In February 2012, we put the finishing touches on the Kristin Foster Succulent Garden. The newest addition to the Naples Botanical Garden features succulent plants from around the world.

So what do we mean by "succulent?"

A succulent, by definition, is any plant that has a specialized growth for storing or conserving water. In general, these are plants adapted for growing in arid climates or arid-like conditions, like the crevises of rocks with little to no soil or even a part of your garden that does't get watered.

Succulent plants often have some combination of spines, thick fleshy leaves or swollen trunks. These adaptations help them live through harsh climates and conditions with little to no rain fall. 

One of the most frequent questions we are asked is "What's Blooming?"

We wanted to answer this question in a totally new way for our audience, so we tracked down our Horticulture Director, Brian Galligan, and asked him take us through a tour of what's currently in bloom.

As it turns out, we have LOADS of things in bloom all the time. Of course we knew this, but putting it in a video was a totally different story. We would have two hour videos each week if we tried to publish everything we shot.

Thus, the launch of our Plant Talk & Walk videos! Since we can't fit in everything that is blooming, we wanted provide a "highlight tour" through the Garden.

The first video we have includes some of the incredible blooming trees around our property, starting right in our parking lots.

Dr. George Wilder is a Botanist, Professor and our Herbarium Curator here at the Garden. We are extremely lucky to have him, especially since he shares his knowledge during our bimonthly staff meetings with his amazing and sometimes humorous presentations. We thought it was time to share these reports with our readers. Enjoy!