by Lucy Beebe Tobias

Susan Becker is a Street Concierge in Naples, Florida. Say what? Naples may be the only place in the country to have Street Concierges, located at the Third Street Concierge, an outdoor kiosk on Third Street South – part of an historic area also called the birthplace of Old Naples.

Planter on Third Street South, Naples

The concierge service is open seven days a week from 10-6 and Thursday and Fridays hours are extended from 10-9 p.m. Thursday is Becker’s day to work. She answers question, hands out maps, brochures and restaurant menus and loves every minute of her 12-hour shift.

“I came from a helping profession, a college professor, I was used to helping several hundred people a day, this continues that,” said Becker.

With the holidays coming on Becker grandparents who have family coming want to know what there is to do with children of all ages.

“The best thing is free – the beach!” Becker laughed. “They can run, play, build sandcastles, swim, ride boogie boards.”

The beaches, and the historic Naples Pier, are just a few blocks from Third Street South. Walk or ride a bike to any free access point to the beach. Within the city limits every avenue (streets that go east and west) ends in a public beach walkover access. Arriving by car to the beach means feeding parking meters or having an annual beach-parking sticker.

One access point to the beach is the historic Naples Pier. There is no admission fee to the Pier. I found free parking lots just off Third Street South then took an easy walk for two blocks down tree-lined streets past old homes to the Historic Pier, a delightful walk with a great sunset view.

Open 24 hours a day, no fishing license is required. Fishermen come equipped

with food and chairs for a long stay on the long pier.

On the beach, stretching left and right of the pier, a parade of umbrellas in bright colors testify to beach popularity. Other signs of sun and fun: blankets, outdoor chairs, sunbathers, Frisbee throwers, surf swimmers and sand castle builders.

Who could have imagined all this back in the 1800s? Back then General John S. Williams and Water N. Halderman sailed into the bay. Williams thought it looked like the Bay of Naples in Italy and thus Naples was named. The two men brought families from Ohio and Kentucky. The first two homes were built in 1887 and the first pier, a freight pier with railroad ties, was built in 1889.

Walking tours of Naples Historic District are popular. Design your own with help from the Third Street Concierge or visit Palm Cottage, built by Halderman, and take one of their walking tours, $16 for non-members, on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. from November through April. Reservations required.

View of The Norris Gardens through a gate at Palm Cottage

For ardent fans of GPS, Out’nBack Nature Tours has a walking tour of Naples using hand-help GPS and clues along the way. They also offer bicycle tours.

Bicycling is another popular way to see Old Naples.

“I am a citizen of Old Naples, live just a few blocks from Third Street South and I ride my bike to and from work,” said Becker. “Bicycling is very popular. The roads are all flat.”

Sculpture on Third Street South, Naples

For strolling along, and thinking of food, Third Street South has small, unique boutiques and off-the-usual-beaten path restaurants including Jane’s Café with organic and natural food and Sea Salt where Chef Fabrizio Aielli uses organic and local produce along with wild caught seafood.

Being addicted to coffee, I soon found Bad Ass Coffee, a shop whose name raises eyebr

ows. But it is all good – Bad Ass was founded in Hawaii and serves Hawaiian coffees. Really super coffee.

The day of the week matters on Third Street South and also along Fifth Avenue South, an upscale shopping and dining area along with places to stay like the boutique Inn on Fifth Street.

Live entertainment throbs on Thursday evenings at Third Street South from January through May. Called Thursday on Third, stores stay open, you can dance in the street, have dinner, enjoy all kinds of music. During the summer, June through December, the music happens every third Thursday.

Along Fifth Avenue South enjoy Evenings on Fifth the second Thursday of each month. And in November Fifth Avenue South has added a special Evening on Nov. 25 during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Walking along Fifth Avenue South, Naples

On Saturdays check out the Third Street Farmers Market from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Grownups, children and well-behaved dogs are all welcome. The market happens all year long.

Shop-till-you-droppers will appreciate that you are not done yet. Tin City in the Naples Waterfront district has shopping and entertainment. And right across the street is Bayfront with shops that take the word “upscale” to a whole new level.

If you can extract yourself from Old Naples, nearby attractions have plenty of outdoor appeal.

Here are a few: Naples Botanical Garden is breathtaking, with gardens devoted to different areas of the world.

The Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens has a boat ride through primate islands on a large lake. Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary features a 2.25-mile long boardwalk through the county’s last old growth bald cypress forest.
Whew! Time to head back to the beach and relax. Need a bathing suit? I’m sure the Third Street Concierge can help with that too.

