This is especially for Road Trips Gardeners who are snowbirds. If your winter destination is Florida, consider a stop along the way at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, 6400 North Oceanshore Boulevard, Palm Coast, Florida.

If your travels take you there on the first Friday of any month (such as January 5, 2018), you can join a guided tour of the gardens. Just plan to meet in the parking lot at 10 a.m. and wear comfortable shoes. The tour lasts about an hour.

Located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Matanzas River, Washington Oaks Gardens State Park preserves 425 acres of coastal scenery along State Road A1A. The Park’s eastern boundary (damaged by Hurricane Irma, alas!) holds one of the largest outcroppings of coquina rock on the Atlantic Ocean.

The heart of the park is coastal scrub that transitions into hammock where live oaks, hickory, and magnolia trees grow. Bordering the hammock are the tidal marshes of the Matanzas River. Within the hammock are 20 acres of formal gardens.

(Photo courtesy of Florida State Parks)