As Kim and I were sitting outside one morning, coffee in hand, enjoying our garden and thinking about this weekend’s Earth Day Celebration, a sudden loud buzzing interrupted our conversation. Incredibly, it was a hummingbird, hovering about 4 feet in front of us! Over the last few weeks, this little bird has made a few appearances and really seems to love our Rockin’^® Fuchsia Salvia. It was a thrilling reminder of how beautiful nature can be, right in our own backyards.

And it really made me think of how important this weekend’s celebration is. After all, Earth Day started it: when caring for Mother Earth became everyone’s responsibility. Through our yards and gardens, there are many ways that we can be good stewards of the environment and the natural flora and fauna that call Florida home.

And that’s what we are celebrating this weekend. We’re celebrating Mother Earth, we’re focusing on sustainability and the environment, and we are doing that by highlighting native plants and native pollinators. This Saturday at our Earth Day Celebration, there are a few ways that you can learn some fascinating details about Mother Nature here in Florida. Here is a schedule:

10 am – Seminar: Landscaping with Top Ten Florida Natives. We’ll probably end up talking about more than 10, because once I start talking about plants, I won’t stop! In this seminar, we’ll focus on the reasons for choosing native plants and the benefits they bring to your garden. We’ll talk about Florida-Friendly Landscaping^™ principles (this is a program through the University of Florida, a great resource!), and I’ll mention Homegrown National Park^®.

11 am – Homegrown National Park Tour. Take a walk with me around our very own Homegrown National Park at Kerby’s. I’ll show you some native plants in vivo and talk about the principles of Homegrown National Park.

1 pm – Seminar: Butterfly and Pollinator Gardening with Natives. Now let’s use those native plants to attract beautiful butterflies and plentiful pollinators to our gardens. I’ll talk about incorporating some classic pollinator plants that, while they aren’t native, are great for making gardens lovely as well. Bring the life cycle of butterflies and pollinators into your home garden!

And if you’re hungry during the day, vegan food truck Seasoned Green is going to be serving their amazing meat-free meals from 11 am to 2 pm. (If they have it this week, try the Jackfruit “pulled pork” sandwich with some Scotch Bonnet Pepper sauce. Amazing!)

Plus, we’re doing two free raffles of Native Plant Sets to get your native gardening started! Winners will be drawn at 10 am and 1 pm, at the start of each of our free seminars.

Protecting our environment and our earth is something that we are all responsible for. Our actions today don’t just affect us, they affect our children, grandchildren, and generations to come. Let’s make our gardens beautiful and earth friendly. Can’t wait to see you to celebrate Earth Day.

P.S. Stay tuned to Life Lived Outside next week where I’ll tell you all about our newest endeavor. Bees! Or as Maddy likes to call them: her 10,000 new pets.