FLORIDA FAVORITES
In my Florida travels I meet fantastic people who are travel writers, residents, newcomers, guides and entrepreneurs, all are digging into the Florida places they love and finding diamonds. Here is Brian E. Holley, Executive Director of the Naples Botanical Garden telling in his own words how this amazing garden came into bloom:

Creating a new botanical garden requires a remarkable alignment to take place – you need dreamers to create a vision; pragmatists to assemble a viable plan from the vision; artists to create a design that sings to the soul; philanthropists to share and support the vision; land, lots of land; and worker bees – staff, board, volunteers, ecologists, engineers, contractors, plant nerds (I take pride in being one), artisans, educators, gardeners – who can merge their skills and energy into the team that makes it happen.

This amazing alignment has taken place in Naples, Florida and the result is the 170 acre, Naples Botanical Garden. The Garden started as a dream in Naples’ downtown library in 1993 when a group of a dozen or so plant people got together and agreed that it was important for the community to have a botanical garden.

In the ensuing years the group expanded and turned the dream into a plan for a major new garden that would combine urban renewal of Naples’ poorest neighborhood, a dynamic visitor attraction, great design, a venue for the arts, education, extensive documented collections of plants, research and restored natural areas.

The plan was compelling and attracted the attention of philanthropist Harvey Kapnick. Harvey agreed to purchase 170 acres of land in East Naples for $5 million in 2000. The Garden started slowly but with great innovation – they hired a very talented designer Gary Smith to turn a parking lot into a one acre garden so the community could see the potential of this endeavor.

In 2005, what the Miami Herald called “The Dream Team” – noted landscape architects Raymond Jungles, Robert Truskowski, Herb Schaal, Ellin Goetz and Balinese landscape designer Made Wijaya -agreed to join the project and create a new master plan for the Garden. There was a huge risk for the Garden in having five firms work on the plan but the mutual respect and excitement about the opportunity to work on a once in a lifetime project brought these brilliant minds together to work as one cohesive team. Shortly thereafter, Ted Flato of Lake/Flato Architects in San Antonio, Texas brought his sense of place and passion for sustainable design to the project.

By 2008, the Garden had raised $30 million toward building the project, led by a $10 million gift from Harvey’s son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Kathleen Kapnick, and in June of that year construction began.

In November 2009 Naples Botanical Garden opened its first new gardens – The Vicky C. and David Byron Smith Children’s Garden, The Brazilian Garden, The Kapnick Caribbean Garden and the Mary and Stephen B. Smith Family, River of Grass. In January 2010 another dream of Harvey’s became a reality, The Kapnick Education and Research Center, in partnership with Florida Gulf Coast University, opened and gave the Garden excellent facilities for education. The expansion continued with the opening of the Marcia and L. Bates Lea Asian Garden, the Karen and Robert Scott Florida Garden and the Water Garden in November 2010.

Today the Garden welcomes over 100,000 people a year and hosts an extensive array of classes and events. Check us out at www.naplesgarden.org and watch for our free mobile app for iPhones and Androids in January, 2012.

GET OUT AND PLAY

November – Celebrate the Arts month presented by the United Arts Council of Collier County (where Naples is located) see their Celebrate Calendar for events.
Nov. 11-13 – St. Johns River Blues Festival in Palatka with 16 regional blues bands.
Nov. 12 – Second Saturdays at ArtSouth in Homestead. Browse four galleries and open artist studios. Children welcome. Hours: 3-7 p.m.
Nov. 21 – Annual Celebration of Festival of Lights happens from 6-9 p.m. on Third Street South, Naples. Santa arrives, lots of entertainment, and promptly at 7:30 p.m. snow will fall. I am not making this up. Lampposts have snowmaking machines; they all turn on at the same time.
Snow falls at 7:30 p.m. every night that week (except Thanksgiving) and continues on Thursday nights during December.

Butterflies. Their beauty makes us gasp. Here is another gasp – full immersion native butterfly gardening turns your yard into a butterfly world. Admission is free every day.

Butterflies on red Pentas

Planting certain flowers, called adult food sources in butterfly lingo, like pentas, brings them in like the smell of French fries draws people to you know where. Adding host plants, like milkweed, a site where they can lay eggs and then the caterpillars, means you are going to be there for the whole metamorphis thing – butterflies, eggs, caterpillars, and then chrysalis emerging as butterflies.

