A hundred and forty years ago or so, I learned to drive a faded maroon 1950 Ford stick shift at Dawes Arboretum just outside Newark, Ohio. My brother, who must have been heavily medicated, took on this thankless task of teaching me how to drive; and I did manage soon after to get a driver’s license.

Here I am again at Dawes, June 2012, only this time, in addition to roadways, there are majestic tents nestled among majestic trees. There is an enormous climbing tree outfitted with swings, straps and pulleys and some wild and crazy people who you aspire to be (but lack the nerve to be), ascending to the highest branches.

There are five food stations to tempt the most determined ‘weight watcher’. There are delicate wildflowers, regular flowers, pots of flowers, lovely scrims hanging from high branches, fireflies, a setting sun through lacey branches and lots of friendly folk, including a most charming Ex.ecutive Director, Luke Messinger.

Our stalwart horticulture assistant and trusted keeper of the plant records, Hetty Ford, and her band of loyal gardeners, removed a mature Lignum Vitae tree, commonly known as the “Tree of Life,” from a demolition lot in Old Naples on Monday, June 18, 2012. The magnificent specimen is now in the Kapnick Caribbean Garden.

For those novice gardeners (like me) Guaiacum sanctum (Lignum Vitae) is a native Florida tree. Large specimens are rare and, when Hetty learned that this tree was on a demo lot, “I knew we could not let the bulldozers get it,” she said.

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!