Yesterday M, the host for our vacation, and I went to the Naples Botanical Garden, while Earl stayed home and had the condo to himself. We all had a great time.
The Naples Botanical Garden, started in 1993, is a 170 acre preserve that features mostly tropical plants. Lots of orchids, crotons, palms, bamboo. And concrete. I mention this because there is a botanical garden where Earl and I live that is not very accessible for walkers or wheelchairs or strollers. So I was impressed that many of the walkways were user friendly for every age and ability.
We strolled along the designated paths and admired the collection. It made me wonder what the mission of a botanical garden is. So I turned to Wikipedia when we got home and learned that “A botanical garden or botanic garden is a garden with a documented collection of living plants for the purpose of scientific research, conservation, display, and education.” What I found equally interesting is that “It is their mandate as a botanical garden that plants are labelled with their botanical names.”
Naples is a bustle of stores, strip malls, restaurants, and residential developments. But the hours M and I spent at the Garden was 180 degrees from that experience. After we shared a sandwich in the café and browsed the gift shop, we agreed a return visit was in order.
I’m sure Earl will enjoy his time while we’re gone. He can listen to the television as loudly as he wants while having his phone play old time music while he works crossword puzzles. It’s a win/win because tropical plants labeled with their botanical names is not his thing.
M and I liked it.
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