May 11 is National Public Gardens Day when these two gardens listed below are free of charge all day. Adult admission at both parks is regularly $8, so save some money & enjoy nature.

Tucson Botanical Garden, 2150 N. Alvernon Way, http://www.tucsonbotanical.org/events/national-public-gardens-day/. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m, this garden is located south of Grant Rd. on Alvernon.

Learn water conservation, native and adaptable plants and landscape design experientially, through visits to our seventeen, residentially scales gardens. For that hands-on experience, take advantage of the delightful Exploring Tucson Botanical Gardens tour (10 a.m.). This tour delivers some fascinating plant trivia, offers history of the Gardens and familiarizes you with our native flora as well as the wide variety of plants that grow in Tucson.

The other garden is Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte (NW of Ina/Oracle). Hours are 8 to 5 p.m. Website is http://www.tohonochulpark.org/wordpress/.

Award-winning Tohono Chul Park is where nature, art and culture connect. Named one of the World’s Great Botanical Gardens by Travel + Leisure and listed by National Geographic Traveler as one of the top 22 Secret Gardens in the U.S. and Canada, there is something for everyone. This oasis in the desert offers a respite from the hectic pace of daily life, provides an informative look at the region’s fascinating cultural traditions and its even more interesting flora and fauna, and is the perfect setting for an evening concert, special event or family wedding. Come and discover its nature!

Enjoy either or both of these peaceful gardens on May 11, before the summer heat rolls in.

Science surprise of the day: read this morning that lava coils/spirals have been discovered on Mars near the equator. The Arizona Daily Star article (above) says they look similar to lava coils in Hawaii. The Martian ones are apparently 16 to 100 feet across.

I grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii (which has the only live volcanoes in the State of Hawaii) and have seen numerous eruptions of both a’a (chunky) and pahoehoe (smooth, river-like) lava flows. I’ve noticed some coils but not quite like that or that many as shown in the aerial photo, which accompanies that Star article.

Next time I’m back home on Hawaii Island, it will definitely be worth a trip to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to take another look. All national parks and monuments are free this week (National Park Week) till April 29 (click here).

Update: Here’s the original article in Science Journal (click here), entitled:

“Coils and Polygonal Crust in the Athabasca Valles Region, Mars, as Evidence for a Volcanic History” by Andrew J. Ryan and Philip R. Christensen.

Photos of Martian (and Hawaiian) lava coils published separately:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2012/04/27/photos-of-martian-and-hawaiian-lava-coils/

KUAT Channel 6 AZ Illustrated had an interview tonight to promote National Park Week, when all 379 national parks & monuments in the U.S. are free. Click here for the show.

This is a great opportunity to take yourself and/or your kids to these parks/monuments in Southern Arizona:

Saguaro National Park East, 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail, Tucson, AZ
Saguaro National Park West, 2700 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, AZ
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, in Coolidge, AZ
Tumacacori National Historical Park, 1891 N. Frontage Road, Tumacacori, AZ
Chiricahua National Monument, near Wilcox, AZ
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (four miles west of Why, AZ)

I’ve been to all of these national parks and have enjoyed the amazing wonders of nature, and the historic settlements by Native Americans and Spanish settlers.

And if you’re reading this from outside of Southern Arizona, or Arizona, go online to the National Park Service webpage & click on a state to locate other parks. You can locate a national park by clicking on the map of all the states, or by name, location, activity, or topic. Arizona alone has 22 national parks, with the Grand Canyon National Park being one of the most well-known.