There were 17 of us on a tour led by Dr. Dottie Woodson at the beautiful Fort Worth Botanical Gardens on May 3. The weather was cool but sunny as we walked around one of the gardens (they have 23 of them on 110 acres) in this urban oasis. It was created during the Great Depression as an "outdoor library of plants" and those scientific names just rolled off the tongue of our leader as she pointed out ways we could enhance our own landscapes. Then we went into the 60' tall Conservatory and all coats and hats came off as it was 85 degrees with 85 percent humidity inside this 10,000-square-foot glass house filled with tropical plants. There were lush coffee and chocolate trees — two of our favorite food groups — along with banana, palm, nutmeg (smelled just like Thanksgiving) and palm trees. We followed this up with a relaxing lunch at a nearby IHOP with Dottie.