A monarch butterfly crystalis. Look close and see the butterfly

Blue passion vine flower

Let’s see now – beautiful flowers, butterflies wafting through the air, saving their species for the future by ensuring they can lay eggs – oh, joy, what is the plan to do this?

giant swallowtail

WARNING: Butterfly gardening can be addictive. Once you get your first arbor and plant passion vine or pipe vine, there will be another, and another.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Here we go:

• Start with inspiration. Walk around your neighborhood and see what butterflies are already there (assuming your neighbors have more than just grass and verbena bushes – this doesn’t cut it for butterflies). If you see no butterflies then you are going to be the local pioneer.

• Visit a paid admission butterfly garden like Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville. Their Web site has a new identification guide. Take pictures then go on the Web and find the names.

• Another source of inspiration – Butterfly World in Coconut Creek. They really get into host plants. They have an arbor garden loaded with passion vines. Check out the Butterfly Campaign on their Web site. Visitors ask, “How can we bring butterflies back?” The answer: plant host plants so butterflies can lay their eggs.

Pipevine in bloom

• Another suggestion – Greathouse Butterfly Farm in Melrose. Check with them ahead of time about visiting hours – they change with the season.

• For free, go visit your nearest native plant nursery and walk around. One time when I needed milkweed badly (see my “Milkweed Crisis” blog) I went to Taylor Gardens Nursery, Inc. in Sparr. Both Gulf Fritillaries and Zebra Longwings, the Florida state butterfly, were swarming over the milkweed plants.

• Get a free pamphlet from your local Master Gardeners office on Florida butterflies and the host plants they need.

• Visit any of a number of Web sites about Florida butterflies for information on how to begin, nectar plants, host plants and the all important rule of thumb – stop using pesticides, they kill butterflies.

monarch caterpillar

• Check out your local community for any upcoming gardening festivals. Vendors will have host and nectar plants and they know which butterflies like which plants.

UPCOMING:

• The biggest event is the 17th annual Epcot Flower & Garden Festival opening March 3 and continuing until May 16.

• The Master Gardener Spring Festival in Ocala, March 12-13 is where I go for local inspiration.

• Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville hosts their Spring Garden Festival March 26 and 27.

• In DeLand the Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival takes place March 26 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• In Fort Pierce on Saturday, April 23 is the “Spring Into Gardening” festival.

Ah, spring. A perfect time to dig into native butterfly gardening. The winged wonders, these floating masterpieces, thank you in advance for saving their future.

Copyright 2011 Lucy Beebe Tobias, author of “50 Great Walks in Florida” and currently part of the Florida Audubon campaign 53 Parks in 53 Days.

Located at the corner of Centre Street and 7th Street north, right in the heart of Fernandina Beach’s historic district, on June 6th the blueberry growers are expected to start showing up. Yes, it is blueberry season! One June 13, the Sweet Grass Cow & Goat Cheeses will be one of the booths.

Always there are landscape plants for sale, many native plants and beautiful blooming things that I want to take home with me. You’ll find prepared foods for lunch, Growers Alliance organic shade bean coffee (yes, they give sample coffee drinks!), honey vendors, craft persons and often live music.

Ah, what a great way to start a Saturday morning. In my book “50 Great Walks in Florida”, Chapter 11 is A Stroll Through History: The Historic Downtown Fernandina Beach Centre Street Stroll and Chapter 12 is Nature’s Classroom: Willow Pond Nature Trail, Fort Clinch State Park

Saturday mornings in Gainesville let’s visit the Alachua County Farmers’ Market, the only Grower’s Only Market in North-Central Florida (that is a lot of “only”). All the produce is grown within 50 miles of the market and you get the meet the farmer.

This is “buy local” taken seriously. The market is in an open-air metal pavilion. Hours are every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until the produce is gone, whichever comes first. If you are going to GPS it, the address is 5920 N.W. 13th Street, Gainesville.

Then take a walk in Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (Chapter 16: Wander through a Garden of Eden) and take a gander at the historic buildings on the University of Florida campus (Chapter 15: A Walk on the Gothic Side)

Saturday Summer Market is a big attraction in downtown St. Petersburg, starting Saturday, June 6 and continuing every Saturday through September 16. Hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Location is the Mahaffey Theater parking garage, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg.

What you’ll find: regular and organic produce and fruit, baked goods, plants, flowers orchids, fresh herbs, prepared foods and hand-crafted wares. Fun!

St. Pete is a Bonus Point in Chapter 34: A Walk for Everyone: Fort DeSoto County Park, Tierra Verde.

Downtown Market happens in Tallahassee every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March through November. This takes place on the chain of green parks in Park Avenue Historic District, just a few blocks from the capital.

