything from the annuals to the koi, along with the stinky. One potted plant near an employee gate is kept atop a pole because its flower smells like road kill.

Hollis Garden's neo-classical architecture is rooted deep in American history with the "The Trees of Americana."

"Those are all cuttings or seedlings of the original trees," Smith explains.

These trees are relatives from an Oak at Abraham Lincoln's birthplace, a Water Oak from Helen Keller's house and even a weeping willow from Elvis Presley's front yard. Missing? The Edgar Allen Poe tree.

"We did at one time, but the tree died," Smith said of the Poe tree. "As you would expect."

Yet, the garden almost didn't happen.

"We had an economic crash in Florida in 1926, so the plan was never completed," Smith said.

To get things flowing 74 years later, Hollis Garden opened after support from garden namesake, Mark Hollis, the late president of Publix.

"He made sure this park would last forever because he put $500,000 worth of Publix stock into a perpetual care fund for this park," Smith said.

And while the garden is a pleasure, don't expect a grocery checkout lane there.

"It's not expensive at all," Smith said. "It's free."

Tankful on Television
You can catch new Florida on a Tankful stories each Thursday and Saturday on News 13 and Bay News 9. New editions play at the end of each hour starting at 6 a.m. Classic Florida on a Tankful stories can be found each Friday and Sunday on Bay News 9 and News 13 at the end of each hour starting at 6 a.m.

Tankful on Demand
Catch Florida on a Tankful with Scott Fais on your time, now on Bright House Local On Demand, Channel 999. Use your remote to scroll to the right to the TRAVEL category. Then SCROLL DOWN to TANKFUL.

Scott Fais on Travel Monthly
Catch Scott Fais as the Florida Correspondent on the On Demand travel magazine, Travel Monthly.  Each month, Scott joins other travel reporters from across the United States as they showcase a wide variety of attractions, diners, parks and landmarks from across America.  See Travel Monthly nationally on Time Warner Cable and in Florida on Bright House Local On Demand, Channel 999 in the TRAVEL category.