I told you about our snow hiking experience when we went to Sedona, Arizona earlier in the year, but that wasn’t the coolest hike that we did, just the highest. When we arrived in Arizona, we had a lovely drive from Phoenix to Sedona, and as we drove along, we were awestruck by the amazing rock formations. Red rock everywhere and in all shapes and sizes. And of course, I wanted to climb them all. Since there wasn’t time for that, we had to pick, and the two that we chose were Subway Cave and Cathedral Rock.

Subway Cave is wildly popular as an Instagram photo spot, because when you stand at the back of the cave and take a picture, it looks like you are looking into a subway tunnel. It was a beautiful hike through the Boynton Canyon, followed by a precarious scramble to the level of Subway Cave. And then it got really tricky. You have to sort of shimmy around a rock outcropping that was easily 50 or 60 feet up off the ground. The pictures don’t give you a good idea of how close to the edge you are! But the views and being inside the rock formation were well worth it. We took our pictures, then reversed our death-defying steps and headed to the end of Boynton Canyon for a delightful picnic.

Then on another day, we went up to Cathedral Rock. While there wasn’t as much on-the-edge shimmying, it was a steep climb in places with a bit of scrambling. But at the top it was an amazing view of Sedona and a peaceful place to sit and reflect for a few minutes. Supposedly it is a vortex as well, but I didn’t feel any swirling centers of energy. All I felt was my heart pumping from the climb up! And honestly, the entire hike out from Cathedral Rock was filled with views. Every way you turned, there was another interesting rock formation to look at. Florida has plenty of amazing sights – the beach, sunsets, the water – but nothing like the red rocks in AZ!

While I sidetrack myself on memory lane sometimes, I’m also trying to stay busy making my garden as beautiful as possible. In spring, it’s easy! There are beautiful flowers, shrubs, trees, and vines at every turn. My problem now is that I don’t know which project to start first! I’ll bet you have the same problem.

And if you’re interested in trying something a little different this year in your garden, make sure to join us for our Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 20 from 10 am – 2 pm. We’re hosting two free seminars that day: Landscaping with Top Ten Florida Natives at 10 am and Butterfly and Pollinator Gardening with Native Plants at 1 pm. We’ll talk in the first seminar about how you can incorporate some Florida Native Plants into your existing garden and how they can make a difference in maintenance and watering, among other advantages. Our second seminar will focus on pollinator gardening and the benefits that adding some native plants can provide to your garden to make it a pollinator haven.

At 11 am we’ll give you a tour of the native garden that makes up our Homegrown National Park®, so you can see a variety of native plants in a natural setting. To add to the flavor of the celebration, Seasoned Green Food Truck is returning to serve their vegan specialties for purchase. You may think that vegan isn’t your cup of tea – but you haven’t had vegan food like this!

Like me, you probably have memories of nature experiences that remind you how beautiful the earth is and give you a thrill. Maybe it’s the view of a mountain, maybe it’s the awe-inspiring ocean a few miles away, maybe it’s a sunset or the eclipse this week… whatever it is, let’s add to those memories by celebrating our natural world this Earth Day.