Sandra in the gardens at Silver Springs, March 1969

November 1 is coming up quick! I can’t believe it’s been four years since I first sent in my proposal for this book. Exploring Florida’s Botanical Wonders was an idea I’d had for many years thanks to my parents, who trotted me around to most of the botanical and formal gardens in Florida when I was a child.

We visited places like Rainbow Springs, Silver Springs, Cypress Gardens, Bok Tower, Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Masterpiece Gardens, and many, many more before I was fifteen years old.

As a result, I grew up loving the colorful, often tropical, and often very unusual flora of Florida.  That’s me in the photo, from 1969 at Silver Springs, when the gardens were still free and open to the public to come in and enjoy.

Add to my childhood experiences my past decade roaming Florida in search of great places to hike – and finding more unusual and beautiful flowers and trees in the forests, prairies, and swamps of Florida – and you have the background of this unique travel guide, which leads you to the best places in Florida to see gorgeous gardens, greenhouses filled with orchids,  thickets of palm trees, ancient oaks and cypresses, weird and wonderful tropical trees, and wildflowers ranging from Appalachian to Caribbean in origin.  Not to mention the world’s only Everglades…

Come along with me and enjoy nature’s show! I’ll be sharing all things Florida and botanical on these pages, especially photos and video of my explorations, information about events, organizations, and great field guides.  I look forward to reading your comments!