This is a lively market. You’ll meet local artisans (I have a piece of fused glass all the more special because I met the artist), see lots of artwork alongside local produce and heaering live music is a given. Don’t have breakfast or lunch before you come – because you’ll find everything from muffins to soup and salad.

The chain of parks are covered in Chapter 2: Step into History: Park Avenue Historic District, Tallahassee.

For a list of community farmer’s markets all over Florida, check out this Web site.

When you go to farmer’s markets, you are supporting your local economy, getting an artistic eyeful and having an adventure.

Who said there was nothing to do in the summertime? Sure there is. Spend your morning at a farmer’s market then open up your copy of my book. Great walks are calling. Enjoy

Lucy Beebe Tobias is the author of “50 Great Walks in Florida”, University Press of Florida, 2008, and the Authentic Florida Expert for VISIT FLORIDA.

Outside the house my three rain barrels – two in the back yard, one in the front yard- went to work. The barrels are placed up on blocks just under the roof (they can also be placed under a gutter spout but I don’t have any). Rain runs down the slanted roof and into the barrels.

Mother Nature gets wet and gets recycled. Water is stored for the lean times. This so works for me. Rain barrels can work for you too.

Sure, you can go on line and see beautiful rain barrels that cost two arms and one leg (that is before shipping) or you can look closer to home and do it cheaper. How cheap? Mine are $55 apiece from my local IFAS Extension Office. They come with holes predrilled for a faucet and an overflow valve. You also receive a bag of parts.

Also check out “Barrels and drums” in the Yellow Pages. Be sure to ONLY get a barrel that carried food products. Make your own with the instructions you get free on line (see resources below). Or take a rain barrel class. Maybe the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods is giving a class soon near you.

The 50 to 60 gallon barrels themselves are recycled. Mine started out life as a container full of olives shipped to the US from Europe. It is a one-way trip. The olives get packaged in jars. The barrels are sold to barrel companies; they are then bought by extension services, garden clubs and individuals and get a new life as rain barrels.

Some tips for installation and maintenance:

• Unless you are only going to attach a hose to your rain barrel, you need to elevate it enough, on blocks, to get a bucket or watering can under the faucet.

• Put a tablespoon of cooking oil, any kind, on the water surface. This breaks the water surface tension and mosquitoes can’t breed.

• I added a piece of PVC pipe to the overflow valve and the pipe goes directly into a watering can, so I catch the overflow.

It is great fun to gather family and friends and paint a rain barrel. Put a base coat on first; use your house color or any outdoor paint. Use acrylics to do the designs. Top with polyurethane.

How about making a rain barrel your Earth Day 2009 project? Sounds like a plan.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• The “why” of rain barrels:

http://www.gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/water/articles/rain_barrels.shtml

• The “how” of making a rain barrel:

How to Make a Rain Barrel–Hillsborough County Extension Service (PDF)

• The “Zen” of rain barrels, cool examples of painted barrels

http://manatee.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn_and_garden/fyn/rain-barrel.shtml

• The “where” of rain barrels, some commercial sources:

www.rainbarrelsource.com
www.homedepot.com

Have you heard of “saving for a rainy day”?. Now you can save rain for a sunny day too.

©2009 Lucy Beebe Tobias, author of “50 Great Walks in Florida”, 2008, University Press of Florida

Makes you restless, doesn’t it? Have I got a cure for you – five fun events for April all happening in places from my book “50 Great Walks in Florida.”

Chapter 1: The Joys of Meandering: Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park, Tallahassee.
Saturday, April 5 at the Gardener’s Cottage from 3-5 p.m. is a program on spring arrangements for your Easter table. Program is free with park admission.

And did you know that every Monday you could volunteer to work in the gardens and the greenhouse and learn gardening techniques? Call 850-487-4115 to let them know you are coming.

Chapter 13: Traverse Two Terrains: Little Talbot Island State Park, Jacksonville.

Saturday, April 11 at 1 p .m. join a park ranger for a talk on shark’s teeth and the kinds found on the area’s beaches. Also check their Web site for ranger-led nature and beach walks.

Chapter 29: Garden of Delights; Harry P. Leu Gardens, Orlando.
Friday, April 3 is Date Night at the Gardens. Gardens open at 6 p.m. and a movie “Mama Mia” shows at 8:30 p.m. Bring a blanket or chairs and dinner picnic basket. Admission $7 plus tax for adults and $2 plus tax for children.

Come back on Saturday, April 11 for their Hibiscus Show and Sale. The Plant sale starts at 9 a.m. and a hibiscus show runs from 1-5 p.m. Free admission to the show. Expert advice on taking care of your hibiscus from the Central Florida Hibiscus Society.

