Florida Museum wants you to know how to find survival in slowness. Really slow. Like oh, say moving through a high forest canopy at a whopping 40 yards in a day. That is slow. But it works for the five…
Alafia River State Park has Epic Bike Trails
Epic.Now there is a word you do not hear very often.But you hear it often at Alafia River State Park, a reclaimed phosphate mine with some of the most challenging elevation changes in the state of Florida. The park is…
Butterfly Gardens Open in Florida
You have to love butterflies. They don’t practice social distancing. Males and females chase each other around shamelessly. Young swallowtail caterpillars chew leaves while lined up in a row, side by side, touching even. Such is life in a butterfly…
Look Forward to Visiting Demonstration Gardens
Demonstration gardens are inspiring places to visit – there are so many ways to garden in this vibrant, quirky place called Florida. The gates to public gardens are closed for now … but they will open again. Here is a…
Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory Beckons
I’m just inside the door at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory at 1316 Duval Street, Key West, my feet rooted to walkway, looking around at astounding beauty – plants, trays of cut up fruit for butterflies, birds singing,…
Sarasota Celery Fields Attracts Butterflies
At the Celery Fields Marc Minno stands in the grass behind the Sarasota Audubon Nature Center. He speaks in a casual, low-keyed voice belieing the fact that Minno, a Live Oak resident, is one of Florida’s top butterfly gardening…
Explore the Wild Side of Englewood
Englewood, Florida has a wild side. I’m thinking parks and beaches and dining discoveries. What were you thinking? Moving right along – Swim, paddle, board a boat, walk, run, amble or meander, it all works in Englewood. Day of Discovery…
Visiting Florida Butterfly Gardens Could Be Sinful
Florida Butterfly Gardens. Now is the time to visit. Why? Butterflies are solar powered. Their prime tie is when it is 80 degrees and above. Turns out April through September is perfect butterfly weather in Florida. But I have to…
Florida State Parks are Calling Your Name
I LOVE FLORIDA STATE PARKS Yes, I do. Deeply. Passionately. Just thinking about taking my dogs for walks on dirt trails shaded by tall trees or getting my wading shoes wet climbing in and out kayaks for river trips makes…
Sunken Gardens Grows Lush and Exotic
Two words perfectly describe Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg – lush and exotic. What, you say, is it still there? Oh yes, Sunken Gardens, an old Florida family roadside attraction, is still alive and thriving right in the middle of…
Flutter with the Butterflies in Fort Myers
Coming to this conservatory is a game changer. No doubt about it. What happens here with butterflies is both intense and beautiful. The Florida Native Butterfly Society Conservatory in Fort Myers opened in 2009. Unlike most facilities, it is allowed…
Flower Power Blooms in Florida
Wait for it. Coming. Coming. Zing! The calendar page turns and voila, March arrives today – yeah! Flower power in Florida starts in January and goes through April, This is much different than “up North” but then Florida is tropical.…
Monarch Butterflies Need You Now
You can save the world. Right now. Today. Well, all right, a piece of the world. How? Buy milkweed. Seriously. I’m not kidding. Monarch butterflies need milkweed as host plants. They lay eggs on milkweed, caterpillars emerge, eat leaves then…
50 Great Walks in Florida is now an e book!
BREAKING NEWS University Press of Florida has just announced that Lucy’s award-winning print book 50 Great Walks in Florida is now available as a Kindle e book on Amazon. Did you know that once you click the “Buy” button you…
Garden Festivals in Florida – Rejoice!
Smell the air – fresh, invigorating with a hint of spring flowers and a touch of rain. Ah, in Florida it is the magic time of year, when new growth springs out of plants that looked dead over the winter.…
Florida Butterfly Gardening is Addictive
They flap. They glide. They flutter. What can it be? 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…
Florida Museum of Natural History wants you
The Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville wants you to see Florida’s natural beauty with fresh eyes. From Feb. 6 through April 25 the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild have 100 original quilts on display in a juried…
Native Plants Bring Birds & Butterflies
Jeff Nurge went native eight years ago. He planted native flowers, bushes and trees in an effort to attract wildlife. You can’t really tell from the front – native trees and bushes are spaced apart. It is the sides and…
Milkweed Crisis in the Backyard
Holy cow! I’ve got a crisis! In my backyard the monarch caterpillars have chomped through all the leaves on the milkweed plants and they are still hungry. The very last milkweed has five, count them FIVE caterpillars and only TWO…
Photographs of Life Moments at Villa Lucia
Photographs. As a reporter it used to get to me when people said “a picture is worth a 1000 words”, hey, I was the one writing those words! Why should the photographers have all the fun?But sometimes they do. This…
Flutter with the butterflies
One day the birds complained to the Great Father“Why did you make butterflies so beautiful? We feel left out.”“What would you have me do?” God asked.“Give them a flaw,” the birds said.“Well, how about I make them silent,” the Great…