Chapter 33: “Gardens, Landscapes, and Native Habitats: Florida Botanical Gardens, Largo.
Celebrate Earth Day on April 18. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. admission and parking is free. The usual produce and products with their Saturday Market in the Park will be there plus exhibits and experts to share easy ways to protect Mother Earth.

Come early. The first 60 participants receive a free native oak tree.

Chapter 36: Mangroves, Orchids, and a Bo Tree: Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota.

Through April 18 is an exhibit and sale called Rainforest Masks featuring master carvers from an indigenous reserve next to a rainforest in Costa Rica.
Visit on a Sunday afternoon and hear live music in the gardens from 1-3 p.m. On Sunday, April 5 music is by the Swing Merchants.

So, fill up the gas tank – go forth and enjoy. Oh, yes, and take 50 Great Walks with you!

Copyright 2009 Lucy Beebe Tobias. Lucy is the Authentic Florida expert for VISIT FLORIDA and the author of 50 Great Walks in Florida, University Press of Florida

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Rain, rain, please come this way. Drop on down from the sky and stay. Here is a barrel put together just for you. Thank you for all the wonderful wet things you do.

What can I say? It rhymes. I watched rain sleeting off my roof, thank you Lord for every drop, the earth was dry for a long time. I got to wondering about when it stops. What then? It is not a new thought. Generations of people have been collecting water, saving it against that dry day.

A few years back I took a rain barrel course. That barrel sits out back, catching rain rolling off the roof. It is so full the overflow valve has water coming out of it.

Hummm. There’s a message here. Grab rain while it is raining. I went on line and looked at rain barrels. For such an ancient, earthy, simple thing the rain barrels I saw were hideously expensive. Hundreds of dollars. Not happening.

There is a better way closer to home. The Master Gardeners at the Agricultural Center on Old Jacksonville Road have rain barrels for $50. You don’t even have to take a class. You get a used food-grade 60 gallon barrel, already bored with a hole for a spigot and an overflow hole, and a small brown bag with parts.

In Florida, Check IFAS, (the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at UF), their Florida Yards & Neighborhoods program, for a free fact sheet on building a rain barrel and call your local Agricultural Extension Office to see if they have barrels. Might want to look at the Yellow Pages to see if there is a barrel supplier nearby.

See the picture of the parts? I haven’t a clue what they are all for. No instructions came with the paper bag. The brochure from the Southwest Florida Water Management District shows how to put in the spigot (screw in halfway, apply PVC cement, finish screwing). Easy. Then even have a page showing how to paint your barrel (could be a fun project for kids). I opted for plain and functional.

I placed mine in the front yard under the roof at the edge near the carport. There is no gutter. The barrel itself is interesting. Once it was filled with olives from Europe. Shipped to the United States for canning, the barrels don’t make the return trip. They are sold to a barrel company. These are hauled to Marion County, Florida from Texas. Increased shipping charges are eating up the slim profit.

You need to elevate the barrel up on concrete or bricks. That spigot is down low. Hard to get a watering can down that low. The top of the rain barrel is solid plastic with a screw lid. I used a jig saw to cut a hole out of the top, then placed a piece of screening across the entire top and tightened down the lid. The screen lets rain in, keeps debris out.

Will mosquitoes breed in a rain barrel? Yes. Joannie has a friend with a horse farm and said they put fish in their water troughs to keep mosquitoes at bay (fish eat the mosquito larvae). Great idea. My rain barrel in the back now has ten small fish (10 for 99 cents) .

It rained this afternoon. My new barrel has water! Ah, conservation. It is contagious. Now in the back yard there is a gutter across the porch. The booklet shows cutting off the gutter pipe, putting in a flexible piece and having water run right down the gutter into a barrel.

Humm. Sounds like I need another rain barrel to catch that gutter runoff. But what do I do with the leftover parts?*

*UPDATE: Turns out the extra parts are for the overflow hole of the top of the barrel. Lori Ball, Staff Assistant II at Marion County Extension Service, read the blog and sent me an e mail. Knowledge is power! Thank you Lori. She also notes that Kathy Patterson, coordinator for the “Florida Yards and Neighbors” suggests buying a cheap hose and attaching it to the overflow. The spigot also has threads to attach a hose to help watering the plants (I hadn’t noticed this). Lots of ways to use your rain barrel.

Lucy Beebe Tobias is the Authentic Florida Expert for VISIT FLORIDA and the author of “50 Great Walks in Florida”, University Press of Florida, February, 2008.